Our Mission

Our mission is to position you as the leader you are.
Our uniquely crafted branding statements elevate your message so that you stand head and shoulders above all
others in your field.

Carla Harper, Senior Editor

Specializes in Start-ups and Retail Business
Carla Harper loves to help people promote their ideas, products, and services with words and images that
get noticed.

Facilitating connections and building relationships underlies everything she does. Carla believes everyone
has value and something unique to contribute. Rocky is her favorite movie because he won in his head before
ever entering the ring and against all odds because he had heart and worked hard.

Carla’s education includes a MS from Colorado State University in Natural Resource Management and BA in
Professional Writing and Communication from University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

She’s worked with all levels of government as well as non-profit and business running programs, conducting
research, leading marketing and communication campaigns, and writing everything from grants to white papers
and web content.

Tracy Teel

Specializes in mission statements for non-traditional and small, personalized companies providing unique
and customized services.
Tracy Ann Teel studied and taught in the prestigious MFA writing program at the University of California in
Irvine, which is ranked third in the United States. She specializes in mission statements for
non-traditional,
outside the box companies looking for stylish statements with creative flair as well as small businesses
seeking the personal touch of an attentive and responsive writing partner.

Tracy is passionate about listening to your needs and creating perfect content. She has worked with
relationship, life, and health coaches and has extensive expertise in helping startup companies define and
market themselves in unique and compelling ways.

She has a Master of Fine Arts degree in English and her experience with MissionStatements.com includes
concise,
attention-grabbing mission statements, blog articles, web content, and fundraising letters. She says,
“There are no shortcuts when it comes to presenting yourself, your company, and your services to the public.
Every job is personal, and every piece of writing is crafted with your unique vision in mind.”

Susan Reid

Specializes in startups/small business, professional services, IT, and nonprofit organizations.
Susan Reid is an award-winning copywriter with 25+ years of marketing experience in Boston and Sacramento.
Susan’s approach to mission statement development is to “listen carefully to the client and carry a big
thesaurus.”

She comes to missionstatements.com from a marketing communications background working in advertising
agencies
and in-house marketing departments on both coasts. As a freelance writer, Susan’s professional motto is “the
pen is mighty, indeed.” She loves applying her mighty pen power to a wide range of writing projects.

Her primary passion is brand development and positioning, including company/product/service naming,
taglines,
slogans, mission statements, vision statements, and value statements.

With the client’s brand promise central – always –-, Susan crafts targeted messaging for websites,
ads, brochures, annual reports, sales letters, newsletters, direct mail, product descriptions, interactive
mobile and other marketing outreach campaigns. She also writes and places feature articles and press
releases.

Prior to happily going solo in 2002, Susan earned her stripes in the wild world of advertising agencies.
She’s
also managed the marketing functions of major professional services firms on both coasts, including an
international benefits/HR consulting firm, a national contract employment firm, and one of Sacramento’s top
law firms. On the nonprofit side, she served as marketing director for River Stage, a live professional
theatre
company at Sacramento’s Cosumnes River College.

Susan is a former two-term president of the Sacramento chapter of International Association of Business
Communicators (IABC) and board member of Sacramento Public Relations Association (SPRA). Her work has been
honored by these organizations and by the Sacramento Ad Club. In addition, Susan earned the first-ever “Your
Honor Award” (1st place) in crossover marketing from the Legal Marketing Association.

Susan Reid has been a guest speaker on “Defining and Delivering Your Brand” at the University of California
Davis Extension and “Submitting Your Work to Win Awards” at California State University Chico.

Susan holds a B.A. in English and psychology cum laude from Wellesley College.

Ken Goldstein

Specializes in Non-Profit and Governmental Mission Statements
Ken Goldstein brings over 20 years of non-profit leadership experience to each mission
statement that he writes. Ken’s background working in non-profit and local government agencies, in both
leadership positions and in facilitating strategic planning process, makes him an expert in Mission
Statement
review and revision. Ken brings his experiences teaching non-profit management workshops an leading board
trainings to each of his clients.

Ken has served half-a-dozen organizations as an Interim Executive Director, managing non-profits through
transitions, mergers, and turn-arounds. Ken has also facilitated strategic planning processes, which
typically include Mission Statement review and revision. He has taught fund raising and non-profit
management
workshops, led board trainings, raised over $4 million in private foundation grants, and performed other
contract consulting work. He has published a book on Fund Development Planning, and writes the popular
Non-profit Consultant Blog. Clients have included Grail Family Services, Life Lab Science Program, Glenview
Alliance, AMORC, and Mountain Community Resources.

Judy Tatum

Specializes in Non-Profit, Small business, and Educational Mission Statements
Judy Tatum is an independent non-profit consultant who has worked with non-profits and small businesses to
create effective mission statements. She has also worked as a grant writer and development coordinator,
and believes a mission statement is an important way to distill your goals and visions into an articulate
message. Ms. Tatum’s diversity of experience allows her to engage with each client in a creative and
professional manner.

A long-time writer and researcher who also teaches grant writing workshops, Judy’s client list
includes many non-profits as well as small businesses and educational organizations. As a development
consultant and grant writer, she has worked in both the private and non-profit sectors and has written
many successful grants at both the national and state levels. She has formal grantsmanship and non-profit
training.

In addition to grant writing workshops, Ms. Tatum also conducts classes for artists, Creating Your
Personal Mission Statement. She has worked with organizations including: Nine Muses Art, Deus Expression
Theatre, Opera A La Cart, American Museum of Beat Art, Paradigm Productions, and Yoga2Go. In addition
to the many arts related organizations listed, she has also written statements for social service
groups, churches, animal welfare, and technology industries.

Previous to her work in development and non-profit consulting, Judy developed new products and
technologies for Hi-Q Products, Inc. Her passion is working with non-profits and believes “Only a life
lived in the service to others is worth living.” – Albert Einstein

Dave Ward

Specializes in creating and updating business mission statements.
Dave Ward has been writing persuasively in the business and corporate world his entire career. His work
includes investigative reports to corporate boards, audit reports to executive management, and post facto
reviews of significant events for stakeholders. Dave is an expert in analyzing and simplifying complex
topics
in the financial world. Because all businesses eventually turn on how they handle their finances, Dave has
consulted in industries as diverse as software as a service, overseas import/export, and commercial real
estate.

While Dave can be of valuable assistance in many areas, he loves writing mission statements. Why? Dave loves
translating into words the feelings when a business owner or entrepreneur satisfies a customer. After all,
the mission statement expresses the essence of why a business exists, to serve customers’ needs. Dave
believes in packing lots of information in as few words as possible. But what really matters is what you
want;
he works extra hard to understand your needs, identify the message, and get the tone exactly right. Dave is
a
great listener and he’ll ask probing questions to help everyone focus on the big picture.

Dave’s work as a business consultant typically centers on communication. He simplifies things; saying, for
example, that a sole proprietor in a one-person business never has any communication issues. But, as soon as
the first employee is hired and the owner is not involved in every decision they’d better be communicating
everything that’s important and why it’s important. That’s where tools like mission statements, vision and
value statements, policies and procedures and employee handbooks become not only helpful, but essential.

A former bank executive, Dave lives with his lovely wife and two doxies.

Steve Wyrostek, MBA, BA

Specializes in Business Mission Statements
Steve Wyrostek specializes in creating powerful mission statements for small to medium sized businesses.
Steve spent many years in management positions with Fortune and Global Fortune 500 corporations, and brings
a wealth of professional knowledge to his writing. With a diverse range of professional experience, Steve
brings an invaluable hands-on writing style to each mission statement he writes.

Prior to becoming a professional business writer, Steve created or helped create departmental mission,
vision, and strategic statements around operations and client services. This included HR, marketing, IT,
field operations, and shared services. Since becoming a professional business writer, Steve has written or
contributed to mission statements for non-profit organizations and small to medium businesses. His unique
writing skills and valuable business experience at the corporate and small business levels make him a
valuable mission statement idea generator and writer for any type of organization.

Wendy Kurtz, APR, CPRC

Specializes in Small business, Public Relations, Marketing and Media Organizations
Wendy Kurtz is an accredited public relations professional and certified public relations counselor who
brings a passion for promoting individuals, businesses, and organizations to each mission statement she
writes. As an active leader in her industry, Wendy brings a wealth of hands-on experience and knowledge of
local commerce and business to her clients. Wendy’s multimedia experience and commitment to helping
executives, authors, and professional speakers build businesses makes her uniquely qualified to market
her clients with passion and professionalism.

Named by the Orlando Business Journal as one of Central Florida’s most influential people, Wendy has
spent her career effectively promoting individuals, businesses and organizations in a variety of
markets.

An active leader in her industry and community, Wendy has been involved in the creation or revision of
numerous mission statements, including the Apopka Chamber of Commerce where she is Chairman, and as a
board member for Orlando, Inc. (formerly the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce), where she helped
develop the messaging framework for its parent organization, the Central Florida Partnership and also
served as Chairman of the Small Business Chamber; and Founding Co-chair of the Central Florida Small
Business Summit.

Wendy is a past president of the Public Relations Society of America’s Sunshine District and the Florida
Public Relations Association’s Capital chapter.

Wendy holds her Bachelor of Science and Master’s degrees in Business Administration. She is an
accredited public relations professional and a certified public relations counselor.

James Dietz

Specializes in Team, Military, Federal, and Corporate Mission Statements
Jim Dietz is an experienced corporate executive and project manager who has written mission statements
for countless projects. Jim spent many years working with the United States government and the U.S. Navy,
and brings an incredible diversity and commitment to detail to each of his clients. Jim’s knowledge of
major corporations and commitment to building sustainable business processes allows him to bring a unique
insight into all of his work.

In his career, Jim has managed small teams for large corporations, and large teams for small
companies. In every instance, he has been successful in both completing his projects on time and at or
under cost. That success comes primarily from being a dedicated project manager. That includes writing
mission, task and objective statements for every project and guiding his team down the path that creates.
As with all projects, they take unexpected twists and turns but Jim builds his projects in a continuous
process improvement environment so that the feedback is immediate allowing effective action to be taken
whether it be modification of the mission statement or just a tweak on a critical process. He has done
this kind of work across major corporations such as CACI Inc, a large commercial and Department of
Defense contractor and MITRE Corporation, a non-profit federally funded research and development company.
Jim honed his experience working on government projects where mission and objective statements are
literally a way of life, and where mission is everything and all that happens derives from the assigned
mission.

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