Overview

Mixman is an interactive music technology company with products for consumers and music-hobbyists. In the marketplace since 1996, Mixman has made: desktop software, hardware with partner Mattel, and brokered major artist label content for use with all its products. Mixman had its own section on MTV for two years for “Remixing.” Mixman has been bundled with major tech partners like Intel and SONY, and has done myriad licensing deals. Mixman has also been involved in brand partnerships and marketing tours with Yahoo, Pepsi-Frito-Lay, Hershey’s and M&M Mars among others.

Mixman has innovated online and with Apps, launching social-networking and self-publishing in the late 90’s and early 00’s long before the term “social networking” even existed.

Role

I was Mixman’s CEO for 12+ years after I and my partners engineered a buy-back in 2002. After a dot.com merger in ‘99 I was Mixman GM and VP of Creative for Beatnik Inc. (the parent company). I was Director of Product Development when I started with Mixman in early 1997.

Under my leadership, Mixman activities included: patents and trademarks, website development and launches, branding, packaging, ad-campaigns, social-marketing, event-marketing, retail sales, licensing, localization, 100’s of software releases and a great deal more.

I have been involved with all aspects of Mixman, from high-level strategy to innovation to implementation. Whether negotiating licensing deals or supervising a new product line, I brought my leadership and vast experience to bear. I bring that know-how, as well as the practical experience of being in a start-up environment, to every new business challenge and opportunity.

Overview

Urban Cowgirl is a lifestyle brand for women with a focus on color cosmetics and beauty. It had a flagship location in Silicon Valley, and wanted to achieve distribution with high end retailers in NYC, Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Press tours in NYC and trunk tours in Atlanta, Dallas and elsewhere proved very promising. Henri Bendel and others showed interest but help was needed closing. R&D² was brought in to help expand and re-imagine the brand and to develop new business strategies as well as look for licensing opportunities.

Role

R&D² worked closely with Urban Cowgirl’s founder to create new business and marketing initiatives, providing creative ideation, strategic planning and tactical implementation. An affiliate program was created for young women known as the “Posse-Girls.” A social strategy was put in place for a section of the website titled the “Giddi-Up Lounge,” and a variety of other programs were developed, including a first person series “A Day in the Life of the Urban Cowgirl…”

I helped the founder form a board that included an ex-VP of Marketing/CFO of Avon, and turned Urban Cowgirl in to a C-Corp. I assisted with negotiations with a factory in China that manufactured cosmetics and was looking for US partnerships.

R&D² reworked a home-spun website and developed a comprehensive CMS solution with e-commerce that provided both scalability and flexibility. SEO as well as FB and Twitter strategies were put in place. New product lines were developed including “5 Minutes to Gorgeous,” “La Belle d’ Henri,” and a line of fragrances.

Overview

ONCEKids/Fujimini Adventure Series are the brands for a children’s book author and blogger/personality who writes for parents. The books emphasize pan-Asian cultural themes. Several e-books and print books were in the marketplace, and a crude website was in place when R&D² was brought in to develop the brands more fully and create new designs and web assets. The client required Biz-Dev and Marketing strategies as well as assistance with implementation for the duration of the project.

Role

I worked closely with the founder and author to re-imagine her vision for her business and brands. I unpacked the awkwardness of trying to have one brand serve the parent audience and provide information and materials for librarians and classroom teachers and another brand that was targeted to children ages 4 to11. I helped reveal that not only were two brands needed, but that the Fujimini brand – with a series of books based on animal creatures – was analogous to Sesame Street, where the location was the constant.

For the duration of the project I provided most of the marketing direction and a variety of consulting and implementation services including a full visual catalyst branding effort for both brands; full design of logos, colors and visual language; design and layout for the site; and print collateral – as well as a CMS web solution that could be administered on an ongoing basis by internal teams.

Overview

Wu Wei Tea Temple is a retail business that offers a café atmosphere and sells a variety of unique high-end teas, Kava, bone-broths and other food and drink items. The business also offers pre-packaged items, bulk teas and miscellaneous non-food items for sale. It is a sole proprietorship.

The venue also programs a variety of arts and culture activities.

Role

I have been providing business consulting for the owner since she opened her doors in May 2015. I have done monthly reviews of her financials, and advised on a variety of aspects of her business with regard to: costs, margins, personnel, offerings and marketing.

I have also managed arts programming for the business. This includes music, dance, spoken word, and other performance arts. Artists and cultural speakers have included artist performer Sha Sha Higby, visionary activist Caroline Casey, Fringe Festival actress Shelley Mitchell, Jazz singer Jenna Mammina and members of the faculty at Ali Akbar College of Music (Indian Classical). I helped curate two shows of visual art with artist opening nights including environmental artist Andres Amador.

Overview

Luminous4D is a studio that develops content and applications for VR/AR/MR (virtual, augmented and mixed reality). The Founders have over 30 years in 3D content and have worked on many projects with notable clients. They have been developing their own titles under their own name and are shifting from a studio-for-hire to a start-up.

Role

I have been working closely with the founders to hone and develop a strategy to transition from studio to start-up. There is a very exciting new business initiative that has both a consumer focus and an educatioanl technology focus. I’m very involved in forming these plans including preparing for investors. Working with key partners like MS and MCOE (Marin County Office of Eductation), Tech Futures and others. We are building a team of education experts (Harvard PhDs) and academics studying data and machine learning in an educational context.

Overview

Dollface Beauty is a San Anselmo based retail/brick and mortar providing a variety of aesthetician and beauty services.

Role

I have worked closely with the owner on financials, marketing, employee issues, navigating the Pandemic and preparing the business for possible franchising or expansion in Southern California.

Overview

Taxpertise is a Sonoma-based accounting, book keeping and payroll professional service with 5 employees and run by an enrolled agent and author.

Role

I have advised the owner on her marketing, and helped her develop her web and social presence. I also provided consulting with a series of books she wrote including “Taxpertise – Dirtly Little Secrets the IRS doesn’t want you to know”.

Overview

Bacchanal Wine Experience is the brand for a noted Wine educator and Sommelier. Bacchanal offers a variety of curated wine events, workshops, classes and private Sommelier services in the greater-Bay-Area.

Role

I have worked closely with the founder on branding, programming, and business model for larger curated events as well as how to add a team, while navigating the legal parameters of alcohol based events.

Overview

BuildingSkills4Work™ is an initiative that R&D² spearheaded in collaboration with the Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee and the Center for Women and Work housed at Rutgers University. The initiative provided free online work-skill training for soft and hard skills for low literacy adults, prison re-entry population, and out-of-school youth.

R&D² developed a white paper that reviewed the landscape and made recommendations for a web-based skills development initiative. This led to a grant from the State of New Jersey to develop a prototype and, ultimately, to a large grant from the Nicholson Foundation to create BS4W.

In BS4W we wanted to achieve a low-friction access web-based environment that could house interactive learning modules, job search resources and front-end portal to existing resources, and a social forum for collaborative support and to encourage cohort learning.

We determined that the lesson modules needed to depict people in simulated real world job environments via dialog and work-scenarios, and that the lessons needed to be interactive with a high level of engagement.

The Center for Literacy Studies provided the raw script and curricular materials while R&D² adapted those materials to create a usable format, provide a good learner experience, and create a visual and stylistic consistency utilizing good user experience models.

Role

My role was multi-faceted. Having done the original research, I developed a strong sense of what was missing from available web-based skill development programs and what was needed for the target population. I determined that adult learners had specific challenges and needed to not feel this was merely remedial. We had to provide a quality audio-visual experience. We employed some novel approaches with photography, voice-over, vector design and Flash programming to develop the actual modules. We also developed a LAMPS solution for user-accounts and progress tracking. The website was built to be scalable and to allow us to add the other components over time.

I worked closely with CWW, CLS, and the funder. I led focus group testing in Newark, NJ and Oklahoma City as well as in the Bay Area. The creative, brand, design and coding were done under my supervision and executed by my teams. I presented the project scope and goals at a national conference in Washington D.C. and later at a conference on work issues in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

A small marketing campaign was also spearheaded by R&D², and we created print collateral for learners and educators. Plans for expanding BS4W were stymied by the economic collapse in 2008 as funding for our target population dried up.

Overview

sf|noir is a presenting arts and culture non-profit that highlights the contributions and innovations of African American artists, performers, thinkers, artisans and cultural figures. R&D² has been actively involved in helping shape the brand, growing the organization, expanding the audience base and generally fulfilling the organization’s mission since its inception.

Role

As a hands-on Board Chair for 9 years, I worked closely with the Executive Director on advancing the vision, growing the organization, strategy and implementation.

Some specific examples:

• Securing sponsors and managing relationships with organizations such as Comcast, McDonalds, PG&E, Wells Fargo and Starbucks
• Development efforts including grant writing for the Zellerbach Foundation, Fort Mason Foundation, SF Arts Commission, and Grants for the Arts
• Managing the relationship with AAACC (African American Arts and Culture Complex) which acted as fiscal sponsor for several years
• Using my extensive network to help bring in programing content, including award winning journalist Tony Norman, multi-disciplinary artist and academic Thylias Moss, and musicians including Kitundu and various Jazz artists
• Securing a Public Service Announcement from Senator Barbara Boxer
• Assisting in the development of educational programming; working with my contacts at Zeum

R&D²’s team of designers and web engineers developed print collateral and several websites for sf|noir including Flash-based and CMS, adhering closely to the brand directives. R&D² consulted on social marketing and subscription models.

Overview

Not Just a Number was a social-justice initiative addressing the Homicide Epidemic in inner cities. The first city was Oakland California. The project was developed by 49^th Parallel Productions – new media journalists and rich-media story tellers. R&D² collaborated closely and provided consultant services.

The project focused on the humanity of victims of homicide. NJN as a project engaged with the families and community and allowed people to share their stories. An interactive rich-media website was developed that provided key statistics and information on the topic of homicide in the inner city.

An Interactive Map was implemented to indicate the location of each homicide with its date and a non-police photo of the victim. Each photo is a prompt to learn more about the victim and leads to audio or video of the family member sharing their story and remembrances.

The initiative was designed to be a template both in terms of branding and as a technology platform that could expand from city to city. The idea was to train community members to take ownership of the content.

Role

49^th Parallel are experienced video, photo-journalism and documentary creatives. R&D² worked closely with 49^th, consulting on the unfolding vision and implementation including the interactive website. I was also tasked with exploring funding opportunities and acquiring a fiscal sponsor as well as helping to create materials used for dissemination and to generate interest in the project locally and elsewhere in the country. I initiated proposals with contacts in Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey.

Overview

Autumn De Forest is a 16 year old painter (2018), who has been painting and selling her works since she was 6 years old. She is affiliated with Park West Gallery and has sold over $1,000,000 worth of her art. She has appeared on televsion nationally and internationally over 150 times. She has been featured in print and online including Huffington Post, Teen Vogue and more. She is the youngest artist to have a solo exhibition at a major museum, the Butler Museum of American Art (April 2016). Most notably, in November 2015 Autumn received the Giuseppe Sciacca Award for Painting and Art in Rome and presented a painting to Pope Francis at the Vatican in public, which will reside in the Vatican Museum.

Autumn has donated paintings for various causes including Sandy Hook, Fukishima and Haiti relief, and has appeared in schools to talk to other children and youth. She was appointed as the youngest member of the President’s Commission on the Arts and Humanities and also participates in Turn Around Arts appointed by Michelle Obama.

Role

I have been advising the family on a variety of matters but particularly assisting them in creating a non-profit foundation that would enable Autumn to expand her philanthropic activity. I am currently the President of The Autumn de Forest Foundation (2018). I have worked with the family to clarify the mission, define the activities of the foundation, and develop an overall strategic plan to raise funds and secure an endowment. I have managed the legal matters with regard to corporate formation and serve on the board

I am driving forward our marquee initiative [Face Values] in which Autumn leads young people all over the country in creating actual paintings on canvas that are self-portraits. Besides the self-empowerment achieved, I am working with corporate partners to develop an entrepreneurial component that will generate revenue for 529-educational savings accounts..

I work closely with the Autumn and her family on branding for both her .com and .org and with developing an integrated marketing and social marketing strategy.

Overview

Founded in the early 2000’s, the Praxis Peace Institute has been focused on exploring the varying causal factors that prevent us from achieving sustainable peace. These analyses include, economic, environmental and cultural and how they intertwine. The organization puts on themed conferences, has year long speaker-series, workshops, classes and the newly formed Peope’s Think Tank. Praxis has built a 10 year relationship with the Mondragon Community in the Baaque region of Spain and procures a yearly visit for activists, academics, and people interested in the leading cooperative model in the world..

Role

I have worked with the Executive Director to formulate a 3 year strategic plan. I have been providing guidance on how to better demonstrate the important work that is done at Praxis and to reach a greater audience and increased dissemination. I have also helped the Director update the Mission and articulate the vision after 17 years as some changes in emphasis have occured. I also provide advising on how to better integrate technology and digital strategies. I provide targeted development work to increase capacity.

Overview

The Hive Marin was a Marin-based multi-themed community center with programming that ranged from wellness and self-development, to political activism and creative expression. Founded by a former educator and wellness provider, The Hive Marin took over the space formerly held by the Circle Center in San Rafael California, and offered a variety of events, workshops, classes as well as performances and gatherings. (unfortunately, the center could not survive the Pandemic)

Role

I worked closely with the founder of The Hive Marin as well as the founder of the former Circle Center who was involved with the transition on developing the core concept, the vision and defining how the different topics would come together under one umbrella. I assisted with fiscal sponsor, subscriber models, programming, infrastructure and was a regular advisor to the founder as she launched the center.

Overview

PayDay Report was founded by a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania labor journalist and activist. He has reported on worker actions in a variety of states across America. The focus of PaDay Report, is on under-reported and neglected news on labor issues, union actions and promoting key issues for workers in varying sectors.

Role

I have worked closely with Mike on both fund raising strategies, dissemination strategies, and providing overall consulting within the framework of his budget and goals.

Overview

Sonoma County-based Symmetry Entertainment & Design has been producing a variety of dance, circus arts, character-themed performances at festivals, special events, private estates and in theaters and community centers for over a decade. The founder and now Artistic Director has been expanding the range of programming to include classes, camps, workshops and educational offerings for the community at-large and home and independent schools.

Role

R&D² has been working closely with Founder and Artistic Director to add the non-profit component and develop a fund-raising strategy. I have led the formation of an advisory board (with an eye toward a future real-board for attaining full 501-C-3 status). I have helped Symmetry Arts obtain a fiscal agent with Marin Link, and the Artistic Director and I are working on the strategic plan for 2023; advising on programming, marketing, organization building and development. I have also been helping the founder on the for-profit side helping to load-balance and built a support staff while maximizing the revenue.

Overview

Marin based Indie Alley, started as a brick and mortar co-location facility offering networking and infrastructure for independent workers who wanted to get outside of the home office. The owner also has been active in creating a variety of offerings for community engagement and has run a series of curated events, guest speakers and networking – with emphasis on women entrepreneurs.

Role

I have worked closely with the founder on both fund raising strategies and dissemination strategies, and providing overall consulting within the framework of his budget and goals. I have explored foundations and grants and been a sound board at various times for actions.