There's a little bit of Girlawhirl in every woman! We're all busy, whether we're working, taking care of kids or both. Managing life's little details can get overwhelming, leaving no time to pick up a magazine or catch up on the latest news. And who's got time to search the internet, with millions of sites added weekly? That's what inspired Linda LaSala to create girlawhirl.com.
In early 2005, during a 15 minute work-break, she surfed the web and couldn't find sites that interested her: magazine sites were, at the time, just updating horoscopes daily, and other web-places focused too much on celebrity gossip for her taste. LaSala uttered the three words that lead to the development of girlawhirl.com: "Where's my Internet?"
A site full of useful information, with quick click-throughs, and easy to digest articles, was just what she and her friends needed. In addition to all the information they craved, it would have to be simple to navigate, and include helpful daily tools, like lists that could be used to keep track of things on their computer screens. And they'd have to be able to send the lists and articles to their hand-helds. After all, she couldn't be the only one who inevitably left her grocery list on her desk when she left the office, but went no where without her phone or BlackBerry®.
The articles themselves wouldn't just cover fashion, but all things fashionable and helpful - over a wide range of topics from beauty, travel and shopping to dining, eco-friendly ideas, home design and work-life balance, including maintaining friendships, fitness and health. They would have to answer all kinds of questions that LaSala and her friends always chatted about, from "Do I have to wear that?" or "What clothes should I bring on my business trip to Hong Kong?" to "I have a free afternoon in Chicago – or London – or Rome - what should I do?” And there would have to be plenty of giveaways, because what kind of a friend wouldn't share her finds?
Girlawhirl became LaSala's alter ego, and since going live in September, 2005, not a day goes by that the girlawhirl.com staff hasn't provided useful information to busy women everywhere. From purse-sized "shopping cheat sheets" to explanations about what blue-ray discs are, Girlawhirl shares with her friends, always keeping in mind that readers have far more to do in a day than ever before.
Marlen Horn, Co-Founder, CEO
Prior to co-founding girlawhirl.com, Marlen spearheaded a number of successful entrepreneurial ventures in the fashion industry, beginning in the mid 1980's. After identifying an internet void for information targeting fashion-conscious women, Marlen and his business partner, Linda LaSala, launched girlawhirl.com in 2005. As the architect of girlawhirl.com's business model, Horn focuses his efforts managing all aspects of the daily business, leveraging the company's growth to expand its advertising base and continuing to grow Girlawhirl's considerable readership. Marlen can be reached at marlen@girlawhirl.com.
Linda LaSala, CCO, Editor in Chief
The visionary and voice behind Girlawhirl.com, Linda oversees the editorial and creative aspects of the site. A Parson's School of Design graduate she is an expert in color and trend analysis and has worked as a designer, buyer and product developer, sourcing knitwear for such companies as Tweeds, Macy's, J.Crew and more. She also holds a degree in Advertising from the University of Illinois and began her career in the beauty industry before studying fashion and textile design. Linda can be reached at linda@girlawhirl.com.
Katelyn Hayes, Senior Editor
Katelyn Hayes has been with Girlawhirl.com since October 2005. She was the first writer to join the Girlawhirl team after the site's launch. Katelyn started her career in journalism right out of college as a full-time beat reporter for the Star News Group, based in Monmouth and Ocean counties in New Jersey. After obtaining her master's degree in Journalism at Quinnipiac University, Katelyn became the fulltime Senior Editor of Girlawhirl.com. Today she's responsible for writing features, editing, and managing the daily workings of the site. Katelyn also holds a B.A. in English Literature from Fairfield University. Katelyn can be reached at katelyn@girlawhirl.com.
Erika Alviar, Fashion Editor
Erika Alviar holds a degree in Fashion Merchandising Management from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT, New York) and has worked in apparel manufacturing industry for seven years. With her experience in the fashion industry, Erika has helped develop a strong fashion presence for Girlawhirl.com on the web through trend spotting and intense fashion week coverage culminating in the Trend Collage/Shopping ‘Cheat Sheet' at the end of each runway season. Erika can be reached at erika@girlawhirl.com.
Ellen Carl, Managing Editor
Ellen Carl has worked in TV production for nearly 20 years. She began her career at CNN in Atlanta working her way up from writer to executive producer. From there she has worked in New York City and Los Angeles on a variety of projects including shows at ABC News, MSNBC, ReelzChannel, Fox Reality and WNYW's Good Day New York. From its inception, Carl has worked with Linda LaSala on the voice, direction and tone of girlawhirl.com and has acted as the site's Managing Editor, copy editing all articles before publication and ensuring that the information passed on to girlawhirl.com readers is always current and correct.
Tiffany Davidson, Consulting Personal Trainer
Tiffany Davidson is a NASM (National Association of Sports Medicine) certified personal trainer based in Weston, CT and the owner of Femme Fatale Fitness. Tiffany is dedicated to providing her clients with the confidence and knowledge to transform their bodies one day at a time. She is uniquely qualified to enhance their inner and outer strength, elegance and femininity and to assist them in transcending their physical boundaries! Tiffany can be reached at tiffany@girlawhirl.com.
Melissa Spiesman, Nutritional Consultant
Melissa Spiesman, CHHC received her professional training at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. The American Association of Drugless Practitioners has certified her as a Certified Holistic Health Counselor. In her private practice, she regularly counsels individuals and groups on a variety of health and nutrition issues, including: cravings, weight loss and management, healthy food preparation, coping with stress, and having more energy. Melissa can be reached at melissa@girlawhirl.com.
Gail Nordone, Director of Advertising Sales
Gail Nordone has spent nearly 20 years as a private label sales executive in the fashion industry. Since its inception Gail has lead girlawhirl.com's advertising sales efforts. She is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Gail can be reached at gail@girlawhirl.com.
Dan Shields, Webmaster
Dan can be reached at dan@girlawhirl.com.
Michael Goolden, CEO L7 Performance Management
Prior to founding L7 Performance Management, Goolden spent over 20 years in successively responsible positions with the General Electric Company. After graduating the Financial Services Management Development Program and several successful years in both sales and sales management, he served in diverse executive management roles and business segments. Goolden's positions included Senior Vice President and Region Manager, Vice President of Global Six Sigma Quality, and General Manager and President. Goolden's teams and businesses consistently produced record growth results. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Ithaca College and a Masters in Management from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Business.
Frank Ford, e-Marketing and SEO Specialist
Frank Ford is an internationally acclaimed Creative Director who's won every award in the book. He has been involved with girlawhirl.com since it's inception, directing the overall design of the site, layout of the pages and demand generation strategies. He continues to assist with the execution of short and long term SEO, SEM, PPC and Social Media strategies along with online marketing and branding. Ford has recently authored the book, 'Rank.'
John Hart, Emigrant Capital
Hart is Vice Chairman and Treasurer of both Emigrant Bancorp and Emigrant Savings Bank, has been an officer of the Bank since 1987 and an officer of Bancorp since it was formed in 1994. He is the head of the Capital Markets Division of the Bank and oversees Emigrant Business Credit and Emigrant Capital Corporation. In addition, Hart is responsible for the Bank's mergers and acquisitions analyses. He also serves as a director and/or officer of a number of Bancorp's and the Bank's subsidiaries and affiliates. Prior to joining the Bank, Hart was a Senior Director of Capital Markets of the former Meritor Savings Bank from 1978 to 1987. Hart is also Chairman of the Board of The Christian Heritage School in Trumbull, Connecticut and serves on the Advisory Board of the Bowery Mission in New York.
Joseph I. LaSala
LaSala is a graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in Industrial Management and graduate studies in Accounting at Pace College. He is a retired executive of one of the several Fortune 100/500 companies where he honed his skills in product design, manufacturing engineering, quality control, computerized cost and analysis systems, sales engineering, plant management and more. He has held positions as Director of Manufacturing over multi-facilities, Turn Around Specialist and General Manager of a multi-company group. After retiring from the corporate world, he and his wife began their own and recently sold business to locate Distributors in North and South America for previously self qualified European companies. He has brought over 50 years of experience to the volunteer ranks of the Small Business Bureau's SCORE by advising individuals and companies in all aspects of business planning and operations and to the VITA division of AARP while serving as president of his condominium board for many years.
Mike Diamond, Computer Programmer, Site Developer
Executed the development of the girlawhirl.com website.
