About the Author 
Elisa Southard, APR 
Accredited in Public Relations  

Coming from a large French-Italian family in Brooklyn, New York, where everyone talked at the same time, imprinted the urgency of getting your message across on Elisa. Family members were not surprised when she engaged in marketing and public relations professionally. 

She set high standards to serve her community and get involved as a professional.   She is the past Chairman of two prominent San Francisco Bay Area organizations: the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce and the Walnut Creek YMCA, and a recipient of the prestigious YMCA Spirit award. An arts enthusiast, Elisa served as Vice President of the Diablo Regional Arts Association, and a board member of the Oakland East Bay Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. 

Her combined experience as an author, public relations/marketing consultant, television moderator, speaker, and award-winning community volunteer gave her a deep understanding of the challenges facing professionals charting their own courses. It was time to share her knowledge to turn their technical skills into marketing talent. 

As developer of the Break Through the Noise tools, Elisa transformed her successful client-technique blueprint into nine chapters of stories, skills and interactive exercises to help professionals and artists be their own best advocates. Break Through the Noise didn’t take long to climb aboard the amazon.com business best seller list and capture the coveted #1 Marketing and Sales position. 

As a sought-after speaker, Elisa has led seminars for such organizations as the Learning Annex, the California Society of CPAs, the Women’s National Book Association, Women in County Government, Chapman University and audiences at Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Attendees of the San Francisco Writers Conference ranked Elisa as one of the top conference speakers.  

Elisa now serves as a faculty member of the San Francisco Writers Conference and is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America. 

As an adventurous professional, Elisa loves to stir up new perspectives and take the guesswork out of risky endeavors.   Currently researching her second book for professionals launching new pursuits and building support for their new activities, Elisa is often quoted as saying, “Don’t kill a marketing moment, execute it.” 

A long-term lover of everything water-related, Elisa resides in the San Francisco Bay Area where she enjoys writing about and riding her motorcycle with her husband and taking long walks with their pets.  

Have a question? Ask Elisa