We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maureen Famiano. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maureen below.
Maureen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later?
I’m a big believer in timing. I loved what I was doing as a journalist working in morning show television as an executive producer. I never really gave an entrepreneurial spirit much thought. It came up only because guests to my shows would ask me to be their consultants over and over after I would help them with their messaging during their tv appearance. After so many said the same thing I thought perhaps that’s something I could/should try. So in doing so I began my business to offer a variety of options and then fine-tune what that looks like. I used my 35 years of broadcast experience to set my sights on giving clients the best they could get in terms of PR and Marketing along with Branding & Strategy ideas plus Media outreach. Because I was in the space of morning show television and received pitches daily for years, I knew what worked and didn’t work. I used that skill in in the reverse – I now pitched people to get great media exposure. The media liked what I pitched them in the ways that I pitched their uniqueness and that is great for my clients. So with all I’m doing now, yes I do wish I had started my business sooner. I’m following my passion & it’s a win/ win for my clients and me. Also earlier with a family and children, I might not have had the flexibility that I do know. It was a work family balance then. Now with older kids, I can pay more attention on this new business and grow it.
Maureen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I became interested in journalism in high school. And I pursued that career path and continue to do it to this very day. I love stories I love storytelling I love connections with people. And being a reporter I had the lucky skill to be a good listener and often have people open up to me. People can sense that I do care and am interested. That skill allowed me to be a good reporter and get exclusive stories and more. I channeled that storytelling into showcasing what’s going on daily in the news. Then I moved to producing newscasts. I oversaw an entire half hour of content & worked to inform viewers about what was going on. It allowed me to be creative, designing a newscast from
scratch daily. Every day was different. I loved it. But the negativity of news got to me after a while. There was more to tell, the positive stories that could impact people. I moved to special projects producing where we could tell more of a story with more time digging in a little deeper showcasing a little more. I loved it. But still I wanted more I wanted to move away from news and into more inspirational motivational educational tech programming.
I moved into morning show television. As the executive producer of the daytime show at NBC in Tampa for seven years, I could focus on telling those very stories. I would get those people on the show to showcase their unique quality or skill or purpose. We would do that everyday – it was quite rewarding. While I worked with celebrities who would come through town and they were great fun, it’s the everyday person doing something unique and remarkable that gave me great joy in showcasing. I decided to start my own business, because I wanted to help those very people who didn’t know how to get exposure and worked to elevate them and shine a spotlight on them. That’s why I’m doing in my business.
That’s my passion and clients enjoy what I do for them to take them to the next level. That brings me joy and fulfillment.
I also like to inspire others. I’m a cancer survivor and did not accept what surgeons were telling me my options were. I ask questions and I did what was best for me. I’ve shared that in a TEDx talk, I’ve written about it in a number one International Best Selling book called Step Into Your Brilliant Purpose. Locally, in my community, I’m often asked to emcee and host events to share my enthusiastic spirit with the community. That’s nice icing on the cake for a community I support so much.
Here is some background on making a difference with clients.
It is remarkable when a little bit of a focus can put that person or business or entrepreneur into the spotlight. I love when I did a story on wedding dresses and giving them away to Covid first responders. It was a story that I persued for nine months before that client was ready to move forward with it. I didn’t let the story die ( Before it even got off the ground ) because I knew of the potential. In the end 17 first responders and 40 educators all got wedding dresses. It was soo amazing and rewarding. It was a huge communty story and I got the client amazing coverage. It brings me great joy. Newsweek also picked up the story. That gives me great pride.
There was another story of a principal setting up a food pantry during Covid. It was early on when no one was doing such a thing. A friend reached out to see if I could put some canned goods on the mailbox as we all do when we need to help each other out. I asked why and digging in a little bit I found out about this principal. I then reached out to that principal to do some media outreach for her probono, just to spread the word. In the end my hope was kids would benefit by getting food they so desperately needed. We succeeded and it was a great community story and this person was even highlighted as a community hero during Covid. The cherry on the top was when the story got lots of attention, we were able to get traction with the Ellen DeGeneres Show. This woman was mentioned on the show and sent a financial contribution for her work. Now that’s pretty cool.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
You build a reputation in the community by doing what you say you do and delivering. It’s also important to be consistent and be persistent. I love storytelling .I love uncovering stories that need to be told. I get great results and the business gets new business and new supporters. It’s funny when I go to many networking events and people come up to me and say they like what I’m doing because I’m showcasing the unique and positive people and businesses. I love that and I take that as a very nice complement. You build your reputation by doing good things. It’s not one and done it’s consistently doing it over and over. And you don’t do things for accolades, you do things because it’s the right thing to do. In the community I do attend many networking events. And I’m invited to a lot. I show up, I listen & I’ll often reach out after to see if there’s something I can do. I have a motto
#together we win and I think people see that time and time again because if we lift others up, we’re all better together. It’s about positivity and kindness and making a difference.
I also have had the pleasure to take part in great projects and events. I’ve done a TEDx talk called, What If?! I’ve also co-authored two books. One is The BEST Business Minds in Tampa Bay, It hit #1 Best Selling status. The other is called, Step Into Your Brilliant Purpose, that is a #1 International Best Seller. Those events build my reputation and passion to make a difference and help others shine too.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
To not always be after a sale. It’s about more than a transaction. It’s about relationship building. I go to a lot of events and enjoy getting to know our community members. Networking can be so effective. That includes connecting with the desk clerk to the mid level executive to the chairman of the board. Often people enjoy hearing about what I do but they may not be ready to engage at that time and that is o.k. I do find though that they seem to be watching and tracking the successes I have. When I run into them again, they are eager to hear what’s new and all up to date on my business profiles and they bring up media wins and exposure. It’s fun to me when that happens because people are watching. At times, they then say they are ready to engage for their own media spotlight opportunities It is about timing and I don’t push it, if it should happen it will.
It is so important to be present, be authentic and be a good listener to hear about businesses, their journey’s and go from there. If you aren’t out there engaging, you can’t build your client portfolio and referral partners. That is also important. I refer people to those I trust. They do the same for me.
I have a few mottos #WhatIf #TogetherWeCan #TogetherWeWin These are all in play every day and the outcomes are.. well… pretty… rewarding.. remarkable.. and make a difference.
Contact Info:
- Website: MEFMedia.com
- Instagram: mef_media
- Facebook: Maureen Famiano & MEFMedia
- Linkedin: Maureen Famiano
- Youtube: Maureen Famiano
Image Credits
Maureen Famiano/MEFMedia