About WellStar Marketing, Inc.
WellStar Marketing, Inc. is a fully integrated
virtual agency that brings together the best talent in all areas
of online and offline marketing that can deliver optimal results
that met both your goals and your budget. We’re not Madison Avenue
(no expensive conference rooms to pay for), and we’re not a “man
with a Mac in a basement.” We are a lean, experienced team of
marketing professionals who work hard to understand your needs
and deliver the best and most creative campaigns on time and
within your budget.
We focus on small- to mid-sized businesses – healthcare/wellness
practices, technology companies, consumer-directed services,
etc. – that need intelligent marketing solutions that can offer
the most bang for the buck. We measure our success not by creative
awards (although we have more than a few of those) but by our
clients’ success. And we pride ourselves on making the marketing
process as painless as possible for the uninitiated as well as
those who have their ‘war stories’ to share. Heck, we’ve even
been known to make the process a little fun…
How We Started…
WellStar Marketing celebrated its 20th anniversary in the Fall
of 2009. Started in 1989 by Barbara Alba, a talented marketing
executive and (eventual) mother of three, the company has always
had an emphasis on work/life balance. Not only did the “virtual”
company model suit that aspiration perfectly, it also ended up
being a way to offer top notch marketing talent without the overhead
expenses of a typical “brick and mortar” marketing agency.
Today, WellStar employs talented individuals across the country
who choose a telecommuting career to better accommodate their
personal values and aspirations. We believe that this model allows
us to bring together the best talent, at the right time, to meet
the needs of our clients. Little overhead means more cost effective
solutions. Happy, well-adjusted team members mean better work
for our clients. (We think we have this thing licked…)
Here’s the WellStar Team:
Barbara Alba : Founder/President
Barbara A. Alba has more than 25 years experience in marketing, advertising and public relations. After stints in the corporate world and in management consulting firms where she worked on national accounts (including Clorox, Seven-Up, Ingersoll Rand and SmithKline Beckham), Barbara ventured out on her own in 1989 with the creation of Alba Communication Associates. Within three years of its inception, the company was among the top 10 public relations firms in Atlanta, GA. This achievement was recognized by the Small Business Administration, who selected Barbara as a finalist for the Small Business Person of the Year for the State of Georgia in 1994. In 1995, Barbara merged her agency with another Atlanta-based firm, forming Crumbley & Alba. The newly combined company grew quickly and by 1998, boasted capitalized billings of $18 million with 45 employees on staff. Clients included The Athlete’s Foot (worldwide), DeKalb Regional Healthcare System, Georgia International Horse Park (1996 Olympic venue), BioLab, Inc. and the Southeast Tourism Society. Her desire to spend more time with her growing family and return to her native Philadelphia, led her to sell the agency in 1999 and become an independent marketing consultant.
She didn’t stay a solo act for long. After serving as an adjunct professor of advertising and marketing at Holy Family University from 2000 – 2002, Barbara began to once again grow her marketing consulting business, under the new name, WellStar Marketing. The growing acceptance of telecommuting fit perfectly with her philosophy that work experience and talent should not have to sit on a shelf while parents are raising their children. Today, WellStar’s virtual agency format allows its staff the freedom of working from home, either full time or part time, to accommodate the demands of their family life at the same time.
A graduate of Villanova University, Barbara received her BA in Communication Arts in 1980 and her MS in Human Organization Science in 1985 (summa cum laude). After graduating number one in her graduate program, Barbara was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Graduate Medallion in 1985. She is the proud mother of three wonderful teenagers and resides in Yardley, PA.
Mary Fetterman : Account
Manager
Mary Fetterman has always enjoyed working with a variety of people in dynamic environments. A graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Mary began her career in retail management. “It was one of the most challenging things I have ever done,” she says. “Definitely preparing me for whatever path my career was going to take.” Years later, she did take another career path – into the architectural field where she focused on business development and marketing for the firm. After taking a few years off to develop her own family, Mary resumed her marketing career in 2005 when she joined WellStar Marketing as an account manager. Years of multi-tasking have definitely prepared her for keeping on her toes with WellStar, as well as managing her three children at home. Mary finds her escape from it all at the yoga studio, where she regularly teaches class.
Karen Giatto : Account Manager
Karen Giatto brings over 12 years experience in account management, copywriting, media purchasing and budget planning to WellStar Marketing. After graduating from Lynchburg College with a B.A. in Communications Studies (cum laude), her earlier career history includes account management within the recruitment advertising industry as well as marketing/copywriting for the promotional products industry. She looks forward to applying her promotional products experience to the newly-created WellStar PromoCafe. Of the many hats she wears, Karen proudly wears the one of wife and mom. Karen, her husband and two children reside in Bucks County, PA.
Faith Foyil : Account Manager
Faith R. Foyil brings over 20 years of international PR, marketing and copywriting experience to Wellstar. Her diverse background includes in-house positions for companies in the U.S., England and the Bahamas. Faith additionally dabbles in slice-of-life writing and has seen her work featured in national magazines like Family Circle as well as several Bucks County, PA newspapers.Her witty book Sunny Daze: The Humorous Misadventures of a Tropical Island Mom recounts the period she spent raising children in the Bahamas (where she lived until 2006).
Rose Hendricks : Accounting/Administrative Manager
Rose is the glue that holds all of us together. A graduate of La Salle University in Philadelphia with a B.S. in Accounting, Rose quickly found employment as an accountant at a Center City stock brokerage firm, eventually ascending to the position of Assistant Vice President of Government Reporting. She made the decision to go part-time after her first child was born. Twin sisters followed a few years later. To accommodate both family and career, Rose worked as a part-time accountant for 11 years for several local companies. WellStar was lucky enough to find her in October, 2005, when she assumed the responsibility of all accounting and administrative matters for the company, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, payroll taxes, monthly billing, financial statements, etc. Rose and her husband, Jim, are the proud parents of three beautiful daughters and reside in Holland, PA.
The Design Teams
Neil, Melissa and Amanda are a team of talented
designers who provides a full range of design, internet,
and web-based marketing solutions
to help aid in the growth of your business and your brand. From
the initial research phase to the production of websites and print
designs, they provide the knowledge and expertise to make your
endeavors a success. Their philosophy is to not just deliver a
product, but to deliver results that make your business more distinguished
and ultimately more profitable.
Samples of their work can also be seen on their own company website, www.inverseparadox.net.
Designer
Aimee Mercer is a highly creative business and graphic arts professional
with over 10 years of extensive knowledge and expertise in marketing,
print, and multimedia design. She graduated from Drexel University
in 1998 with a BS in Graphic Design (summa cum laude). She created
over 25 award winning designs while working for the Drexel University
Admissions Department as their Assistant Art Director/Creative
Operations Manager. In 2007, Aimee stepped out on her own, forming
her own freelance design firm. Mercer-Design specializes in brand
building, corporate identity, print design, advertising, multimedia
and web development. Aimee is a proud member of the WSM virtual
agency where she employs her exceptional organizational, collaborative,
interpersonal and strong conceptual skills to translate your ideas
into realities.