Snoety is my re-discovery
When I started out in San Francisco as a young, pretty attractive but 5′ high “career girl,” an ad agency refused to hire me saying: “Sorry, we only hire tall blonds.” (Obviously, in those days, sexual discrimination was a factor.) That sent me to typing a diatribe that was never published. Ever since I’ve had this fantasy of writing about observations and life’s surprises. One very determined girlfriend spurred me on. That was the germ that became Secrets no one ever told you™ (snoety™ for short), which just goes to prove that you can go back again — even if it’s a long circuitous route.
The Snoety™ concept started out as a book series about all those things women talk about over dinner with a girlfriend. It evolved into a website envisioned as a tome to experience. And — surprise to me — it transitioned into a “magablog” that I hope you’ll think is interesting, intriguing and a lot of fun … a way to learn and to vent and to find new resources.
Snoety™ is a celebration of “us” and a re-commitment to all those things we never quite get around to; after all, we’re the first generation lucky enough to have the health and the time to do it!
What I did before . . .
Ask about branding, positioning, messaging, perceptions, and women, and I’ve got answers. That was my focus for 20+ years - working with companies from Avon to HBO to Saks to Sony. Partnering with my husband, Frankfurt Balkind had offices in NY, San Francisco, LA, and even DC for a minute. Our group won every industry award, but of more interest to us, it was on the cutting edge - cable, telecoms, networking, digital documents, the internet, the rise and rise and rise and fall of the dot.coms and their re-emergence … don’t even ask. It was a great trip, and we sold and completed our contracts 2 years ago. (We’re still partners with movie marketing group Bemis Balkind in LA).
Earlier in my life, I was impacted by those quintessentially U.S. social movements . . . born and raised in Little Rock as the integration crisis peaked; at university as the Vietnam draft got underway; began career in San Francisco in time for free speech, legalized abortion, the pill, the pot, Haight Ashbury, and woman’s lib; moved to New York City and worked in video, marketing, pr, and brand strategy; married husband who was my client in a marketing company I was getting off the ground, Harriett Levin Associates.
My most personal life-changing moment (and the best thing I ever did) was to have and raise our son, now a senior in college. With a husband from Johannesburg, South Africa, I’ve been fortunate to travel a lot. This has provided amazing experiences, wondrous cultural reference points and an expanded vision of how people and things operate in our world.
I hope you’ll join me on my journey of on-going personal movement . . . and hope to encourage you on your own.
Lots of thanks for friends who’ve helped
My brand and my site would have never gotten off the ground if it hadn’t been for friends who encouraged, counseled and bugged me — conceptually and creatively. Many thanks to: Aubrey Balkind, Devin Balkind, Kent Hunter, Steven Fabrizio, Natalie Lam, Jeff Parker, Susan Fine, and Arline Vogel. They truly went above and beyond the call (and still do!)
