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© St. Petersburg Times, published May 17, 2002
LUTZ -- Remember the Internet bubble?
Lisa Marinik does. She was 20th-hired at BrainBuzz, a Westshore dot.com that tried to make it big as a technology-oriented recruiting site, along the lines of Monster.com.
She had so many duties -- marketing, training, content management -- that she likens the experience to "a Tilt-a-Whirl."
But rides end, and this one did when the economy went south. Marinik was laid off a little more than a year ago, as were many who made their living in technology-related fields.
She could have retreated to her home in Cheval. She did -- but not for long.
Today Marinik has her own productivity firm, Bottom Line Business Skills Group, and she gives advice on how to adapt to economic change. In a year when the Tampa Bay area has lost an estimated 8,000 jobs, she can bring in more than $1,000 a day at her employee workshops, with very little overhead.
Her fees vary widely, depending on the industry, size of the workforce and the type of training required. Sometimes she'll speak for free, if the audience is nonprofit. Naturally, she benefits from the exposure.
"We only limit ourselves," is one of many one-liners she has at the ready. In her spare time she sifts through quotes from the likes of John F. Kennedy and Mohandas K. Ghandi.
A youthful-looking 50, Marinik comes across as someone who has never missed a beat.
But success was not handed to her.
She was shy and bookish as a child. Her father died when she was 16, and she had to grow up fast.
"I am sensitive to change and to the importance of overcoming obstacles," she says. "I learned early that we are all given a limited time here on earth. I don't think you can waste time on anything."
She married, had three daughters and did not really focus on herself until her husband's career moved the family from Tampa to Ohio.
"I made a promise to myself and a statement to my husband that I would finish my bachelor's degree," she says. "It took me 10 years to do it."
With a communications degree from Franklin University and an award in business writing, Marinik followed her husband again to Tampa. She worked for another technology start-up before joining BrainBuzz in 1999.
"The two and a half years at BrainBuzz was a glorious time," she said. The job "brought out the creative, playful side of me that made me more of a risk taker."
So after the layoff, it was not unthinkable to branch out on her own.
She consulted with two friends whom she considers mentors and "asked them to be brutally honest." She also found inspiration from her daughter, who launched her own jewelry business and now lives in Palm Harbor.
Today Marinik' clients include her husband's employer, Microsystems Technology, which develops data imaging products; and Delmar, Coloret & Assoc., a subsidiary of American Express. She helps employees become more productive -- whether the issue is procrastination, business writing skills, or trouble balancing work with life issues.
She's teaching classes at Baywinds Learning Centres , geared to the bestseller Who Moved My Cheese, and in survival skills for small business owners.
"When I meet people who knew me (in my youth), they are aghast that I have no problem speaking in front of 1,500 people," she says.
She's also enjoying the little freedoms of self-employment.
"I lost 15 pounds. I work out every day. My blood pressure is down," she says. "I have the life balance I have been preaching about."
Advice for the laid off? She's got plenty.
Take a rest, she tells people. Reflect. Keep a journal if it helps. "Now is the time to think outside the box."
Whether looking for a job or venturing out on your own, networking is crucial.
"You've got to be with people," she says. Newspapers are brimming with lists of meetings that can provide contacts.
"If you make a connection with just one person, it was worth your time," she says. "And 'fess up" about needing work. "People will help people."
Other low-cost strategies?
"Get some business cards printed up. You can even do this from your home." Self-promotion can be as simple as dropping the cards -- which can say pretty much anything -- into restaurant fishbowls.
Understand, if you go the self-employment route, that "70 percent of all small businesses fail their first year," and "most small business owners can focus on their trade but not on marketing themselves."
Marinik also benefited from instruction -- much of it free -- at the University of South Florida's Small Business Development Center.
A financial planner asked her if she has an exit strategy. In other words, will she expand and, eventually, sell her business?
The question caught her off guard. Marinik is not even looking for a business partner yet.
She does know that some day she will write a book. And "by the end of this year, I will take a hot air balloon ride."
You can reach Marinik at (813) 476-1889.