The PR Maven® Podcast

Looking for marketing, personal branding and career advice? This week’s PR Maven® Podcast is jam-packed with chunks of wisdom from Jodi Flynn.

As we practice social distancing and work remotely, take some time to refresh by exploring the outdoors and listen to this week’s podcast with Carolann Ouellette, director of the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation

Message maps help clarify a message you are sharing with the public, which is particularly important during media interviews and a crisis. A clear message helps grasp a specific situation or company goals.

Trying new things can be scary, but also exciting! That is just one of the reasons Nancy’s podcast guest, Shannon Bryan, founder of Fit Maine, loves what she does. Learn how Shannon built the Fit Maine brand in this week’s episode

Has your organization been faced with unappealing content or news? In this episode of the PR Maven® Podcast, Robert Rose, Chief Troublemaker at The Content Advisory, shares how to hide negative articles with high-quality content.

Lee Goldberg sits down with Nancy to talk about his transition from covering sports to becoming an anchor for the Morning Report on NEWS CENTER Maine.

How can being curious and asking questions benefit your career? Find out in this week’s PR Maven® Podcast with Michael Bourque, president and CEO of The MEMIC Group.

Storytelling is a powerful tool to share what your brand is about. This week on the PR Maven® Podcast, Nancy chats with Kim Jackson, director of communications and marketing at Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports. Listen to hear some of Kim’s storytelling tips and tricks!

Have you heard of @camdeniff? On this week’s PR Maven Podcast, Nancy chats with Ben Fowlie, founder and executive and artistic director at Points North Institute.

Maine is not just a great place to visit, it is a great place to live and work, too. Nancy’s podcast guest this week would agree.

Why is a marketing and public relations plan necessary? In this week’s episode, I share why having a plan is a must.

Podcasts are a fantastic way to build your personal brand! On this week’s podcast, Greg Glynn and Nancy sit down to discuss what goes into being a great podcast guest, from creating a show sheet to promoting the episode.

In PR, we are always adapting to new trends and techniques. Greg Glynn, account supervisor at Marshall Communications, and I look at the changes that can be expected for 2020 and share our best tips for staying on top of these trends.

As 2019 comes to a close, let’s celebrate the most popular PR Maven® Podcast episodes of the year. In this week’s podcast, Nancy counts down the top ten episodes from 2019.

While technology has changed banking, one thing has stayed the same – the need for quality customer service. On this week’s PR Maven® Podcast, Nancy sits down with Andrew Silsby, president and CEO of Kennebec Savings Bank, who describes how customer service is a differentiator.

With the rise of the internet, we can use content marketing to attract our own audiences, build trust and gain new clients rather than relying on the media.

There is a lot that makes Maine a great place to work, such as the entrepreneurial spirit. On this week’s on podcast, Nancy speaks with Julene Gervais, producer and host of Greenlight Maine, about growing small businesses throughout the state.

In this podcast, Laurie Lachance talks about her career, much of the time being the first woman to take on the role she was serving, as well as her road to becoming a college president.

On this week’s PR Maven® Podcast, Nancy sits down with Luka Ladan, president and CEO at Zenica Public Relations, who shares his advice for building relationships and how millennials can have successful careers in public relations.

On this week’s PR Maven® Podcast, Angela Ferrari, children’s book author, illustrator and podcaster at @Storytacular, challenges you to create, create, create.

On this PR Maven® Podcast, Nancy sits down with Patrick Breeding, project manager at Lobster Unlimited, who describes how his work with lobsters is helping to heal eczema, among other ailments.

Looking for career advice? This week on the PR Maven® Podcast, Nancy speaks with Jim Peacock, principal and owner of Peak-Careers Consulting who shares how to differentiate yourself with a value-added statement and five or six essential things you want everyone to know about you.

On this week’s PR Maven® Podcast, Nancy speaks with Kurt Kleidon, president of Kleidon & Associates, who talks about building knowledge, whether it is through experience or doing the research, and how that can lead to a successful career.

On this week’s PR Maven® Podcast, Sean Riley, president and CEO of Maine Course Hospitality Group, shares his mission of positively impacting lives and how he takes care of his employees so they will take care of guests in order to keep them coming back.

Lieutenant Tim Cotton from the Bangor Police Department is a 22-year veteran officer with a fondness for upholding the law and having a sense of humor.

An energetic and entertaining speaker, John is the author of four books, including Why Teens Fail and What to Fix, a parents’ guide to protecting their children from internet predators and other dangers, Information Governance Security about how businesses can protect their important information from loss or compromise and How to Spot A Terrorist Before It’s Too Late, a guide to help people recognize and prevent terrorism before it can occur.

Emma is a recent Thomas College graduate with a degree in marketing management. She graduated in three years with a 4.0 GPA. In her final semester, Emma started working as an intern at Marshall Communications before starting her full-time position.

Megan immerses herself in her clients’ industries. When you work with her, she’ll ask the right questions and use your answers to craft engaging social media posts, media pitches and press releases that will pique your audience’s interest so that they’ll want to learn more.

With 46 years of experience in the ski industry, Chip Carey has held positions at many ski resorts across the country. Carey worked at Sugarloaf for 26 years, filling roles in sales, marketing and public relations. He also took on a position at The Canyons resort in Utah, where he was responsible for the NBC Today Show live coverage for 14 days of the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002. For four years, Carey worked across a network of eight resorts as senior VP of marketing for the American Skiing Company using his wide range of skills to build brands and revenues.

Originally from Connecticut, Anderson graduated from Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts, and spent the next 15 years on Boston’s North Shore, working in the academic publishing industry. In 2013, he continued moving north and settled in Bar Harbor where he has since lived with his wife, Heather. In 2015, the Bar Harbor Chamber was looking for someone to run their events program and Alf put his experience in that area to use. Over the next four years, he took on the marketing and membership roles for the Chamber and has just recently been named as the Chamber’s executive director.

Whether it is PR and marketing, healthcare or another avenue, businesses need a good leadership team to grow. This week on the PR Maven® Podcast, Nancy speaks with Michelle Hood, CEO of Northern Light Health, about how she learned to become a leader and what role PR and marketing has played throughout her career.

Have you ever been white water rafting? On this week’s podcast, Nancy talks with Russell Walters, president of @MaineAdventures, about his career and how important customer and employee experiences are.

John Waid is the founder and CEO of C3 – Corporate Culture Consulting, a firm specializing in aligning an organization's culture with its strategic goals. John has worked in sales and marketing at Pfizer, PepsiCo, Nestle and Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery. During these experiences he developed a heightened awareness of the indispensable role people's attitudes play in implementing effective processes and procedures.

George A. Smith of Mount Vernon has done a lot of things in his life, from writing comprehensive plans for rural Maine towns to managing statewide referendum campaigns. He served as executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine for 18 years, growing the membership from 4,000 to 14,000 and making it one of the state’s most influential organizations.

Word-of-mouth marketing is the most cost effective and impactful form of marketing and delivers the highest return on investment. This form of marketing is so successful because it comes from a genuine place in the customer’s heart and mind. In this podcast, Nancy shares how the different groups in your network, including the people from your hometown, schools you have attended, your gym or YMCA and the sports teams you follow, can increase word-of-mouth about you.

Katie is the subject of a Showtime documentary “No Look Pass,” which followed her and her Harvard teammate, Emily Tay, during their basketball careers in college and overseas. Upon coming back to the states, Katie started working at Coca-Cola as a category analyst, interpreting data on shopper behavior and trends to help guide brand strategy. She then transitioned to a sales role, managing the Coca-Cola portfolio in 3,000 CVS pharmacies across the east coast.

Gary Arndt is an awarding-winning blogger and travel photographer who has been traveling around the world since 2007. His travels have taken him to 200 countries and territories in the Traveler’s Century Club and 128 United Nations countries. He has also visited more than 380 UNESCO World Heritage sites and all 50 U.S. states.

Lisa DeSisto is the chief executive officer for Masthead Maine, which publishes six daily and twenty-three weekly newspapers in Maine. The titles include The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, Sun Journal in Lewiston, and the popular Forecaster newspapers.

Antoine Martel of Martel Turnkey is a real estate investment expert from San Mateo, California. As a licensed real estate agent and experienced investor himself, Antoine helps new and seasoned investors realize their financial goals. His proven real estate investment strategies have enabled countless clients throughout California to realize passive income and financial freedom through out-of-state turnkey rental properties.

Chef Matthew Ginn oversees menu creation and operations at Evo Kitchen + Bar, a 50-seat upscale and modern eatery located on Fore Street in downtown Portland, Maine.
Chef Matt was awarded Lobster Chef of the Year in October 2015, cooked at the James Beard House in New York City in 2017, and won Food Network’s Chopped episode “Room for Shrooms” which aired on July 10, 2018.

Lori Harnois is the executive director of Discover New England, located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Her primary role is to increase tourism to the New England region from overseas markets. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Tourism Planning and Development, with a minor in Sociology, from the University of New Hampshire.

Steve Lyons has been with the Maine Office of Tourism for 20 years and was named director in July of 2017. He is responsible for overall operations of the Maine Office of Tourism, having moved into his position following nine years as director of marketing. In that capacity, he played a critical role in developing a tourism marketing strategy for the state of Maine and managed contracts for the state’s ad agency, marketing research firm, fulfillment and call center operations, and website.

John Francis recently retired as vice president for research, conservation and exploration at the National Geographic Society. His professional career has been rooted in wildlife biology and gaining a better understanding of humankind’s delicate position within nature. John earned a PhD in behavioral ecology and later became a film producer at National Geographic.

Nancy Marshall, CEO of Marshall Communications and The PR Maven®, presented to attendees at the Maine Coast Heritage Trust Maine Land Conservation Conference. The conference brought together hundreds of attendees to train on best practices in all aspects of land trust work, network, and address the most pressing issues facing land conservation today.

Nicole is the CEO of Break the Ice Media, a public relations and digital marketing firm specializing in travel and tourism. Ever since she was a little girl, Nicole knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She earned a degree in marketing and then went on to complete a master’s degree in communications. After she started her family, Nicole decided it was time to freelance and owned several businesses before starting her own media company.

John Lee Dumas is the host and founder of Entrepreneurs on Fire, an award-winning daily podcast, where he interviews inspiring entrepreneurs every Monday and he drops what he calls “value bombs” every Thursday. He has more than two thousand episodes, 1.3 million listeners every month and seven figures of annual revenue.

Lisa Steele is the founder of FreshEggsDaily.com, the popular natural chicken-keeping site, and author of several top-selling books from her small farm in Maine where she now lives with her retired naval officer husband, two dogs and an indoor-outdoor barn cat. She’s a fifth-generation chicken keeper and Maine master gardener.

Nancy Roberts is the program coordinator for marketing and an instructor at the New England School of Communications. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in graphic design from Central Connecticut State University. She received her master's degree in business administration from Husson University in Bangor, Maine. She has also earned her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the Public Relations Society of America. Nancy joined the faculty at New England School of Communications in 2007 to develop and lead the marketing communications program.

Tim Cotton is a lieutenant with the Bangor Police Department and has become well-known for managing the department’s Facebook page. He now finds himself the recipient of serious Facebook attention and adoration from fans around the country that follow the Facebook page to read Tim’s insightful, humorous posts.

Stu Tinker is a lifelong resident of Bangor, Maine. Along with his wife, he owned and operated Betts Bookstore for 20 years, where they specialized in Stephen King books and memorabilia. Stu also owned and operated a limousine service for a number of years transporting people like Stephen King, Drew Barrymore, Kenny Rogers, Ann and Nancy Wilson, John Mellencamp, Cheap Trick and many others. His knowledge of the King world in and around “Derry” is second to none.

Alex Nerney is co-founder of Create and Go, an online blog that teaches others how to start a blog and eventually make money blogging. Alex and his partner Lauren quit their jobs, sold almost everything they owned and went all in on blogging. Within their first year they made $100,000 blogging and now, by year three, they are currently making over a $100,000 per month online.

Tobias Parkhurst is the president of Oakes & Parkhurst Glass and a co-owner of Cushnoc Brewing Company in Augusta. He earned his B.A. from the University of Hartford and for 10 years he traveled the world as a professional skateboarder. Tobias returned to Maine in 2008, and in 2009 he bought and refurbished five Water Street historical buildings in Augusta, Maine, and enticed two successful restaurants into the downtown area.

Emily Roy is the marketing and communications specialist for the City of Saco. In this role, Emily has spearheaded Saco’s rebranding through the development and implementation of a Marshall Plan®, a new logo and a website design. Emily is responsible for creating content across multiple platforms, including both printed and digital mediums, coordinating Saco’s public relations and media inquiries, and communicating information to the public.

Carey Kish is veteran hiker, outdoors and travel writer, photographer, registered Maine guide and certified funmeister. Kish has completed some two-dozen long-distance trails in the United States, Canada and Europe, including the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine (once in 1977 and again in 2015), the 1,100-mile Florida Trail in 2017, and has plans to tackle all 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2019.

Maddie Purcell is the founder of Fyood Kitchen, an award-winning startup that puts on cooking competition parties – absolutely no experience required. In the past year, Maddie has been nationally recognized as the Outstanding Young Entrepreneur of the Year by SCORE and named to the 2018 Mainebiz Next List, while Fyood Kitchen was named an American Small Business Champion and the SCORE Maine Innovative Business Award winner.

Ruth Jackson is the vice president for communications at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. She is the college’s chief communications officer, providing vision, direction, and leadership for Colby’s internal and external communications. She oversees the strategic planning behind, and the development and creation of, Colby’s communications and marketing programs, including the website, Colby Magazine, advancement and admissions materials, media relations, social media, and internal communications.

As an account supervisor at Marshall Communications, Greg manages the public relations and marketing efforts for a wide range of clients. In 2016, he received his Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) through the Public Relations Society of America and is one of only 5,000+ professionals nationally accredited in the field of public relations.

Skylar grew up on a small island in Eastport, Maine. She graduated from the University of Maine, and she spent time studying on the coast of California. After graduating, she took a job with a title company and this is when she found her love for the real estate business. In 2011, Skylar started with Acadia Lending Group where she found her passion and became a loan officer. In her role with the company she provides affordable, reliable lending options to people looking to purchase property in Maine.

Whitney loves Maine and enjoys representing the state in her role as international marketing manager for the Maine Office of Tourism. Her enthusiasm has endeared her to the tour operators and travel agents that she works with.

Kevin Frisbie is from Rumford, Maine, is the owner of Frisbie & Associates and is one of Maine’s top financial advisors. He is also the author of the book Every Dime Every Day, a roadmap for self-help and a personal development book with a compelling and true “rags to riches” story.

David Lee is the founder of HumanNature@Work, a consulting and executive coaching firm, and an associate at Heart At Work, a career counseling firm. He works with leaders and business owners who want to bring their best selves to work and help their people (and clients) do the same.

Principal owner and multi-hat-wearing fearless CEO of Stitchcraft Marketing. Leanne holds an M.A. in sociology and a B.A. in English and has 20+ years of experience in sales and marketing. Prior to starting the agency, she owned a website design and hosting business for 10 years. She’s been a knitter since she was 18 and as a multi-craftual crafter sews garments and quilts.

Susan Baier helps organizations figure out what’s going on in the minds of their prospects and customers, and how to use that information to craft targeted, efficient and effective marketing programs. Her company, Audience Audit, develops custom attitudinal segmentation research for smart marketing agencies and their clients in a wide range of industries. She has worked with more than 50 agencies and their clients, including Gap, Kona Grill, Infusionsoft, Jayco, Tufts University, AT&T, Pella and more.

Pauline Frommer started traveling with her guidebook-writing parents at the age of four months and hasn’t stopped since. She is the co-president and editorial director for Frommer Media LLC, the company that publishes the Frommer guidebooks and Frommers.com, as well as author of what has been the bestselling guidebook to her hometown since its first edition, Frommer’s EasyGuide to New York City 2018.

An award-winning humorist and former corporate marketer, Blue Penguin founder and Chief Penguin Michael Katz specializes in helping professional service firms and solos talk/write about their work in a way that is clear and compelling.

Since launching Blue Penguin in 2000, Michael has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week Online, Bloomberg TV, Forbes.com, Inc.com, USA Today, and other national and local media.

Cory Lee was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at the age of two, but that certainly has not diminished his desire to travel – wheelchair and all. He has traversed six continents, and blogs about his accessible (and sometimes not so accessible) travel adventures on CurbFreeWithCoryLee.com.

MacKenzie Riley Young is the assistant director of media relations at Thomas College in Waterville, Maine. She studied journalism and communications at a small liberal arts college called St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, before returning to her hometown (and country) to work at Thomas College.

Michael Smart is an independent communications trainer who helps public relations pros improve their pitching success rate and enhance their public relations writing. He is regularly among the highest-rated speakers at the industry’s largest conferences.

Molly McPherson combines her thorough knowledge of current social media tools and practices with years of news and public relations experience. She helps her clients find the right strategy for 21st-century communications by combining the best practices of today with the proven methods of the past.

Rich Brooks is founder and president of flyte new media, a digital agency in Portland, Maine, that’s been around for more than 20 years. He is a nationally recognized speaker on entrepreneurship, digital marketing and social media. He founded The Agents of Change, an annual conference and weekly podcast that focuses on search, social and mobile marketing.

Jennifer brings her 20+ years of experience in marketing and public relations to every project she’s involved in. Her background is extensive, encompassing agency, government, nonprofit, tourism, economic development and health care entities. An accomplished writer and researcher, Jen is the chief architect of The Marshall Plan®, Marshall’s trademarked strategic marketing plan.

Anna was born in Portland, Maine, and grew up her dad’s 30-acre farm in New Gloucester. She attended Waynflete and then Wheaton College for two years, where she majored in English. She later graduated summa cum laude from USM with a BA in Communications.

Charlene joined Marshall Communications in 1997 and quickly became Nancy’s trusted “right hand.” Her unmatchable work ethic, commitment to generating the greatest results for clients, and keen marketing and business judgement skills led to her being named president of the agency in 2013.

Stephen is the founder and CEO of Predictive ROI, a digital marketing agency, and the host of Onward Nation — a top-rated daily podcast for learning how today’s top business owners think, act and achieve. Onward Nation is listened to in 120 countries around the world.

Bill Green specializes in telling rich stories of Maine’s outdoors. Bill is Maine’s senior television reporter (over 40 years) and one of its most popular, as well. In 1993, he became a full time feature reporter having already established the weekly segments Green Outdoors and My Hometown. In 2016, his show Bill Green’s Maine won the Regional Emmy as Outstanding Magazine Program in New England.

In this episode, Nancy records her podcast from her presentation at the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Expo about how to build your personal brand and network online. She talks about how a podcast can help build your personal brand, suggests improvements you should make to your LinkedIn page and gives resume advice.

Kate Paine helps executives and entrepreneurs stand out online so they become a recognized authority in their marketplace or industry, and a respected asset to their company and clients. She uses her journalism, PR and marketing experience to tease out her clients’ compelling stories to position them as industry visionaries or influencers both online and off.

Becky McKinnell founded her award-winning digital agency, iBec Creative, the day after graduating from the University of Southern Maine in 2006. Becky has since been recognized as one of Businessweek’s Top 25 Entrepreneurs 25 and Under, was named U.S. Small Business Administration Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and received the Stevie Women in Business Award, among numerous industry recognitions for her company’s work.

Peter Van Allen has been editor at Mainebiz, Maine’s statewide business publication, since May 2014. He has been a business journalist for three decades. Prior to joining Mainebiz, he was at the Philadelphia Business Journal, which is owned by American City Business Journals. Earlier in his career, he worked as a daily newspaper reporter and editor for Gannett, Knight-Ridder and Thomson publications.

Stefa Normantas is a strategic event manager and managing partner of the New England Made shows, the Philadelphia Furniture Show and Green Tree Event Consultants/Giraffe Events, Maine-based event services companies. Whether directing a trade show or managing a conference for hundreds, Stefa enjoys the challenge of project management.

Drew has worked in advertising for 25+ years and started his own agency, McLellan Marketing Group, in 1995 after a five-year stint at Y&R and still actively runs the agency.

He also owns and runs Agency Management Institute (AMI), which serves 250+ small to mid-sized agencies (advertising, digital, marketing, media and PR) every year, so they can increase their AGI, attract better clients and employees, mitigate the risks of being self-employed in a such volatile business and best of all — let the agency owner actually enjoy the perks of agency ownership.

Craig Marshall is the executive director of sales & marketing for the World Pro Ski Tour. Craig grew up at Sugarloaf, Maine, and ski raced while at Carrabassett Valley Academy and at the NCAA Division I level for Colby College. He moved to Portland, Maine, in August of 2015 and still lives there while running the WPST. Craig works part time as a youth ski race coach in addition to playing golf and squash.

With a core personal value of lifelong learning, Lori has shared creative and strategic digital marketing, personal branding, and entrepreneurship lessons with people and organizations from all over. Her years of experience, education, and involvement range from currently owning a digital marketing agency, Keystone Click; being the 2013 recipient of the “Bravo! Entrepreneur Award” from BizTimes Media; and teaching undergraduate students as an adjunct professor at UW-Milwaukee to serving on numerous boards including the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin. Lori earned her bachelor’s degree in business & marketing from Marian University and her MBA from Cardinal Stritch University.

In 1991, Marshall Communications was born, a life-changing experience for Nancy and one that she’s never regretted. Today, more than 28 years later, the agency has represented many major clients, including the Maine Office of Tourism, the Maine Office of Business Development, and The Orvis Company, among others.