Interview With Tara M. Hernandez, Marketing & Communications Director at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR)

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tara M. Hernandez. She is the Marketing & Communications Director at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We talked about airport ownership structures, air service development, marketing strategies, branding, and a lot more.

Interview With Arnulfo Valdez, Investment Associate with Backstage Capital

I recently had the opportunity to interview Backstage Capital investment associate Arnulfo “Chacho” Valdez. Backstage Capital is a unique seed-stage investing firm that specializes in startups founded by founders who identify as women, person of color, and/or LGBTQ. We talked about entrepreneurship, startups, seed-stage investing, financial capital, and much more.

Interview with Matt Eames, President & CEO of Raleigh Marketing Consultants, Inc.

Earlier this evening, I had the opportunity interview Matt Eames from Raleigh Marketing Consultants, Inc. He is the President and CEO and leads a team of approximately 25 marketing and sales professionals. Raleigh Marketing Consultants is an outsourcing organization that provides marketing and sales services to large corporations.  We talked about outsourcing marketing efforts, business to business relationships, entrepreneurship lessons, and a lot more.  

Interview with Kristie VanAuken, Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement with The Research Triangle Park (RTP)

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kristie VanAuken. She is the Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement with The Research Triangle Park (RTP) here in North Carolina. She is an experienced marketing professional with an extensive background in airport marketing. We discussed the importance of marketing, misconceptions, marketing strategy, marketing in the airport industry and a lot more. 

New Material Coming Your Way!

Dear Reader,

Over the next few weeks, I will be focusing on many marketing related topics. I will be conducting marketing campaign analysis, interviewing marketing experts, exploring professional marketing services, and much more.

Also, I recently started reading Joan Magretta’s Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy. I will post reading reflection deemed necessary and relevant to the strategic marketing theme of the upcoming weeks.

I am in the process of coordinating a few interviews and look forward to sharing great insight into the crossroads of entrepreneurship, aviation, marketing and more!

Stay tuned!

-Jose F. Saavedra

Interview with Kristin & Cody Baciuska, Co-Founders of Loomacres Wildlife Management

I had the opportunity to interview Kristin Baciuska & Cody Baciuska. They are the Co-Founders of Loomacres Wildlife Management, a company specialized in providing wildlife management services to airports across the United States. We talked about the challenges of running a business in a niche market, wildlife management at airports, industry technology, innovation, the Miracle on the Hudson, and much more.