Photography & Portraits
In the 20 years that Washington, DC photographer Steve Barrett has been taking pictures, the likes of Michael Jordan, Margaret Thatcher, Hosni Mubarak, Spike Lee and Boris Yeltsin have found their way to the end of his lens. He has photographed George Clooney, James Earl Jones and Bill and Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain. His photos have been featured in Vanity Fair, Time, Newsweek, Fortune, USA Today and Washingtonian, among others business and general interest publications. His easy demeanor and artistic eye have helped him create gorgeous portraits of our Inkandescent PR clients. To schedule a photo shoot, contact Hope@InkandescentPR.com.
Photo by Steve Barrett, www.stevebarrettphotography.com
Washington DC, January 15, 2008 — Just days before Barack Obama’s Inauguration, luxury handbag designer Laura Lee Williams, owner of Laura Lee Designs, was featured on the noon broadcast of Washington DC’s ABC Affiliate News Channel 8 about the best accessories to carry for the big event.
Options, said the Northern Virginia-based designer, include her collection of styles, ranging from the M Bag, which measures 8×3 inches and has 3,500 beads — perfect for carrying make up, money and a cell phone — to the Positively Pink bag, which is like the M Bag and created to support breast cancer research. She also brought along her higher-end Sitting Pretty bag, a signature purse that’s big enough to handle all the goodies a woman might need to carry.
“It was a thrill to talk with Let’s Talk Live co-host Natasha Barrett about my handbags,” says Williams, who herself attended the Inauguration — and carried one of her favorite cocktail dress accessories, the midnight black M Bag.
Read More
With a master’s degree in international studies from Harvard University, Laura Lee Williams is a businesswoman with a flair for numbers and fashion. She’s worked for Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, American Express and Apple Computer. But when she was the vp of global business with Hong Kong’s Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW), she was inspired to create a company of her own.
In 2003, she launched the luxury handbag firm Laura Lee Designs, and ever since her stylishly appealing, fabulously chic handbags have adorned the arms and outfits of celebs including Desperate Housewives’ Eva Longoria, Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, and Touched by an Angel actress Roma Downey.
“Each bag is handmade with Nepalese fabrics, high quality satins and swirling patterns of Japanese beads,” Laura Lee explains. “Colorful snakeskin accentuates each bag and adds functional elegance to each piece. The bags are less an accessory and more a piece of wearable art. A Laura Lee Designs handbag captures individuality and verve. You definitely can’t be a wallflower and wear one of these bags!”
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
Before the City of Fairfax became an independent city, it was a town in Fairfax County and the schools were part of the Fairfax County (FCPS) system. When the town moved to city status in 1961, state law required that a local school board be organized to govern the schools.
A School Services Agreement was entered into with FCPS to continue to manage and operate the schools; the City School Board and Superintendent oversee this Agreement and are responsible for the management of the school buildings owned by the City. Key Elements of the Schools Services Agreement can be found here: City-County Connection.
Today, the City of Fairfax School Board consists of five elected officials who help guide the City Schools in legislative and other school business. Pictured here they include (from left): Chairman Janice Miller, Vice Chairman Jon Buttram, Toby Sorensen, Julie Knight, and Elisa Lueck. Each year, a senior from Fairfax High is chosen to be the Student Representative. This year that is Jonathan Earley.
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
Educational leader and City of Fairfax resident Ann Monday became Superintendent of the City of Fairfax Schools on July 1, 2007.
“We are pleased and excited that Mrs. Monday has agreed to become our new Superintendent,” said City School Board Chairman Janice Miller. “Her background and experience are unparalleled, and we know she will be a wonderful leader of our four schools and will continue to work with Fairfax County Public Schools to enrich academic programs for our students.”
Monday retired on June 30 as the Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), a district she has worked in since 1973 when she became a teacher at Kilmer Intermediate School in Vienna. She then served as chairperson of the English department at Chantilly High School from 1976-1980, when she became an administrative aide at Marshall High and subsequently a subschool principal at Lake Braddock High School.
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
Alice Waagen, PhD, is president and founder of Workforce Learning, LLC, a leadership development company which since 1997 has provided managers and C-level executives with the skills and knowledge they need to build a more productive work environment.
Since earning a BS in Art Education from New York State College at Buffalo, and MS and PhD degrees in Art Education from Pennsylvania State University, Alice has conducted hundreds of workshops and training classes at many of the country’s Fortune 500 companies and top nonprofit organizations, as well as at government agencies in the Washington DC area. In just the last three years, more than 55 leaders from 20 regional organizations have graduated from her unique leadership development workshop series.
Giving back to the community is also important to Alice, who currently serves on the District Training Committee for Boy Scouts of America as well as on the Boards of Directors for the Human Resources Leadership Forum and for Habitat for Humanity, Northern VA.
Read More
What do Apple, Pfizer, Kellogg, ExxonMobil, Chase, Wells Fargo, Homeland Security, USA Today and ABC News have in common? When it comes to training, developing and motivating their greatest asset, their people, they turn to Steven B. Wiley and the The Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg.
“We are dedicated to serving as a resource for individuals, teams and organizations who find themselves having to perform or produce in a stressful and rapidly changing environment with limited resources and limited information,” explains Steven B. Wiley, president and founder of The Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg.
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
Steven B. Wiley is an entrepreneur, author, and highly acclaimed speaker who has influenced and entertained tens of thousands of top executives from around the world. Without exception, he receives the highest ratings possible from his audiences. His business experience includes the founding of three companies: two international franchise organizations and a national chain of fleet management centers.
He has successfully negotiated multi-million dollar funding agreements for his own companies with some of the top venture capital organizations in the world. His strong leadership ability has earned him recognition in top publications including Venture Magazine, USA Today, and Entrepreneur magazine.
Steve’s speaking experience includes three years as National Spokesperson for the Quaker Oats/Pritikin Longevity Centers for whom he has been featured in television commercials and advertisements in the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and New York Times. Over the past ten years he has conducted thousands of seminars on negotiation, sales leadership and wellness for numerous public and private sector organizations.
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
Angela Sontheimer is the Managing Director of the Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg. She has a background in institutional advancement and has worked extensively in events management, and is a graduate of Gettysburg College. In 2009, Angela finished her Masters degree in Leadership and Liberal Studies at Duquesne University.
Along with Steve, Angela developed and created A Transformational Journey from Gettysburg.
“This intimate, small group program explores several customized case studies of your choosing while providing participants with a unique team-building opportunity,” Sontheimer says. “The Journey actually begins long before setting foot in the Gettysburg area. Participants prepare for their experience through compelling pre-session readings and an optional battery of assessment tools.”
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Essential HR Handbook: A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional is a 250-page reference guide, published in the fall of 2008 by Career Press.
It is a must-have for everyone who deals with employees on a daily basis, believe Mitchell and Armstrong. They wrote the book because, as human resource professionals with decades of experience, they wanted to shed light on the issues that keep managers up at night.
“Human resource professionals are not only charged with resolving labor issues,” explains Mitchell, who worked for Marriott Corporation and several technology firms in the Washington DC area before launching her own company‚ The Millennium Group International‚ in 1998. “We also help acquire, train, appraise, and make sure employees are fairly compensated, while attending to their concerns about labor relations, health and safety, and fairness.”
“It’s a big job, but we make it easier by outlining guidelines and best practice recommendations in the 12 chapters of our book,” adds Armstrong, who began her career in human resources in 1985 as a recruiter/trainer in a large Manhattan law firm before launching Sharon Armstrong and Associates in 2000. “Whether you are a newly promoted manager, a seasoned business owner, or a human resources professional, knowing the ins and outs of dealing with HR issues is critical to your success.”
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
Sharon Armstrong began her career in human resources in 1985 as a recruiter/trainer in a large Manhattan law firm. She took over as Director of HR at the DC firm Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge in 1991, and in 1994 became the Director of HR and Administration at the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
In 2000, she opened her own firm, Sharon Armstrong & Associates, and since has consulted with many large corporations and small businesses. She has facilitated training, completed HR projects and provided career transition services for a wide variety of clients in the profit and non-profit sectors. Her firm also serves as a brokerage house for other HR professionals.
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
Barbara Mitchell is a human resources and organization development consultant who is widely known as an expert in the areas of recruitment and retention. She has experience in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors and has consulted to a variety of organizations around the world.
She served in senior human resources leadership positions with Marriott International and several technology firms in the Washington DC area before co-founding the Millennium Group International, LLC (TMG) in 1998, which she sold in 2008.
She recently served on the Society of Human Resource Management as a Special Expert Panel on Consulting and Outsourcing in recognition of her expertise and long service to the HR profession. Barbara is a graduate of North Park University, Chicago, IL, with a degree in history and political science and has taken graduate level courses at UCLA. Contact Barbara by email: barbaramitchell@comcast.net.
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs, Inkandescent PR
Michael Gibbs has been a freelance illustrator since the early ’80s. After majoring in architecture for a year at the University of Maryland, he attended Pratt Institute as a photography major, switching to illustration in his final year.
Michael’s style has evolved from traditional painting to a unique blend of traditional and digital techniques, with frequent forays into purely digital illustration. He was an early devotee of the Macintosh, Photoshop and digital illustration, and has been using the Mac and Photoshop since shortly after they were introduced in 1984. His work has been featured in books on illustration and design skills, including Information Graphics and Visual Clues [Rockport Press] and Step-by-Step Graphics.
Read More
Chef Kim Katz Alvarez is the co-owner of the hot new Latin American restaurant Avenida, www.avenidarestaurant.com in Mt. Airy, PA.
A graduate of Syracuse University’s restaurant management program and the two-year chef program at the Culinary Institute of America, cooking has been her passion since she was 7.
Kim says: “I clearly remember the day my mom enrolled me in a cooking class at Bloomingdales in Jenkintown, PA. It was Thanksgiving time, and our first assignment was to make homemade stuffing. My cousin Brandi was also in the class, and she also liked all the tearing of the bread and combining it with the wet ingredients using her fingers. But I loved it.”
Read More
I grew up on a ranch in Guatemala, and the one thing that is etched in my memory is the scene of my grandmother, aunts and mother preparing a meal in the kitchen. It was an all-day affair, for we were a giant family and when breakfast ended all the women in the family would go off to the market to buy the freshest produce, meat and fish for lunch and dinner. They did not have much to spend, but la comida was always full of love and flavor.
I remember my mother plucking fresh chickens in the yard. She would cut up tons of vegetables and then toss everything in a giant pot. It would simmer just long enough to bring out the most mouthwatering flavors. She was truly an amazing chef, although she would never consider herself one, she taught me everything I know. I watched closely the way she would add some of this and not too much of that. She gave me a love for good, healthy, hearty food just the kind I prepare today.
When I came to this country, I worked as a sous chef at some of the best restaurants in Philadelphia, including the original Dock Street, the four-star restaurant, The Striped Bass and the gourmet Chinese restaurant Susanna Foo. I had the opportunity to work under the excellent chefs who cooked there, as well as Phillippe Chin and Keong Bahn, when I worked at Phillippe.
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett
www.stevebarrett photography.com photography.com
When Stephanie Cohen, CEO of the health benefits firm Golden & Cohen, decided it was time to launch a PR campaign, she hired Inkandescent PR to help. The first step was to get great new pictures of herself and her partners: husband and COO Scott Golden (left) and her brother CFO Jack Cohen.
“Steve was a real professional,” said Stephanie of the photo shoot. “He made us feel relaxed, but kept us in line. That’s not always easy, but he managed it. Scott, Jack and I are thrilled with the results.”
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
Since co-founding the Gaithersburg, MD health care benefits firm Golden & Cohen in 1992, Stephanie Cohen has helped it grow into one of the largest female-owned companies in the Washington metropolitan region.
With more than two decades of experience in small group health insurance, disability programs and life insurance, she was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, serves on the prestigious United HealthCare, Coventry, Aetna and Kaiser Broker Council and is a member of the Womens’ President Organization, the District of Columbia Insurance Commissioner Advisory Council and The Greater Washington Health Underwriters.
Read More
Jack Cohen graduated from the University of Maryland in 1991 with a degree in consumer economics. Soon after, he founded Nu Image construction, which quickly grew into a 50-employee firm that generated $3 million in annual sales.
Jack joined Golden & Cohen in 1997 as its Chief Financial Officer, and has instituted new technologies and efficiencies that have helped the company increase revenue by more than 20 percent a year. Jack is married and has 3 children.
For more information about the insurance brokerage firm Golden & Cohen, visit www.golden-cohen.com contact Jack Cohen by email at jack@golden-cohen.com.
Read More
Photo by Steve Barrett Photography
Bio by Hope Katz Gibbs
Scott Golden is recognized as an industry leader in the small to mid-size insurance market, and ranks among the area’s top producers according to the Washington Business Journal’s Annual List.
He received a BS in Marketing from the University of Maryland in 1985, an MBA from George Washington University in 1990, and later a JD and LLM in taxation from the University of Baltimore. His advanced academic and legal degrees enable him to evaluate local and national mandates in conjunction with helping his clients prepare and implement the proper strategy.
Read More
Michael Gibbs has been a freelance illustrator and designer since attending Pratt Institute as a photography and illustration major in the mid-70s. His award-winning artwork has appeared in Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Worth Magazine, Consumer Reports, Harvard Business Review, and publications for United Airlines, Verizon, IBM, Sears, American Airlines, CitiGroup and Oracle. He has also illustrated the covers and features of dozens of alumni magazines including Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, the University of Chicago and American University.
His illustrations have been recognized by prestigious art publications such as Communication Arts, 3×3 Magazine, Print, and Spectrum. His work has also been exhibited at a variety of museums and galleries including the Society of Illustrator’s Museum of American Illustration in New York City, the Billy Shire Fine Arts Gallery in Los Angeles, and in Washington area at the Corcoran Museum of Art, the Sumner School Museum, Montgomery College Gallery and the University of Maryland Gallery.
View Michael’s portfolio at www.michaelgibbs.com
Discover his award-winning alter ego M Glenwood at www.mglenwood.com.
Read More