Contributor Bio's
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Caroline Callaway, Owner, Principal (Specializes in traditional public and media relations)
Since beginning her career in public relations, Caroline Callaway has worked with clients in industries ranging from technology, travel, fashion, hospitality and sports to financial, municipal, marketing and community service. Staying true to the meaning of public relations, Caroline’s passion lies in working with people and building a brand for her clients through established media relationships and great story ideas that turn into feature articles.
Caroline’s efforts have secured clients placements on the front cover of high-tech magazines, on the six o’clock evening news, in the business section of the local newspaper, and in feature articles in national trade magazines. Caroline has received awards for her writings in trade publications and she earned Six Sigma certification during her time with Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems. Most recently, Caroline was named a finalist for the San Diego Business Journal’s 2008 Women Who Mean Business Awards and enjoys speaking to small business owners about public relations strategies. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in public and interpersonal communications.
Anne Carr, Account and Social Media Director (Specializes in social media)
No stranger to public relations or the advertising industry, Anne naturally views life through a creative lens and problem-solving mindset. Supporting clients in the biotechnology, fashion, business, advertising, health and fitness, education and technology industries, Anne enjoys using her creativity and sharp communication skills to tell a client’s story to the world through traditional PR and social media.
While obtaining a B.A. in Creative Writing and a minor in Communications at the University of Arizona, she was able to advance her writing skills and indulge in classroom discussions about Austin, Hemingway, Thackeray and Shakespeare. Anne embraced college life through her involvement with Sigma Kappa Sorority, Campus Crusade for Christ, Greek Venture, and student government.
Her passion for stories escalated outside of the university setting by crafting press releases, communicating with the media, and brainstorming creative concepts during her time at a boutique advertising and public relations agency in Tucson, AZ. Additionally, Anne’s event-planning, sales, and promotional experience equip her to realize the full potential of each client. In her spare time, Anne enjoys serving as a guest lecturer at Mira Costa College in San Diego.
Michael Reid is a consultant with Heartland Payment Systems. Beginning his career in 1994; he specializes in payment processing solutions for small business. These specialty arenas include credit card processing, payroll processing, check processing, as well as gift and loyalty card program design and implementation. He has established more than 3,500 merchant accounts covering industries such as restaurant, retail, lodging, mail/phone order, home based, and non-profit.
Michael’s passion is helping business owners maximize revenue and eliminate headaches in the processing non-cash payments. This includes teaching a monthly workshop at the Economic Development Training Institute, a small business incubator in Camp Springs, Maryland.
Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Michael has a BBA in Finance & International Business from Howard University in Washington DC.
Robin Smith is the managing partner of the Midlothian office of The Entrepreneur's Source.
She became a franchisee because of her desire to help people achieve their career dreams and because of the opportunity for personal growth she knew was possible with this organization. She is a graduate of the E-Source Academy, an intense and rigorous training program on coaching, franchising and self-employment options.
Robin is the Chairperson for the Richmond Women’s Franchising Committee. She has served on the advisory panel for Bizworks Enterprise Development center, a small business incubator. She is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Capital Area Workforce Investment Board, whose mission is to increase private sector employment opportunities and to ensure there is a trained local workforce to meet those opportunities. Robin co-chairs the community involvement committee for a local chapter of the American Business Women’s Association. She also serves on the Board of Directors for a local charity.
Prior to joining The Entrepreneur's Source she was an internal consultant for Capital One Financial Services. Prior to Capital One, Robin was an engineer and an engineering manager for Corning, Inc. at their optical fiber manufacturing facilities in NC. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Ceramic Engineering from Rutgers University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
Jessica Kunkel has spent most of her adult life in college, either as a student or an instructor. She completed an M.A. in U.S. History at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, in 2004, the same place she finished her B.A., in 2002. Jessica taught freshman history courses at Texas Tech University for three years following the completion of her M.A. She currently updates a daily blog and answers questions about college at her website, http://www.jessicakunkel.com/.
Vince Chew is currently managing the Asia Pacific IT operations for Global Refund Group. He has more than 15 years of solid hands-on Infrastructure and Operations Management experience in Semiconductors, Manufacturing and Finance industry.
Vince is a certified project management professional (PMP) with over 10 years of project management experience. He has consistently delivered quality solutions in Business-IT alignment, financial transaction and service platform, ERP system, office automation, system migrations.
Being fluent in both English and Chinese languages, Vince had spent considerable part of his professional life in China managing and transforming IT Operations to align with business strategy.
Vince holds a Bachelor of IT degree from University of Southern Queensland and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Leicester.
Ben Hatten is a Co-Founder of Legal River, an online marketplace that empowers small businesses to find the Right lawyer. Prior to Legal River, Ben worked at companies of varying sizes, ranging from Fortune 200 to a start up with less than 10 employees. Ben brings a unique perspective to the hurdles that entrepreneurs face when starting and growing their business. Ben received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and his Masters of Business Administration from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.
Gayle Buske is the co-founder, president and CEO of Team Double-Click and VirtualAssistingUSA. As the head of a virtual staffing agency with 63,000+ virtual professionals in its pool, Ms. Buske is uniquely qualified to aid small business owners in their growth and development through virtual outsourcing. Virtual Assistants across the globe look to Ms. Buske and her organizations for guidance, mentoring and motivation. Her Facebook group for Virtual Assistant mentoring is http://budurl.com/VAMentoring .
Team Double-Click®, the country’s foremost staffing agency for trained Virtual Assistants - Matching Top Virtual Workers with Top Companies! Visit http://www.teamdoubleclick.com for a variety of full-service virtual staffing options.
VirtualAssistingUSA provides virtual assistants a place to upload their profile, advertise their services and get access to affordable training, marketing and billing assistance for their business. VirtualAssistingUSA gives small business owners direct access to our database of tens of thousands of virtual assistants - without the ongoing agency fees and gives them access to talent that is not available through other venues. Visit http://www.virtualassistingusa.com for more information.
