who?
As a kid I dreamed of being a hairdresser. It looked like a glamorous career to me until I spent a Saturday helping out at the beauty parlor where my mom went for her weekly up-do. Then I wanted to be a fashion designer until I finally accepted that, despite having my own personal style, I couldn’t draw or sew. I wanted to be a reporter for the New York Times until I learned that I’d start out writing obituaries for a few years. Upon graduating from NYU with a degree in Communications, I considered becoming a travel agent. So who said your career should be in the field for which you were formally educated and trained?
Eventually I woke from this stupor and found where I belonged in media and marketing. My parents’ investment in my education started to pay off when I landed a job in radio advertising, followed by a move to television where I “climbed the ladder” and ultimately headed the in-house advertising agency for a TV program distributor. From there I began what would be the most challenging yet one of the most rewarding professional experiences in my career…directing advertising, promotion, publicity and affiliate relations for the Phil Donahue talk show. Nothing teaches you how to think fast and act even faster than promoting a live, issue-oriented talk show. It was a wild ride and I am so proud to have been part of something that made television history.
Today, I am as proud to have founded my own company, Mediability Plus Inc., a media planning and placement agency, specializing in the luxury category. Media and marketing must be in my DNA. I work very hard for my clients and love what I do, so I am reminded everyday that hairdresser, fashion designer, reporter and travel agent would have been very short-lived careers for me.
But if I could change one thing, my office would be in Rome!
joanne de ricco
owner/president
mediabilityplusinc.