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Debra Locker Griffin provides big-city caliber public relations with small-town charm by applying the same inquisitive spirit that served her so well in television news journalism. Her three-plus decades of professional excellence have put her in the absolute vanguard of her field.

Based in Kentucky, Debra’s company, the Debra Locker Group, is an award-winning boutique agency specializing in the lifestyle, spa, travel, spirits, and wellness markets, and is a constant champion for female entrepreneurs.

Debra founded DLG in 2008 after working in corporate public relations and having a successful career in TV news. The company has been chosen five times as the best PR firm in Louisville by the readers of LEO Weekly, and the editors of Louisville Business First named Debra one of 20 people to know in Advertising, PR, and Marketing.

Prior to launching DLG, Debra was the Public Relations Director for the International SPA Association. Ingrained in the spa industry since 2001, Debra received the 2020 Women in Wellness PR & Marketing Award from American Spa.

Before beginning her PR career, Debra was a reporter and producer at TV stations throughout the Southeast. She has been nominated for three Regional Emmy Awards for her production work.

Debra’s free time is spent traveling, gardening, working out, and trying new restaurants. She is married to her college sweetheart, is mom to an incredible son who is a rising sophomore at the University of Illinois, and is a fur mom to a vivacious Great Pyrenees/Border Collie mix named Freya.

https://debralockergroup.com/
https://www.instagram.com/debralockergroup
https://www.linkedin.com/in/debralockergriffin/

Kathie’s note: I've been a freelance writer receiving Debra's PR requests and introductions for stories about her clients. She has also offered up a couple of Writers Rotation podcast guests! I met Debra in real life in the fall of 2019 on a fam tour in Shelbyville, Kentucky. What a fun couple of days that was, and she is so gracious.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Steven Puri is the founder and CEO of The Sukha Company, with the mission to help millions of people find their focus, achieve more, and have a healthy work life.

Steven is one of the few people on earth who has been a senior executive at two motion picture studios and also raised over $20MM in venture capital. He’s produced the digital effects for Independence Day, which won the Oscar for Visual Effects and in addition to his film work, he’s founded three startups: one successful exit and two failures. He lectures now on the lessons in sustainable high-performance he learned working alongside some of the world’s more productive people.

Steven's career started as a newscaster/interviewer for the #1 youth news show in the DC/Baltimore market (on WTTG-TV) and then as a junior software engineer and Thomas J. Watson Scholar at IBM. After attending USC in Los Angeles, he began working in film production.

The Sukha Company - ‘sukha’ means ‘happiness from self-fulfillment’ in Sanskrit. Sukha is a focus app that bundles all the tools necessary to enter into a flow state and a have healthy, productive workday.

https://www.thesukha.co

Kathie's note: Steven is in his get-on-podcast season, so when he reached out via email one day, I said sure! We had a lovely conversation, and I must say, I'm a sucker for big words. You'll hear 'germane' and 'bifurcate' in this interview, among others. I had to edit out 'empirical' due to a glitchy glitch, but just pretend it's in there somewhere.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Jessica Dawkins, president and CEO of Historic Locust Grove in Louisville, Kentucky, has been a museum professional and local historian for over 20 years.

She received a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Louisville and a master’s degree in Business Communication from Spalding University, both of which were fully funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation in Washington, DC.

She is also a graduate of the History Leadership Institute, class of 2016. Her passion lies in 19th century Ohio Valley history, and this focus brought her to work within historic house museums in the Louisville area. As the southeast regional director for the Indiana State Museum & Historic Sites, she directed three sites in Southern Indiana: Culbertson Mansion in New Albany, Corydon Capitol in Corydon, and Lanier Mansion in Madison. She then served as deputy director of the Kentucky Historical Society and was most recently the executive director of Liberty Hall Historic Site in Frankfort, Kentucky.

By taking an interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach to museum management, Jessica demonstrates a tangible, authentic commitment to audiences and communities served. She believes historical organizations are visitor-serving and mission-based, and they are also local businesses, economic drivers, and cultural generators.

Through inspirational storytelling, creative programming, and intentional collaboration, Jessica is a passionate advocate for history as a crucial tool in the life of the everyday citizen. She also serves on nonprofit boards and committees, including Louisville Public Media’s Community Advisory Board and Happy Birthday Park. She was Board Chair for Farmington Historic Plantation and was named one of Business First’s “20 People to Know in Tourism & Hospitality.”

https://locustgrove.org

Keep up with @HistoricLocustGrove on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok.

Kathie’s note: Debra Locker introduced Jessica and me to each other. Instant bonding! Right before our interview, lightning struck the grounds of Locust Hill and every electronic device on the property was out of commission. Lights and computers and everything, so she recorded on her phone.

I thought it was the old house's way of saying, "Enough with your technology!" and Jessica said she has always known that historic homes get what they want. For example, an unlikable employee or a visitor can get invited not to say. "But since I've come to Locust Grove, I realize the land gets what it wants," she said.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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