MEET LISA TRAVATELLO


  • 1960  Born days shy of Christmas at Astoria General Hospital in Queens, New York, I learned at a young age that combination Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas presents are just not fair (and my mom agrees).

  • 1964  At age four, I nurtured my interest in pop culture happenings and big events with a visit to New York’s World’s Fair. I fondly remember GM’s Innovention exhibit and The Shell Oil Company’s injection molding machine which created souvenir plastic dinosaurs for my baby brother Bobby and me. .

  • 1970  A hands-on/very busy pre-teen, Mrs. Lee’s 4-H club gave me an outlet to fine tune my creative endeavors in baking and crafts.  A blue ribbon for that coffee can coffee cake made my folks proud…and later in my dating years, dad would always bring up that  winning ribbon to my young suitors with the hope that they would be impressed. (didn’t happen).

  • 1976  While juggling my high school passions of field hockey, cheerleading and baseball stats, I joined the working class and learned the finer points of fast food operations while working at Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips. Unfortunately, the smell of fish lingers in your hair and in one’s polyester uniform – even with an ample spray of Love’s Baby cologne.

  • 1978  I graduated from Glen Cove High School and left home to say “Hail to Pitt” while joining the freshman class ranks at the University of Pittsburgh.

  • 1979  What a time to be in Pittsburgh during its sports glory years.  Celebrations abound for the Pittsburgh Steeler’s back-to-back Super Bowl wins, the Pittsburgh Pirates World Series Championship and Dan Marino on the field as QB for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers (you might know…he later joined the Miami Dolphins).

  • 1982  A public relations internship at the City of Pittsburgh, Department of Parks and Recreations turns into a full time job after Pitt graduation (and while parents are thrilled, Lisa still needs to moonlight as a Waitress at Bobby Rubino’s Rib restaurant to pay the rent)

  • 1983  I persuade Kaufmann’s department store to partner with Pittsburgh’s Phipps Conservatory for its first in-store Spring Flower Show…that connection then blossoms into an opportunity to be PR Manager for Kaufmann’s – hello fashion, beauty and retail marketing!

  • 1985  After driving Daffy Duck in a holiday parade, coordinating events with MTV, top fashion designers and celebrities and conducting media interviews on store escalators every holiday season, I answered the call of agency life and joined Dudreck, DePaul, Ficco & Morgan. - an ad/PR firm.

  • 1987  It was time to pack my bags and head home to New York to join D.A.Y. Public Relations (which later merged with Ogilvy & Mather Public Relations) to promote the goodness of Florida Citrus and yogurt.

  • 1990  After tiring of the killer commute from Long Island, I finally move into Manhattan and take another career move with Edelman Public Relations.  Love, love the big brand and creative work for Toys “R” Us, Hasbro, Weight Watchers, Nabisco, Mott’s. et. al.

  • 1991  Loyalty has its privileges…while living in NYC and commuting to Long Island for my hair care, the owner of the salon says she knows a guy I might like…one blind date and six months later Brandon proposes at sunset on The Big Island of Hawaii.

  • 1992  I say “I do” and learn why Hemingway loved Tahiti as we honeymooned on Bora Bora…complete with island bike rides, shark feedings and spontaneous photo shoot for a German magazine. 

  • 1994  With great love and happiness we welcome our son Christian into our lives and have not stopped running since.

  • 1996   Who wouldn’t want to work in the world of Snap, Crackle & Pop (and Hershey Chocolate, Dannon Yogurt, Duracell Batteries and Gillette)…my next adventure takes me to Porter Novelli where I get the chance to create the World’s Largest Pop-Tart and help Tony the Tiger celebrate his birthday with a paw print ceremony at Mann’s Chinese Theatre

  • 1997  And, puppy makes four…Vegas joins the family – our golden retriever  

  • 2001  IPG’s Weber Shandwick here I come and a year later I have the opportunity to help Hanes “Retire the T-shirt” tag to launch the Hanes Tagless T-shirt to business and industry accolades.

  • 2003  Named Chief Creative Officer, I adore working with our clients and teams around the world to create strategically smart breakthrough ideas like unveiling Playtex ½ bras at the LA Shoe Show and having Jay Leno talk up the news on two monologues.

  • 2005  Do you know how cranberries are grown?  Well, helping to develop Ocean Spray’s Big Apple Cranberry Bog helped America answer that questions…and it made splash on the Today Show.  

  • 2009  Tapped by IPG family member Current to open their New York office as a  “Think-tique!”