I’m not sure I’ve made many better career decisions than asking Mary if she would be willing to take her experience working with musicians and music venues and try applying it to promoting my books. The challenge? Brick-and-mortar bookstores are scarce, but other opportunities — events at non-traditional venues and nurturing reader interest online — abound, as long as one is willing to reimagine what a book tour looks like. That was nearly a decade ago, and Mary has since helped to design and manage two such book tours for me now — from conceiving a strategy to managing logistics and processing contracts — and working along the way with my publishers and the digital agencies that have developed my online presence.
In between those tours, Mary has negotiated other, one-off speaking engagements for me (in person and virtual) across four continents. She has done it all with good cheer, for both me and my hosts. I’ve already recommended her to friends and colleagues looking for creative approaches to promoting their work, and look forward to working with her again on my future projects.” – Sasha Issenberg
Two years ago, Mary sat me down and asked if she could take over social media for my film project, “The Cocksure Lads Movie.” A better verb would have been “rescue” – since that day, she has not only raised the film’s standards to professional levels across four social media platforms, she almost single-handedly raised $25,000 through a private crowdfunding campaign that proved essential to the film’s success. We’ve also partnered on the Toronto Songwriting School, and her participation has had a similar effect.
It’s hard to summarize everything that Mary brings to a project, but I’ll try: a consummate knowledge of social media and ‘why people like things,’ a willingness to learn and master any technology necessary to get the job done, and, above all, an utter, unwavering passion and commitment to a project’s success. Mary is an absolute warrior for any cause she takes on – she is the rare combination of high-level visionary and roll-up-the-sleeves hard worker.”
– Murray Foster
I met Mary soon after I signed on to “The Cocksure Lads Movie”, and quickly recognized her strengths specifically in the social media space. She immediately stepped in and made an impact by bringing our various channels together so that our project was presented in a cohesive, professional, and impactful way to meet our marketing and communication objectives. Since then her commitment has been unwavering. This and her crowdfunding efforts, including her continuous engagement of our backers, has made a significant difference to our film’s success.
Mary has also brought her social media expertise to bear in support of my children’s charity, Lonny’s Smile Foundation. I am very grateful for her ongoing efforts to bring awareness to our cause, to seek out relevant content that keeps our supporters engaged and helps expand our reach and build our brand. Mary is committed and whole-hearted in everything that she tackles, and works tirelessly for the success of the projects that she is passionate about.” – Tamara Doerksen