Episode 273: How DECD is Empowering Maine's Youth, With Kaylin (Kay) Kerina
The PR Maven Podcast
This PR Maven Podcast® episode features Nancy's conversation with Kaylin (Kay) Kerina, the Maine Career Exploration program manager in Portland, Maine. Kay shares her journey from a varied career background to youth workforce development, emphasizing the importance of helping young Mainers find meaningful employment opportunities. She discusses her work in social justice, youth advocacy and community outreach, aiming to implement systemic change and support communities through a trust-based approach. The Maine Career Exploration program, part of the Department of Economic and Community...
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Episode 54: Achieving Success in Marketing and Your Career, With Michelle Hood
The PR Maven Podcast
Michelle Hood is the president and CEO at Northern Light Health in Brewer, Maine. She came to Northern Light Health in April 2006 from Billings, MT, where she was president and CEO of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, Montana Region, as well as president and CEO of its flagship hospital, St. Vincent Healthcare. As president and CEO of Northern Light Health, she focuses on health care policy and design models at the state and national levels.
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Episode 184: Lessons of Intention From a Tiny Kitchen, With Annie Mahle
The PR Maven Podcast
In this episode, Annie Mahle shares some of the lessons of intention she learned from working in a tiny kitchen on her windjammer and how those lessons can spread to your life overall. Annie defines what a tiny kitchen is and how working in a tiny kitchen inspired her to write a cookbook, “ to help others with tiny kitchens. Annie also talks about how she has built her personal brand around intention, from using all the food in the fridge, to what she brings into her home, to her morning routine. In addition to discussing the benefits of PR, Annie shares how she puts together her...
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Episode 56: A Careers Worth of Tips Every PR Practitioner Should Know, With Chip Carey
The PR Maven Podcast
With 46 years of experience in the ski industry, Chip Carey has held positions at many ski resorts across the country. Carey worked at Sugarloaf for 26 years, filling roles in sales, marketing and public relations. From his experience building Sugarloaf as a skiing destination to the launching of new brands, Carey has been involved in many aspects of ski resort operation. His experience made him a stand-out candidate for his most recent position at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
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Episode 272: Crafting Words That Sell: The Art of Copywriting with Stephen Church
The PR Maven Podcast
In this episode of The PR Maven® Podcast, host Nancy Marshall speaks with Stephen Church from Copywriter Pro, covering a wide array of topics from Stephen's background in psycholinguistics and his journey from teaching English globally to entering the family retail business and eventually founding Copywriter Pro. They delve into the significance of Freelance Writers Appreciation Week, Stephen's deep dive into SEO and commercial copywriting and their collaboration on the PR for the commemorative china for Prince William and Kate's royal wedding. The conversation navigates through Stephen's...
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Episode 198: How To Combine PR and Personal Branding To Create Success for Your Business, With Amber Lambke
The PR Maven Podcast
How can you combine PR and personal branding techniques to make your business successful? In this episode, Amber Lambke, co-founder and CEO of , shares her business success story. Amber explains how the topic of grains was missing from conversations, how she helped start Maine Grains, and how she uses speaking engagements to start conversations and inspire others within the industry. In addition, learn who the famous Maine Grains customer is, and how Amber has been on her baking show! 00:00 Introduction to the PR Maven® Podcast 01:26 Introducing Guest: Amber Lambke ...
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Episode 164: How to Adapt to Changing Customer Preferences, With Dana Bullen
The PR Maven Podcast
From running the rental shop at Sugarloaf to becoming president of Sunday River, Dana Bullen joins Nancy to talk about his career in the ski business. While it may have been all about the snow when he started his career, Dana describes how people also take their experience into consideration, from the food to guest services. It all comes back to the snow at the end of the day, so Dana describes the importance of snowmaking and how Sunday River shares the snow conditions with their audience.
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Episode 104: How To Grow an Already Established Brand With Karl Strand
The PR Maven Podcast
Karl was promoted to the position of Sugarloaf’s general manager in April of 2015. Strand has held a leading role in managing key segments of Sugarloaf's operations, as well as those of its sister resort, Sunday River. He began his career at the resorts in 2004, when he was hired as Vice President of Lodging and Property Management for both resorts. Most recently he was the Vice President of Mountain Operations at Sunday River.
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Episode 271: Does Public Relations Play a Role for Churches and Religious Ministries? With Liz Williams
The PR Maven Podcast
In this PR Maven® Podcast episode, host Nancy Marshall sits down with Liz Williams, the communications manager for the Episcopalian Diocese of Georgia to discuss her journey to this unique position. Liz elaborates on her journey from a marketing undergraduate to eventually working in the church's youth and children ministries. She also recounts her experience with a non-profit for mental and behavioral health before becoming communications manager. Nancy and Liz discuss the varied responsibilities, including managing social media, public relations and larger church communications. Their...
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Episode 61: How To Positively Impact Lives Everyday Starting With How You Treat Your People With Sean Riley
The PR Maven Podcast
Sean Riley began running a 19-room motel & cottage business in Wells, Maine, in 1982 with his wife Dayna, while teaching high school special ed., moving to a larger condotel three years later and then to a 130-room hotel, restaurant and marina. He switched full time into the hotel business, giving up his career as a teacher. MCHG started as a restaurant company with one hotel. Today, MCHG has 20 hotels and 750 associates throughout New England and in Florida.
info_outlineIn this episode, Nancy talks with Tim Winkeler, president and CEO of VIP Tires & Service about PR, marketing and sponsorships. Tim describes his career and how VIP Tires & Service has grown since he started working there in 2010, with a focus on people rather than price. Nancy and Tim also discuss how they met after Nancy left a bad review about her experience at VIP. Nancy and Tim also talk about sponsorships and how VIP sponsors events their employees are involved in.
00:00 Introduction to the PR Maven Podcast
01:32 Introducing Guest: Tim Winkeler
03:07 Tim Winkeler’s Career in the Auto Parts Industry
05:07 About VIP Tires & Service
06:40 How Nancy and Tim Met
13:11 VIP’s Management Process
15:34 VIP Tires & Service’s PR Strategy
18:52 Investing in People
26:39 VIP’s Sponsorship of The Trek Across Maine in 2022
29:17 Sponsorships in VIP’s Marketing Plan
33:06 Helpful Resources
Links
Competitive Edge - https://competitiveedge.tv/premiere-episode/
Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Certification - https://www.ase.com/
“Extreme Ownership” by Jocko Willink - https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250067057
Origin USA - https://originmaine.com/
Related Episodes
About Tim
Tim is an accomplished people-focused leader with a track record of building high-performance teams that exceed expectations. Always focused on customer needs and feedback, he builds core competencies around making money by serving customers in different and better ways. Tim is a teacher at heart and learns every day by reading great books and meeting great people.
Bonus Q&A
VIP has a program they call “five-for-five.” Explain what that means and how you implement it at your stores.
Five-for-five is all about focusing on the customer experience. We’ve identified the five key moments in a customer’s visit to VIP where we take the extra step to build a relationship with the customer and to make sure their experience at VIP is memorable. The five-for-five customer engagement process is all about taking the extra time to build a relationship with the customer.
VIP has big plans for 2024. Tell us about where you are expanding.
For 2024, we will be opening some new locations and expanding some existing ones. We will be entering Connecticut for the first time with the acquisition of a shop in Waterbury. We will be opening our 9th shop in Massachusetts when we open our new shop in Brockton, and we will be expanding our operations in Maine in both our Yarmouth and Augusta shops. In addition, we have several more growth projects that I’m confident will be completed in the back half of the year.
What makes you the proudest of everything you have accomplished during your tenure at VIP?
What I enjoy most about being a member of the VIP team is interacting with our team members and getting to know them. The people-first culture that we’ve all worked to establish makes VIP a great place to work every day, and I’m proud to wear the "VIP Blues" and do my part to support our mission to "Earn Automotive Customers for Life.”