Joan Stewart Smith of Stewart Communications is an independent consultant, specializing in public relations, social media, marketing communications and the written word.
Joan’s expertise is behind many successful communications endeavors. Her client roster includes all shapes and sizes – from fast-growing startups to Fortune 100s, individuals, government, non-profits, as well as PR, advertising and marketing agencies.
She’s worked in high tech, consumer electronics, healthcare, arts & entertainment, non-profit, government, publishing, photography, environmental, travel & hospitality, retail, banking, finance, food and beverage, business-to-business, among others.
Skillful Pro
Although many rave about Joan’s writing talents, she is a “one-woman band” of many skills. Clients benefit from her expertise and experience without the high cost of hiring a full-time employee. Skills include program development, product media launches, media/analyst/blogger relations, social media, content marketing, media tours, blogging, ghostwriting, speechwriting, copywriting, sales material, graphic design, photo technician, business proposals, marketing plans, events, trade shows and speaker placement.
Using her many talents, Joan has worked independently with Epson, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, City of Pasadena, Mitsubishi, Manning, Selvage & Lee, Dentsu Burson-Marsteller, Rogers & Cowan, Fleishman-Hillard, Olmstead Williams, Bohle Company, Shandwick Convergence, Fischer & Partners, Intermark, NMC Partners and the Friedberg Company. Her work has received a First Place Prism Award and an IABC ACE Award.
Joan’s on-the-job style ranges from home office and business casual – to proper business suits and showbiz glamor. Working with red carpet photographer Paul Smith of Featureflash Photo Agency, Joan has also covered and attended many major show business events including Hollywood film premieres, the Oscars, Golden Globes, and the Cannes Film Festival.
Before independence
Before starting Stewart Communications, Joan was a vice president/account supervisor at Simon/McGarry Public Relations, a Shandwick Company, Los Angeles, a high tech PR agency. Previously, she was traffic and production manager at consumer ad agencies N.W. Ayer Advertising, Los Angeles, and SSC&B Advertising, Los Angeles; and healthcare ad agency Baxter, Gurian & Mazzei. Her many clients ranged from Hewlett-Packard and Aqua Resources to Carnation (now Nestlé) and Sheraton.
Joan was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Ebell of Los Angeles. She has worked on many stage productions for the Los Angeles Drama Club, Theatre Corporation of America and Pasadena Playhouse. Joan co-wrote the translated book Das Grosse Beverly Hills 90210 Fan-Buch for German book publisher VGS Verlagsgesellschaft. She spent a summer living in London, another summer living with a family in Germany while working at the town library, and another summer working at the Disneyland Hotel.
Joan received a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in English and Journalism from San Jose State University and studied in the UCLA Department of Information Science.