The Doctor Is In: Wonder Woman in Business, Angela Meyer, Ph.D.

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Angela Meyer, Ph.D.

President & CEO, PLAC

Dr. Angela Meyer is President and CEO of PLAC (The Product Liability Advisory Council), a legal association of manufacturers, retailers, distributors and select outside counsel.  A trained and licensed mechanical engineer, she has been working in the litigation support arena her entire professional career- she is one of the few people that can say “I love lawyers”.

Angela grew up in a military family (father – Marine Corp officer; mother – Naval officer) and moved extensively throughout the US.  She became fascinated with airplanes and chose mechanical engineering in order to join the military and become a commercial airline pilot. After college, when the military wanted her to work on submarines and not aircraft, she went back to graduate school and started working with a pre-eminent aviation forensic investigator, who happened to be her major research professor, and decided that if she couldn’t fly planes, she would figure out why they crashed. She also helped the department recruit women to the engineering program (a sales person was born).

Angela worked as a post-doc at the Canadian Department of National Defense in their military accident reconstruction laboratory in Ottawa and then at the University of California, Berkeley at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories studying advanced materials. She joined Failure Analysis Associates (now Exponent) and worked on a variety of accident investigations.  A twist of fate landed her in the corporate office of the company becoming the first marketing person that the company ever had. As the CEO told her “you have a PhD therefore you can do anything”.   Over the years, Angela took on additional responsibilities for the company – helped with the rebranding and name change to Exponent, was a corporate spokesperson (CNN, WSJ), led the marketing team, wrote two anniversary books, and developed a lead generation group.  She was Exponent’s Vice President of Client Services until she left her post in June 2018 to join PLAC.  
Although technically a “geek”, Angela loves working with people and networking to connect people to solve their challenges.  She is a true believer in “paying it forward”

In addition to her responsibilities at PLAC, she is a business development trainer and coach, a member of the advisory board of Summit Consulting LLC (DC) and the SMU Lyle School of Engineering external advisory board. 

Her son, Nicolas, is a senior at the University of Wisconsin, Madison which make her a rabid Badger fan. Her twin sister, Gabrielle, is also an engineer and commodity trader at ExxonMobil in Texas.

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Enjoy the podcast.

Angela Meyer, Ph.D.

President & CEO, PLAC

Wonder Woman in Business, Gina Rubel, My Sister from Another Mister

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Gina Rubel

Furia Rubel, Founder & CEO

Corporate and law firm leaders call on Gina for high-stakes public relations, crisis planning, and incident response support including high profile litigation media relations. One of the most widely acknowledged experts on legal marketing and law firm public relations, Gina Rubel is a sought-after speaker and media expert. Listed among the 2018 Lawdragon Global 100 Leading Consultants and Strategists to the Legal Profession, Gina founded and continues to lead Furia Rubel Communications, the award-winning PR and marketing agency that has become a leading legal marketing and professional service communications boutique.

The full-service marketing and public relations shop has been listed among the leading agencies by the National Law Journal, The Legal Intelligencer, New Jersey Law Journal, and Philadelphia Business Journal. Under Gina’s direction, Furia Rubel provides strategic planning, marketing, public relations, media training, and content marketing services to a variety of specialized industries.

Gina’s legal background complements her unparalleled intuition as a client advocate and business diplomat, allowing her to partner with professional clients to achieve their objectives. She and the Furia Rubel team are always focused on the clients’ unique selling proposition, brand, key messages, and target audiences. As a result, Furia Rubel has developed and executed award-winning programs with outstanding ROIs. From industry-recognized marketing campaigns to media coverage, Gina and her team deliver exceptional results. Gina didn’t discover legal communications and marketing — she just repositioned it for a new century.

While actively practicing law, Gina served on a Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board Hearing Committee for six years where she conducted legal ethics reviews of other attorneys. Since then, she has become a nationally sought-after speaker and reveals the secrets to law firm communications success in her book Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers. She regularly presents to legal, financial, and government professionals, corporations and universities regarding ethics, legal marketing, social media, strategic public relations, crisis communications, and media training.

Often asked why, as a lawyer, she pursued a career in communications, Gina says, “The answer is simple. In marketing and public relations, we communicate a message to a target audience to achieve a desired response or outcome. This is like the practice of law except I can be more proactive and creative.”

A graduate of Drexel University and Widener University School of Law, Gina lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, with her husband, two children, rabbits, chickens and dogs.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Gina Rubel is actively involved in community organizations. She is a volunteer and child sponsor with Pearl S. Buck International, with which she has traveled to the Philippines on a cultural mission tour, and she supports the mission of CB Cares Educational Foundation.

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In addition, she serves as treasurer/secretary of The Justinian Foundation which provides scholarships to law school students in the Philadelphia region. Gina is a member of the Legal Marketing Association for which she serves on its Ethics and Advertising Advocacy Working Group and on a regional nominating committee. She also is a member of the American, Bucks, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, Justinian Society (past chancellor), Philadelphia Public Relations Association, Public Relations Society of America, and Women Owned Law for which she was a founding member, member of the board of directors, and currently serves on the advisory board. She is the past chair of the Communications Committee for the Drexel University Alumni Association for which she also served as an elected member of the Board of Governors.

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS | RECOGNITION | CERTIFICATIONS – GINA RUBEL

  • 2018 Lawdragon Global 100 Leading Consultants and Strategists to the Legal Profession

  • 2016 White Belt Legal Lean Sigma and Project Management Certificate

  • 2015 SmartCEO Brava Award — 40 of Philadelphia’s Leading Women in Business

  • 2015 Doylestown Rotary Four-Way Test Award

  • 2015 Recognition, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Senate of Pennsylvania, Hon. Charles J. McIlhinney, Jr.

  • 2013 Maxine Elkin Award for Distinguished Service from the Public Relation Society of America (PRSA) Philadelphia Chapter

  • 2011 Super Women List in Suburban Life magazine, December issue

  • 2010 The Justinian Society of Philadelphia, Lisa A. Richette Outstanding Woman in Law Award

  • 2010 The Legal Intelligencer Women Lawyer of Distinction Award

  • 2010 Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce Patricia Clatch Outstanding Woman in Business Award

  • 2010 Citation, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, House of Representatives, Hon. Marguerite C. Quinn

  • 2010 Recognition, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Senate of Pennsylvania, Hon. Charles J. McIlhinney, Jr.

  • 2010 Super Women List in Suburban Life magazine, December issue

  • 2009 eWomenNetwork Foundation International Femtor Award Finalist, Business Matchmaker of the Year

  • 2009 Special Achievement Award in Legal Communications and Media, National Italian-American Political Action Committee

  • 2009 Recognition, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Senate of Pennsylvania, Hon. Christine M. Tartaglione

  • 2008 Women of Distinction, Philadelphia Business Journal

  • 2008 Best 50 Women in Business, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Community and Economic Development, Governor Ed Rendell

  • 2007 Deanne White Award for Community Service from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Philadelphia Chapter

  • 2004 Twilight Wish Foundation, Outstanding Contributor Award

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Enjoy the podcast.

Gina Furia Rubel

To contact Gina:

Call 215-340-0480 or send an email, or on the web:

https://www.furiarubel.com


Wonder Woman in Business Sheila Murphy

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Sheila Murphy

CEO and President of Focus Forward LLC and

Chief Learning & Talent Officer of WOMN LLC

After 20 years of successfully litigating and developing and coaching talent in corporate America and law firms, Sheila is pursuing her passion for helping others reach their full potential. Leading with moxie, Sheila is CEO and President of Focus Forward LLC and Chief Learning & Talent Officer of WOMN LLC, focused on having individuals and businesses achieve their career and business goals. Sheila also continues to support the financial industry in her role as a consultant with Bates Group.  

In 2018, Sheila retired as Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel at MetLife where she provided litigation, regulatory and risk mitigation advice. As a well-respected thought leader, Sheila served as an executive sponsor to MetLife’s U.S. Women’s Business Network, co-chaired the Legal Affair’s Academy providing developmental opportunities to legal and compliance professionals worldwide and served as a member of its U.S. Task Force on diversity.  Prior to joining MetLife, Sheila was at the law firm of Thacher Proffitt & Wood.  

Sheila is a member of the Boards of Directors of National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) and PowerPlay, NYC, an organization that engages and educates underserved girls with a focus on sports. Sheila serves on the advisory board of Transforming Women's Leadership in Law and co-chairs the CARE’s Women’s Network of New York, which works on eradicating poverty through empowering women and girls. Previously, she was a member of the Board for Read Alliance. Women’s Venture Fund awarded Sheila the highest Leaf Award in recognition of her commitment to helping others advance in their careers. She was named a Most Influential Irish Woman by the Irish Voice, a Leading Women Lawyer in NYC by Crain's New York, and a Business 100 honoree by Irish America. Sheila also has received the Benchmark Litigation In-house Award at the Americas Women in Business Awards, the Virginia S. Mueller Outstanding Member Award from NAWL and a First Chair award for hard work, innovation and significant contributions to the legal community. 

Sheila is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she served on the Comparative Labor Law Journal and the School of Management at the State University of New York at Binghamton where she graduated magna cum laude. Sheila is a frequent speaker on litigation and regulatory issues, talent, and business development, leadership and diversity

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Enjoy the podcast.

Sheila Murphy

Connect with Sheila on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheilamurphy333/

A Dynamic Duo of Deborahs!

deborah mcmurray

CEO+Strategy Architect at Content Pilot

Email: deborah.mcmurray@contentpilot.com

Deborah McMurray is the founder, CEO and Strategy Architect of Content Pilot. Her vision has always been to elevate professional services organizations through smarter strategies, dazzling execution and a service ethic that starts with passion and ends with love and care.

What makes her unique

As a former head of two large law firm marketing departments, she brings a leader’s in-house perspective to every engagement with a professional services firm. Having conducted many hundreds of client interviews, she also bring the client’s voice to every design, content and technology assignment.

Her approach is strategy-first in everything she does. Her clients’ strategic vision and goals reign supreme, and she and her team are the standard-bearers and protectors of their clients’ vision and goals. With her her client’s strategy as the foundation, she and her team design for the firm five years from now – pushing clients to see greater possibilities than they might imagine today.

She has co-authored several books published by the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Division, with the latest being, “The Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing on the Internet, 4th edition.” She also wrote the 2nd and 3rd editions with co-author Greg Siskind.

The projects that she loves

Anything with strategy. Unearthing positioning strategy is a special talent and she is known for it. Working with her creative director and project managers on smart and beautiful design for websites and brands, crafting a new and elevating content strategy, and writing copy with heart that hits the intellectual and emotional mark – she love all of this — and her clients do too.

She is literally thrilled when she works with major law firms on their new proposal systems and experience management projects. Again starting with strategy, she and her team climb into the clients’ processes, understand their teams and their technologies and find ways to streamline, making them better, more productive and most efficient.

What makes her proud

She is proud of three decades of service to the legal marketing community, having held many local and national roles in the Legal Marketing Association. Deborah was inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame in 2008 and the College of Law Practice Management as a Fellow in 2007. She was delighted to be on the inaugural list of National Law Journal’s “2013 Top 50 Legal Business Trailblazers & Pioneers” and included in LawDragon’s Top 100 Legal Consultants for several years running.

Her charitable service is intensely meaningful, too. She is Board President of the Resource Center, the largest LGBT and HIV provider of services in North Texas. And she is also a long-time board member and advocate for the Dallas Theater Center.

deborah grabein

Chief Practice Group Integration Officer at Hunton Andrews Kurth

Work Email: dgrabein@hunton.com

Personal Email: dgrabein@gmail.com

Deborah Grabein is a seasoned strategic marketing, communications, and business development executive. I have over 25 years of experience in leadership, management, professional sales and marketing in the legal industry and have pioneered many marketing and business development initiatives. What drives me is the desire to learn, to be successful and to elevate others to do the same.

What makes her unique

A pioneering spirit and a keen desire to win. Opportunities and challenges inspire me. Tell me something cannot be done and I’ll find a way to do it. Tell me something should be better and I’ll make it happen. 

I’m a believer in a “rising tide raises all boats”, especially for women. The collective work of a team is far better when we have ideas and input from diverse experiences and capabilities.

Making a difference. Making an impact. That’s the legacy I want.

The projects that she loves

Anything involving learning. I’m a voracious reader, learner and student. Most of my younger years were spent in the local library reading, researching and pouring over anything the librarian thought I would enjoy. I had my own reading space in the librarian’s office where I could sit for hours reading, writing and thinking.

I thrive on change management, strategy and visioning. There is such an opportunity in today’s world to think differently about approaches to initiatives in work, community and even at home. And yes, I know that too much change is overwhelming and probably not always the smart way to approach a project. But, if we don’t look for the “new way of doing something,” we are doing ourselves and our clients a disservice.

Working smarter. Embracing technology and process. There are several major projects my team and I implemented in a law firm which enabled us to work smarter and more efficiently. Given the speed at which the world turns today, we need to consider every opportunity to think about systems to help us be more effective.

Opportunities to make a difference for all girls and women. My Mom’s journey to college began with women in her neighborhood collecting quarters and dimes to help her pay for tuition. Imagine the difference we can make if all of us thought about helping every girl and woman in her respective journey. I’ve been fortunate to create programs in several organizations to help lift women.

What makes her proud

Family. Profession. Community.

I’ve been married for 40 years and have two adult children who are married with children. My family has been such an advocate for me, especially when I was the VP of Communications for a start-up. My typical work week was 80+ hours and I traveled extensively. It was such an incredible experience to work in that environment, and I could not have done it without my family cheering me on.

I thought the best way to impact change was through politics and wanted to enter the political arena in D.C. However, fate choose otherwise and I landed in a law firm. I’ve spent most of my career in the legal profession and I am proud of the work I’ve done, the teams that I’ve built, and the successes that my teams and I created. I was fortunate to have terrific mentors who helped to open doors and guide me along the way.

Helping girls and women is paramount to the success of our businesses and communities. I’ve served as the Chair of the Women’s Business Alliance of the Greater Houston Partnership, currently serve on the Board of Family Houston and am the Chair of Development, and serve on the Advisory Committee of Girls Empowerment Network.

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Enjoy the podcast.

Deborah McMurray

& Deborah Grabein

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Such a Pleasure to Hear Brenda Pontiff - Pontificate

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Brenda Pontiff

Brenda Pontiff is the Director of Business Development, Diversity & Inclusion for Horvitz & Levy, LLP, the nation’s largest appellate law firm. Brenda started her business development career in law before marketing departments at firms existed. She served in a sales role at Vinson & Elkins for almost 8 years before becoming a business development manager at Deloitte & Touche where she sold litigation support services. From there, she went on to lead Ernst & Young’s largest sales support team and then took a role as a global client retention leader, achieving a 100% success rate in maintaining relationships with critical at-risk priority clients.  Brenda believes client service innovation is the key to law firm growth and success.

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Having worked as a professional stand-up comic, writer, and actress, Brenda brings to bear a unique blend of skills. She’s passionate about sales and knows the importance of story and humor for crafting a winning pitch. She does not rely on marketing jargon or sophomoric solutions and believes selling is actually a service one provides to clients, helping them uncover issues and developing solutions.

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Enjoy the podcast.

Brenda Pontiff

Connect with Brenda:

Email: bpontiff@horvitzlevy.com

Twitter: @brendapontiff

What an Incredible Superstar Merry Neitlich is -- On and Off the Ice!

Merry Neitlich is a partner with EM Consulting and a leader in legal marketing and business development solutions.
With over 25 years of experience, Merry provides clients with tools to grow relationships and to successfully identify, court and convert targets into clients. In addition to proven client development programs, she has extensive branding expertise capturing a law firm’s unique distinction and integrating it with all marketing efforts. Merry implements social media programs, and creates websites and client satisfaction programs that inevitably lead to new business.

With extensive experience in change process management, Merry is often called upon to assist firms implement comprehensive marketing programs.

She has interviewed hundreds of clients for law firms and corporate legal departments across the country. Her work includes a variety of training programs in business development, client retention and satisfaction programs, advanced facilitation skills, creating TED Talks and other memorable presentations.

Merry has been an active member of the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) serving as national Vice President and Co-Chair of the international LMA conference. She was inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame in 2017.

She is a frequent national speaker and author and has published articles in numerous national publications such as the National Law Journal, Corporate Legal Times, ABA Journal, Strategies, AmLaw Alert, Firm Governance, and Marketing for Lawyers. In 2012 Merry was inducted into the prestigious College of Law Practice Management.

As an accomplished nationally ranked adult competitive figure skater, Merry has claimed 17 national podium finishes at the U.S. Adult National Championships including Gold medals in 2001, 2005, 2008, 2013 and 2015. She is currently ranked third in the country by United States Figure Skating.

She is currently ranked third in the country by United States Figure Skating.

She is currently ranked third in the country by United States Figure Skating.

Merry received her B.A at the Ohio State University and a Masters Degree in communication from the University of Bridgeport.

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Enjoy the podcast.

Merry Neitlich

Contact Merry:

Merry Neitlich
merry@EMconsults.org
949-260-0936

EM Consulting
2222 Martin, Suite 255
Irvine, CA 92612
Connect on LinkedIn


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