Northern Nevada Business Weekly: Tell us about your company and the duties of your position.
Christine Whitmarsh: We are a creative agency with three divisions: books — we help clients, from the development of their book idea all the way through full service ghostwriting and editing; social media and blog content; and written branding, where we develop the client’s brand message and make sure it’s consistent across all their written vehicles. My duties are visionary in chief, project manager, team leader, and, yes, writer.
NNBW: How did you get into this profession?
Whitmarsh: From a very young age, the coolest toys you could give me were legal pads and pens so I could write my stories. The habit stuck.
NNBW: What’s the most important thing you have learned in your career?
Whitmarsh: A lesson from my entrepreneurial grandfather — “Only an idiot doesn’t change his (her) mind.”
NNBW: What was your first job?
Whitmarsh: At age 15, office assistant (or hindrance I’m guessing) at a company that sold fancy doors and canoes. Clearly a retail match made in heaven.
NNBW: Tell us about your dream job. Why aren’t you working it?
Whitmarsh: I’m fortunate to have a company that flexes quite nicely to my dreams. I literally can do anything creative and it just works, you know? I recommend that all entrepreneurs custom design their company to their dreams.
NNBW: Who has been the biggest influence on your life, and what lessons did that person teach you?
Whitmarsh: My mom. Every crazy idea I’ve ever had, she has responded with, “You go do it, you’ll be great at it.” What better lesson is there?
NNBW: What are the main changes you’ve seen in your field in the last 10 years, and what do the next 10 years have in store?
Whitmarsh: Creativity in business is moving in sync with the pace of technology. My job is to keep my roller-skates strapped on, keep learning, find amazing teachers, and innovate quickly.
NNBW: What lessons has your work life taught you?
Whitmarsh: That it’s ridiculously easy to get consumed with my work life, especially as a Type A, perfectionist-type personality. Thankfully, I’m surrounded by good people who remind me to take a breath once in awhile.
NNBW: What are your favorite hobbies or pastimes? How do you spend your time away from work?
Whitmarsh: Swimming, hiking, walking, playing flute and piano, spa days, writing my own stories.
NNBW: What is your best memory of childhood?
Whitmarsh: Writing short stories as gifts for my grandmother on holidays (seemed more original than slippers or bathrobes).
NNBW: What did you dream of becoming when you were a kid?
Whitmarsh: A writer.
NNBW: If you could have dinner with any person, who would it be? Why?
Whitmarsh: An ambitious kid who dreams of being a writer but isn’t sure how that could ever happen.
NNBW: If you had enough money to retire right now, would you? Why or why not?
Whitmarsh: No. But I would adjust my business model accordingly to play even bigger!
NNBW: What’s the last concert or sporting event you attended?
Whitmarsh: A couple of years ago when my Red Sox came out to AT&T and played my husband’s Giants. Quite the weekend!
NNBW: Where’s your perfect vacation spot?
Whitmarsh: Wherever we end up going on one of our surprise last-minute adventures.
NNBW: Why did you choose a career in northern Nevada? What do you like most about working/living here?
Whitmarsh: I have this new office at 2nd Floor Offices in midtown, in the midst of this creative community of entrepreneurs who truly want great things for this area. It’s the same thing with the networking groups I belong to. People are thinking big here in the Biggest Little City. I’m just thrilled to be a part of it.
Know someone whose perspective you would like to share with readers? Email reporter Rob Sabo at rsabo@nnbw.biz or call him at 775-850-2146.
