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Jose Figueroa Interview with Erica Shames, Susquehanna Life Magazine Owner

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After college, Erica Shames moved to New York City and worked several years as an editorial assistant and freelance writer for publications such as National Lampoon magazine and The Aquarian Weekly, where she interviewed many music celebrities, including John Cougar Mellencamp, Gloria Gaynor, Maureen McGovern, Thin Lizzy, the Little River Band and others. Her work also includes The St. Petersburg Times, The New York Times, Consumers Digest, Sport Magazine, American Cinematographer, and Southern Boating. In 1990, Erica moved to Lewisburg PA when her husband was offered a teaching position at Bucknell University.

Once in Lewisburg, Erica realized that there was not a professional publication in this area of Pennsylvania. A few months later she started a home business, without any previous experience running businesses and by investing her savings to launch it. She admitted, “In the beginning things were tough, people did not know me and trust me, and there was not valuable appreciation for this kind of publication.” Now Erica Shames and her company have achieved a well-respected, high quality reputation over a period of 19 years. Her lifestyle magazine offers residents and visitors a glimpse of the positive, little-known and under-appreciated aspects of life in central Pennsylvania, including more about the small but vibrant business community that exists here. But this is only part of what Erica shared during her interesting interview; I invite you to listen to her thoughts about her work and experiences running this professional publication…click below to continue with the audio interview:

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A meeting with Dean Hieser

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I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dean for five years now.  I actually met Dean through one of my friends, Danielle, who happens to be Dean’s daughter.  As a venture capitalist, Dean has been through many successful investments through his life; he’s also been fortunate enough to learn from some unsuccessful ones.

So how does one even become a VC?  This is something I asked Dean when we sat down together and he was kind enough to enlighten me with the knowledge he has attained through the years.  “My initiation into the VC world stemmed from my belief that I could do it better.”  Dean was originally asked to invest with a family friend, who he wishes to leave unnamed, that offered Dean a chance to get involved with the development of a golf course.  As you can imagine, Dean is not the silent investor type.  He fought for as much control as he could, but found out later it would not be enough.  Dean originally took the opportunity because he believed the idea had potential and it would be successful with his help.  Unfortunately, he had barely any say in the more important matters and had little impact on the development of the project.  Fortunately, Dean lost next to nothing in the investment, but, until this day, all he can think about is the opportunity cost.

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