Q. What did you want to be when you were a little kid?
A. My Aunt Lily was a script supervisor on the TV show “Gilligan’s Island.” I was 5 or 6 and my mom would take me to the set, where the director would let me look through the camera or stand by the lagoon. So much fun — and that sparked my dream to work in television. I had an amazing 30-year career that started straight out of high school.
Q. What does your company do?
A. Wicked Bionic is a premier multicultural marketing and advertising agency connecting millions of diverse consumers to products and services that change their lives.
Q. How long has your company been in business?
We are in our ninth year and officially registered with the state of California in April 2015.
Q. Can you tell us about why and how you started the company?
A. With three decades of experience in the entertainment industry, my first passion, I’m proud to have contributed to producing over 6,000 television shows that reached global audiences. As a female department head, the challenges and discrimination I and others faced at my last company propelled me to retire in 2013 at the top of my game. Life is just too short to wake up every day and feel anxiety before your feet hit the floor, and I didn’t have any exposure to advocacy as I do now.
Driven by these experiences, in my next chapter, I dreamed of being part of a company rooted in the principles of equity and inclusion, both internally and externally. I met my brilliant business partner, marketing expert Carlos Sapene, and began freelancing. One day, we looked at each other over lunch and said, “I never want to have a boss again” — and that was the beautiful way we started Wicked Bionic.
Q. What has been your biggest business challenge in the past year?
A. Staffing is one of the biggest challenges for many small business owners! Probably for most every organization, no matter the size. Our first five years, we’ve hired young people to train — some successful and others not. For the last few years, we now have a workload that has required us to hire senior managers, those who can come in and hit the ground running after learning “the Wicked Bionic way.” Carlos and I have limited time as we continue to scale.
Q. What is one thing that makes you stand out from your competition?
A. We excel at understanding and connecting with diverse populations. We’re experts at tapping into the psychology of decision-making in multicultural and multigenerational communities, enabling us to foster engagement with any brand.
Our paid media campaigns, whether local, regional or national, consistently impact the lives of real people. For instance, we’re currently spearheading a deeply passionate campaign for LA County focused on child trafficking. Our team delved deep into understanding this horrific issue. In a mere 20 weeks, our advertising efforts across social media, bus shelters and radio have guided more than 235,000 individuals to knowtosayno.com, educating them on the signs of child trafficking. This epitomizes our mission: to reach, engage and enlighten communities, striving for a brighter tomorrow.
Q. What do you wish you had more time to do?
A. Two years ago, I spent the month of October in Florence, Italy. It was a big birthday for me, and my partner wasn’t ready to take a big trip with the pandemic still going strong. I rented an apartment and enjoyed every day. I am a confident traveler, and having each day to myself to explore, taking trains to other cities like Venice, Lucca and Siena, was incredible. I will never forget the people I met and the indelible mark they left — from the unknown woman Katarina, whom I walked with for an hour around Florence, to Cabri, who is a painter beside the Duomo who painted two nonnas for me. For my birthday, I had dinner at my favorite restaurant in the world, Taverna di San Giuseppe in Siena. Gnocchi with black truffle — the best dish in the world!
Q. What is one piece of business advice you would offer your LGBTQ+ peers?
A. Every business owner can attest to the rollercoaster of emotions that come every day, week, month and year, from excitement to heartache, and joy to frustration. The saying “new level, new devil” resonates deeply as one scales a business. It’s incredibly true!
Each morning, I affirm, “Today, everything will be easy.” Why not approach it that way? The best guidance I can offer is to set a daily intention and embrace however the day unfolds.
How to connect … wickedbionic.com.
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