Gina Schreck is president of SocialKNX, a digital marketing and social media management company that launched in January 2013. The company originated in 2006 as Synapse 3Di, LLC. Schreck enjoys sharing how to create social media businesses that engage and convert to sales. She speaks at conferences around the world helping organizations use today’s technology to improve learning, build relationships and manage company and individual brands. Schreck is married and a mother of four children. An excerpt of the interview with Schreck follows:

What career path led to your profession?

My career path has had lots of “squiggle” as a serial entrepreneur. I have started three companies, and had two careers before that. I started out after college in the human resources industry for a large Silcon Valley computer company. That lead me to enter the personnel field in a sales position when I moved to Colorado. After being promoted to a regional sales director position, I found that I loved the training aspect of my job and went back to school to take some small business management classes to start my own training company in 1995.

As technology advances allowed us to connect with people using new tools, I sold the training business in 2007, and started a technology and digital marketing and social media management company. I hired smart people with strong marketing backgrounds, and today we manage the social marketing for hotels, realtors, banks, training companies, mNy, etc. We still help people connect, just on new platforms.

What educational background and/or professional training are essential for this profession?

In this profession, along with most others, strong writing skills are critical. Having the ability to connect, engage and persuade through both written and verbal communication are the most important skills I look for when hiring people.  I have made the mistake of hiring people who knew the technology that we used, but they could not write well. Great writing stems from reading lots of great content. Become a ferocious reader and your writing and speaking skills will be strengthened.

What influenced you to pursue a career in your profession?

I have always been interested in the latest technology and the tools to help people connect (shiny objects). I love studying human behavior and those two have intersected and exploded in the new social and digital world we live in. It’s exciting to be in an industry that is always changing and improving the way we connect with customers.

What professional, civic or community organization do you belong?

I have sat on many boards, including the curriculum advisory board at Denver University, the National Speakers Association, where I served five years and was the president as well. I currently chair an annual fundraising event and serve regularly at the Denver Rescue Mission, where I love to see Colorado’s neediest get a hand-up, and enter programs that help them get back on their feet.

What advice do you give to students who desire to pursue a career as an entrepreneur?

Remain flexible. Never stop learning and drink lots of coffee! You will have to work hard, and work more hours than you ever thought possible, but you will have more joy and a greater sense of accomplish at the end of each long day than anything else you could be doing.

Don’t fall into the trap of complacency, thinking the way you are doing business today will always work. Consumers continue to change and, sadly, it is at a much faster pace than most businesses can keep up. Stay on top of trends and be willing to experiment and connect with your customers in new ways.

What is your typical work day or schedule? 

I get up at 5:30 a.m. and spend at least 30 minutes reading the top industry news through blogs and Twitter feeds. I then spend 30-60 minutes writing. Whether it is a blog post or a chapter for my latest book, I write. Then my day is usually filled with meetings via conference calls or Skype, doing interviews and spots for tech shows.  I get asked to speak at conferences all over the world, and I love getting to travel and meet people to share new ways they can connect and build their business using today’s technology tools.

I have a wonderful team of 11 community managers and marketing gurus that do most of the hard work each day for our clients, but I do spend a few hours each day on calls with them discussing ideas and challenges with client and potential client accounts. I am on social media platforms throughout the day–Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google plus and even Instagram and Foursquare–of course connecting and sharing contents with the many communities I am plugged into. I try to spend time with my family in the evening. I am married and have four grown children.  Our youngest is still at home as a senior in high school.  I usually get back online to write a little more at night.  I start blog drafts and schedule content for my social media accounts for the next morning. I aim to be in bed by midnight.

 Dr. Ronald Holmes is the author of four books, “Education Questions to be Answered,”  “Current Issues and Answers in Education,”  “How to Eradicate Hazing and “Professional Career Paths.” He is publisher of “The Holmes Education Post,” an education focused Internet newspaper.  Holmes is a former teacher, school administrator and district superintendent. He can be reached at [email protected].