“Striking is normally a word used to describe someone’s looks,” writes the nominator of Think Tank Marketing Founder Julee Laurent, adding, “Which in this case does apply, but she has a gift to command attention to the things she is committed to.” Further, she struck out on her own in order to use that gift to launch Think Tank Marketing, where she has taken her expertise to streamline client ideas — making the ordinary interesting. Julee brings a broad array of media, marketing, public relations, and journalism experience to the table for every client and organization who benefits from her talents. From working marketing in Los Angeles for a joint venture of Steven Spielberg and Jeffery Katzenburg a restaurant named Dive, which led her to Nashville writing for The Tennessean Newspaper, to St. Joseph where she worked for WNDU and The South Bend Tribune, Julee brings a level of experience and expertise often unfound in smaller markets. Additionally, her expertise helped secure a $50,000 grant from the Upton Foundation Big Idea to benefit the Harbor Impact Foundation. Even The Wall Street Journal told of the partnership she crafted between major retailer Meijer and United Way for Operation Thanksgiving — creating meal kits for those who couldn’t afford them. Part of a WNDU team that earned the coveted Edward R. Murrow Team Coverage Award, and selected by the Michigan Association of United Ways for their Trailblazer Award, Julee has become a force to be reckoned with across the region. Now, she can add Bold Woman of Business honoree for the Class of 2022. Read on for more from Julee Laurent in Michigan’s Great Southwest.
Name
Julee Laurent
Where do you live?
St. Joseph, MI
Company or Organization
Think Tank Marketing
What is your job or role there?
Owner
How do you think that Bold Women of Business demonstrate being bold?
By pushing themselves to try new things, to not be afraid to be the first and by trusting their instincts.
Bold women are often defined by a number of descriptors. Please choose from the following descriptors to produce the top three that you would say most exemplify your personality?
Risk Taker…Intrepid…Strong
Please provide an example of when you feel you were at your very best in taking action on the job or in your role.
We were doing a big sci-fi fundraiser for a former non-profit called Bridges to Digital Excellence. It included a performance by several members of the SW Michigan Symphony Orchestra playing music while parts of the movie Metropolis played in the background and then a runway, sci-fi fashion show featuring local models wearing all the favorite sci-fi movie character outfits (like Chewbacca and the Star Trek cast). After the symphony members played, the fashion show was about to start and for some reason the pre-recorded music we planned wouldn’t play over the sound system. Since the symphony players were still in the orchestra pit, I asked them to play sci-fi music last minute and they rose to the challenge and scored the fashion show. They played the themes from Star Wars, Star Trek and more while local models like Candice Elders dressed as Judy Jetson, and Brad Gorman dressed as Captain Kirk strutted on the runway. It was a great show and the crowd at LMC’s Grand Upton Hall had no idea it was not planned. Sometimes, even with the best plans laid, you have to improvise.
What’s the funniest thing that ever happened on your road to success?
It had to be one year coordinating the Gateway Softball event. We had 98 degree temperatures, and also thunderstorms in the forecast. On the first day, which was a Friday, the temperature was 100 degrees. I ran to Lowe’s and got everything to make a makeshift misting station. With some PVC pipe, a tarp and a garden hose, some friends and I put together a misting area by poking teeny holes in the PVC, running water through it and constructing a mister. And it worked great. But, overnight we got massive thunderstorms. When I went to Plangger’s Field the next day it was muddy and wet. Instead of rescheduling, Emil Gallay and I went and got a slip and slide and put it between third base and home. It was so fun to see people on teams like the Berrien County Republican Party and the crew from Four Winds Casinos (all dressed in punk rock costumes) literally slide into home. Everyone just rolled with it, all to help people. It rained on and off all day so we just kept the slip and slide there. That event was great because its a bribe softball event and it’s not every day you see the leadership at Lakeland kiss a pig (which they all did for bribes) or the CEO of a local bank wear a coconut bra while up to bat. That event was a weekend long laugh-fest because the only limit was the participants creativity with the bribes, and if there is anything that is for certain it’s that the people in this business community are creative, so the whole weekend was just fun and funny.
Who most inspires your personal drive for success every day?
Really everyone in my community. There are so many successful, dedicated and creative people here that the entire professional community is an inspiration. I am inspired by how everyone here comes together on a continual basis to raise money for great causes, to elevate the twin cities and how no one really says no to an idea. They work together to figure out the best ways to achieve those ideas and accomplish our growth.
What is your best advice to women in Southwest Michigan looking to succeed, as you have, in business?
Dig deep into your creativity and also your logic. To trust your instincts. If you can see how an idea is achievable, then it is. It’s hard to try something no one else has, and also easy to see something as unattainable. But someone always has to be first. And all that has to be done is to take that first step, then the next. See an idea or a goal as a step-by-step process and do not be daunted by the whole vision. Things can be accomplished one task, or step, at a time. Take that first step, and don’t be afraid to dream or push your limits.
What does your selection to the ranks of the Bold Women of Business from Moody on the Market mean to you?
It is amazing. I do a lot of work with some great people, but I have always been a behind-the-scenes person. To even be nominated was a big deal. It feels good to have your work acknowledged by peers and know that you are seen, even when you try not to be. I like my clients to take the spotlight because when they are getting noticed it means I have done what they hired me for. However, being honored this way lets me know that I am doing good work and people in my community see that. I love what I do. I love being a part of people’s dreams, vision and ideas for their business. To join the ranks of the women who have been recognized with this honor inspires me to work harder and to help other women go for their big bold dreams!
