What’s the Secret to Sharon Linhart’s Success?

Before she became a successful entrepreneur and council to top brands, Sharon Linhart grew up in Colorado and earned a journalism degree from the University of Wyoming in Laramie.  Her entrepreneurial spirit may have been handed down from her father, the late John Haley, who was a founding partner of the Nelson, Haley, Patterson and Quirk engineering firm in Greeley.

Now Sharon runs one of the most successful and highly decorated PR firms in Denver. In the last decade Sharon Linhart can count numerous significant awards that have honored her personally or recognized her firm, Linhart PR.  In fact, the CWCC recognized Sharon as an ATHENA Award Finalist in 2009.  In 2011 alone the firm received major recognition such as ranking No. 3,668 on the Inc. 5,000 list of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies and PR News magazine naming it the Small PR Firm of the Year. Inc. magazine also picked Linhart PR as one of only 50 U.S. companies to receive its Top Small Company Workplace award.   And just announced this week by the Colorado chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, Linhart PR won the grand Gold Pick award for its “Culture Matters at Linhart Public Relations” campaign, plus five more golds and two silvers.

Yes, she’s got business smarts, but what sets her apart is her optimism, her unique style and motivation skills and her understanding of communications.  She’s a powerhouse when it comes to crisis communications and strategic planning, executive counsel and issues management.  No doubt this is why Sharon has been able to land big-name clients Tiffany & Co., Southwest Airlines, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Firstbank and United Health Care among many others.

Sharon is also actively involved in her community as a board member of Junior Achievement, Craig Hospital Foundation and she’s on the Boy Scouts Board of Trustees in addition to being involved with other local and national organizations.

So, we know she’s a dynamite business woman, a leader in her field and active in her community.  But what got her to where she is today?  What in her journey prepared her to be the kind of businesswoman who could start a company and grow its revenue by 43 percent, to $4.1 million from $2.9 million in three years during a struggling economy?

How did Sharon build not only a successful company but a culture that attracts great clients and sustains a talented, happy staff (Inc Magazine 2011 Top Small Company Workplaces winner)?  We can read her bios and list of accolades, but what isn’t captured there is how she became Sharon Linhart.  How did she become the respected leader and amazing businesswomen she is today?  What was her foundation for success? What obstacles did she face, and how did she overcome them?

For the answers to all of these questions and more, and to meet Sharon Linhart in person, reserve your ticket to the May 16^th, 2012 Downtown Luncheon. You won’t want to miss it.

2012 ATHENA Award Recipient Carita Watson Inspires the Next Generation of Women

“The CWCC congratulates Carita Watson – a phenomenal role model for women both here and across the world. We were thrilled to have so many outstanding candidates for the ATHENA Award this year. It is important that the community continue to recognize female leaders who exemplify leadership and excellence”, said President and CEO of the Chamber Donna Evans.

On the evening of April 26^th, during  the CWCC ATHENA Award Gala – Opening Doors to Leadership, Carita Watson, Global Transformation Executive at IBM, was honored as the recipient of the 2012 ATHENA Award. The award was presented by premier sponsor Xcel Energy.  Carita was selected from a group of finalists including Dr. Anna Marie Jackson, Co-founder of Project C.U.R.E., Marguerite Salazar, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Patricia Wells, General Counsel at Denver Water and Robin Wise, President and CEO at Junior Achievement Rocky Mountain. The recipient and finalists were selected from an outstanding group of 23 nominees.

“As a young woman, I was inspired to reach for the impossible as I watched Carita take the stage and listened to her heartwarming and humble speech.  What a great event,” said Alex Renteria, one of the more than 325 event attendees.

Carita was nominated by four of her peers who recognized both her personal and career achievements as the reasons why she deserved the ATHENA Award. She joins a long line of esteemed previous ATHENA recipients who have been honored for professional excellence, community service and actively assisting women in their attainment of professional excellence and leadership skills.

Carita began her career with IBM in 1973.  After joining IBM she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, cum laude, and a master’s degree in information systems at the University of Denver.   In 1996, Carita moved into the executive ranks of IBM to lead more than 1,600 technology professionals.  Now, as Senior State Executive for Colorado, she provides leadership for IBM in the community across the state, linking their Corporate Citizenship and Spirit activities with strategic IBM initiatives, and leveraging the resources of IBM to achieve strategic business goals.

What Carita focused on in her acceptance speech was her ability to achieve through all of the people who have helped her along the way.  She thanked her mom her husband and acknowledged the support she has received from IBM.  As many working moms can relate to, she is most proud of “raising four well-adjusted sons while working full-time.”

Carita is active in her community and currently serves on the Colorado State University Industrial Advisory Committee; the board of directors for INROADS, Rocky Mountain Region.  Past board participation includes the Advisory Board for the University of Denver, School of Computer Science; the University of Phoenix Rocky Mountain Region Community Board; the Colorado Leadership Alliance board of directors, the University of Colorado President’s Leadership Class board of directors, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

The 2012 Florence Caldwell Achievement Scholarship award was also presented at the event.  This year Elise Dugwyler of Longmont was selected to receive the $63,800 award for four years at Colorado School of Mines.  Elise plans to study Civil Engineering at Mines.

The Benefits of 2012 ATHENA Award Sponsorship

Watch the video featuring Donna Evans, Murugan Palani and Mimi Roberson to learn how becoming a 2012 ATHENA Award sponsor is beneficial to your business.

Establishing an Online Presence – Tips from the CWCC

By Lauren Hogan, CWCC Social Media & Communications Intern, spring 2012

Each month at the Chamber we receive compelling article submissions from our members who are leaders and experts in different facets of business. Establishing an Online Presence is the topic we’ve been talking, tweeting and writing about this month.  In that spirit, this article will get you started and provide you with additional resources from our well-rounded membership.

Marketing to the masses used to be a privilege granted to big companies who hired marketing firms to reach their target audience. Today we find ourselves in the midst of the evolution of online marketing. Facebook and Twitter, the largest social media sites, when used effectively, allow you and your business to reach out to hundreds if not thousands of customers and prospective customers.

The first step in starting your campaign begins with a cohesive content strategy. Choose your message and make sure that across all platforms it remains constant with what you or your business is trying to say.  Your next step begins with knowing who to target with your message. Unfortunately “everyone” is not the answer that will get you what you are looking for. Determine the appropriate demographic using industry trends, statistics and analytics.

Now for the fun part: using your social media tools. After you create a business page on Facebook or an account on Twitter, you are going to need likes and followers. To create the most effective Facebook page, there are free tools just a click away.  On your Facebook wall click edit page, choose the resource tab or icon and go to “Best practices guide to make your Page engaging.” Here you will find information to help you with advertising, developing your page and social plugins that allow you to add a like button. On Twitter you want to attract influencers.  Influencers are not just people with a large following. You are looking for people who engage in conversations or have a strong connection within the industry of your choice. You want to follow and be followed by people who will help you to join in on the conversation. Using these tools, a business or individual can market themselves to create hype for a launch or increase their visibility.

From this point on engagement is up to you. Build a community or use cross platform promotion or both. Add a blog, create a Foursquare account for your office or build a LinkedIn group.

Personally, I use the mantra “engage and listen”. Reach out to others and promote your brand; but remember listening to feedback, good or bad, goes a long way. Now get out there and establish your presence.