Snoety is my re-discovery
Starting out in San Francisco as a youthful, pretty attractive, 5′ high “career girl,” I was told at an ad agency interview: “Sorry, we only hire tall blonds.” That sent me to typing a diatribe that was never published. Ever since I’ve had this fantasy of writing about observations, interests and life’s surprises. This was the germ that evolved into Secrets no one ever told you™ (snoety’s™ the acronym), which just goes to prove that you can go back again — even if it’s a long circuitous route.
Snoety™ started out as a book series about all those things women talk about over long and intimate dinners. It transitioned into a “magablog” to encourage all of us to stay on top of what’s going on … be open to new ideas … share thinking … be more “enlightened,” serious and frivolous — all at the same time.
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 to have the health and the time to reinvent ourselves (or at least improve upon the model)! Hope you’ll enjoy.
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 5 years ago. (We’ve since separated but are still friends and continue to work together.) We also remain 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, then, 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 Devin, now an entrepreneur with his own venture, Beex.org. With his dad from Johannesburg, South Africa, we were fortunate to travel to a lot. This 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: 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!)