Building a recognizable and authentic brand doesn’t have to break the bank. Communications expert Lori Lennon will share strategies for creating a compelling brand story, designing affordable visuals, and effectively connecting with your target audience without large budgets.

Building a business? Ever wish you could speak to and learn directly from subject matter experts (while never leaving your couch)? Join host Andy Lee from the University of Minnesota's Technology Commercialization office each Wednesday for this exciting and casual AMA ('ask me anything') style series on business building fundamentals. Check out all of the talks here: https://www.crowdcast.io/@techcomm

This event series is brought to you with support from Launch Minnesota, a statewide collaborative effort to accelerate the growth of startups and amplify Minnesota as a national leader in innovation.

Lori Lennon is the founder and CEO of Thinkubator Media, an organization focused on elevating the profiles of women in STEM. Thinkubator Media is dedicated to having the diverse voices of women heard inside and outside of their STEM fields. Lori and her team work with women in academia and industry to raise their profiles through education, training, and community to ultimately help them gain the notoriety needed for funding, support, and advancing their research. This curated approach was developed by listening to the needs expressed by women across many STEM disciplines.

Before starting her own company, Lori served as the director of communications for the College of Science at Northeastern University. Her experience as a communicator has allowed her to work with leading researchers who are tackling some of the biggest and most important issues of our time, such as climate change, renewable energy, and drug discovery.

Lori’s work spanned across many communication disciplines while at Northeastern, including strategic planning, messaging, public relations, editorial writing, digital marketing and communications, content development, marketing and communications for recruitment, and email marketing strategies and implementation.

At Northeastern, Lori was a member of several communications groups, a member of the College of Science Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and an advisor for the student-run magazine, NUSCI.

Before her work in science communications, Lori spent several years working in television news, first at New England Cable News, then at WBZ-TV Boston. At a time when news websites were uncharted territory for news organizations, Lori joined a team that helped revolutionize the way users consume news--breaking stories, producing exclusive content, and developing interactive opportunities to boost a reader’s engagement.

During her tenure at WBZ-TV the website earned the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Broadcast Affiliated website for a large market in 2005 and 2007, and the Associated Press Award for Best TV/Media website in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Lori has helped cover elections, Super Bowls, major local news events, and our beloved Boston Marathon.

Lori currently lives with her teenage daughter in Sharon, Massachusetts where they spend a lot of time walking arm in arm, eating fun foods, and contemplating the complexities of life.

Bootstrapping Your Brand