Teri Hansen knows her 'priorities'
BY EVAN WILLIAMS ewilliams@floridaweekly.com
For Teri Hansen, 45, the turning point came when she and her husband Chris had their daughter, Anna, 16 years ago. Born and raised in Fort Myers, Hansen had become a public relations expert, first as community services director for WINK-TV, promoting such local talent as anchors Jim McLaughlin and Hoda Kotb; then moving on to director of marketing for Westinghouse Communities.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO / EVAN WILLIAMS Teri Hansen

But in 1992 she resigned.

"I literally worked until the night before I had her," said Hansen, who was working 12-14 hour days. "After almost 11 years of marriage prior to having my daughter, I realized it would be very difficult to continue that kind of schedule with a small child."

Six weeks later she founded her own company, Priority Marketing - "priority" because it was based on her belief in an "ordered, balanced life." She said her priorities, in order are: God, family and work.

As her daughter grew, so did the business, which at one point took up more than a third of the space, in five rooms, of her 3,000-square-foot home in South Fort Myers. By then, she was marketing and promoting companies like her old employer, Westinghouse (also her first client).

She moved her offices to a building on College Parkway and now looks out for long-time Fort Myers clients such as Denny Grimes & Company or Geoffrey and Robbie Roepstorff from Edison National Bank, about 40 clients in all.

Hansen attributes her firm's growth entirely to referrals. She said keeping the limelight on her clients was key; if her clients grew due to her marketing, her business benefited. For example, when Colonial Bank expanded from Lee County into other parts of the state, new businesses there saw Priority Marketing's name on brochures, ads or other promotional materials.

"Our success comes from our clients being successful," she said. "We are only in business to promote them… anytime you go into a new market you have potential for a whole new realm of businesses seeing your work."

Taking care of businesses in an array of industries - such as retail, government, realestate and non-profit - required that the firm grow from 3 to 22 employees. Job titles and skills are diverse: relationship builders, media relations, the art department, the graphic designers, copyrighters, accountants and special event planners name some.

Ultimately the goal is to market her clients, Hansen said, or create awareness about them; and then provide PR, to keep them looking good. "Marketing is the umbrella under which you have public relations …We get to do work for every industry with some of the greatest businesses in this region. Day to day their needs change, that's why no two days are the same."

Her job now requires just the sort of long days Hansen escaped in 1992. So for fun she practices competitive ballroom dancing. And to keep her priorities straight she is a worship leader at Covenant Community Ministries in Fort Myers, where she sings gospel and Christian songs (mostly the alto parts).

"I have a firm faith in God," she said. "I was raised to be a woman of faith…along with that I was taught, it's not what you say, it's what you do, and your life has to demonstrate character, integrity and honesty."

She also moved with her husband and daughter last September, to a home in North Fort Myers on five acres, with plenty of breathing room to escape the day's commotion. And they have a second home in North Carolina.

"It's four and a half hours door to door (by air)," she said. "And then we're standing on the front porch overlooking a mountain range."

Even though it was her daughter's birth that spurred her firm into being, Hansen said she always knew she wanted to run her own business - at Cypress Lake High School and at the University of South Florida where she graduated with honors, with a major in marketing and a minor in criminal justice. So it was just a matter of time. And of course there's always room for improvement.

"I believe all of us accomplish less than we're able," she said. "And all of us can move on, move up, higher."