- Tell us a little about you
- I live in NYC with my husband, Willie, and our two kids, Lucie and George. I grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey and went to college at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve spent my career in a progression of news producing, public relations, marketing, branding, and design strategy positions. After taking four years off to raise my kids, I started two companies right around my 40th birthday.
True Geist is a consulting firm I run with Todd True, my old boss and Creative Director from Interbrand and Johnson & Johnson. We do brand strategy, logo design, naming and package design work for big corporate clients and work on many brands you use at home every day.
Boombox Gifts is my passion start-up, inspired by the memory boxes I made for my best friends’ 40th birthdays and my Dad’s 70th birthday. It’s an online boutique where you can shop for a beautiful memory box, and then digitally fill it with messages and photos for a loved one, either on your own or by inviting guests through our website. My amazing team designs every message onto 5×7 cards and creates the gift of a lifetime.
I also write children’s picture books. My first, Buddy’s Bedtime Battery, was published by Random House in 2016 and my second is on the way in 2019.
- What or who inspires you?
- My mom. I’ve watched her lose her parents by age 30, become the matriarch to her extended family and a parent to her handicapped sister, raise four kids, nurture her forever friendships and re-invent herself professionally several times in the process. Many of her friends are fully retired, but she is still working and traveling the world for her job. She has taught the Master Class of life just by living hers.
Also, my best friends from Vanderbilt, who are the “Founding Friends” behind Boombox. We’ve managed in the 20 years since college to stick together and make time for each other. I think it’s dangerous to let go of your ‘old’ self when you become a mom. Thankfully, my friends who had kids first didn’t set that example and made it okay to jump on the occasional plane without guilt or doubt.
- What is your best piece of parenting advice?
- Don’t keep score. Just don’t. When you spend your time tallying dirty diapers changed or nights spent out with clients, nobody will win. Just try to be kind, empathetic, honest and generous
with each other every day. - What is the worst piece of parenting advice you have heard?
- My kids are older now, but I heard a lot of bad bedtime advice when they were toddlers, constantly getting out of their beds once the “routine” was over. All of the bedtime books in our library were focused on putting other things to sleep, but not calming your own body down in a way my kids could grasp. So, I wrote Buddy’s Bedtime Battery about a little guy in his robot pajamas who powers his body down for bed, from his tushy to his toes, one BEEP! at a time. It’s inspired by Progressive Muscle Relaxation, a technique I learned in my High School
health & wellness class and never forgot. - What are some of your favorite parenting products?
- The robot jammies from my book were actually inspired the Baby Gap PJ’s my kids wore throughout toddlerhood. I loved the two-piece cotton sets and remember being so sad when both of my kids
grew out of their largest 5T size. - What is your best parenting hack?
- Oversized Ziplock bags! From goldfish crackers, to toiletries to that unexpected puke on a
bumpy car ride. They have never failed me. Not once. - What are some of your favorite TV shows, books, and foods?
- I’m biased, but I think Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist is the best show on TV. Seriously!
I love a juicy novel and just finished Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. It was great.
I’m a big believer in eating, so that’s an impossible question to answer. I can tell you my
Starbucks order – that’s easier. Grande nonfat extra hot chai. - What’s up next for you professionally?
- Boombox is on the cusp of a breakout year, so I’ll be rolling up my sleeves and making sure that we continue to exceed our customers’ expectations with exceptional service and obsessive attention to detail, even as we grow.
At True Geist, I hope to dive into some new global branding projects at the “big idea” development phase. I love it when clients ask us to challenge them, and I get the freedom to look at an old brand with fresh eyes.
I’ve got a year until my next book comes out. In the meantime, I will carve out time for author visits and story times at local schools. There’s no better way to test new ideas and no tougher audience than a room full of preschoolers or kindergarteners!
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