The Women's Tennis Association has a new ad campaign, highlighting strength in its athletes as a beautiful characteristic. Aiming to convert "peripheral fans" to more committed tennis viewers, the campaign places strong female tennis players in elegant dresses, where they slam tennis balls around while glitter flies. Stacey Allaster, Chief Executive of the WTA states that "an emotional connection to those performers we're inspired by" is what is necessary to create true fans. This can be said of arenas other than athletics, as evidenced by our constant need to know more about the lives of our favorite film stars, musicians and other public figures.

Girl Scouts Rock! Powered by Roland was a huge success in Chicago. The workshop was even featured in a segment on WCIU's popular morning show, The U! Hosts Jeanne Sparrow & Melissa Forman rocked out with a few of the instruments used by the girls in attendance. They seem to be having quite a good time! I guess there's a girl scout in all of us, just waiting to rock!

Recently, I sat down with Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Carly Harrington to chat about marketing to women and some of the exciting new developments here at FletcherPR. Click here to read the full article. This is definitely an interesting time in the marketing world, with the onset of social media allowing for constant contact via platforms like Twitter, direct interactions with customers and the demand for engagement rather than just one-way communication.

There are many musicians working in the music industry, but very few reach icon status. In fact, when Go-Go's guitarist Charlotte Caffey wrote "We Got the Beat" she probably didn't realize just how beloved her song would become. Today's post honors Charlotte because we think she's SO Empowered, but it also coincides with National Girl Scout Leader Day, which is fitting because of Charlotte’s contribution to the Girl Scouts Rock! Powered by Roland initiative we blogged about here.

It’s no secret here at FletcherPR we think girls rock! This is why we’re so excited to be working with Girl Scouts of America and the Roland Corporation U.S. on a fabulous new initiative, Girl Scouts Rock! Powered by Roland. The project, which recently kicked off in Los Angeles, involves a series of interactive workshops that puts musical instruments into the hands of Girl Scouts ages 8-14 and offer them new opportunities to learn about music, while making some of their own at the same time.

The star-studded premiere workshop included none other than girl rocker Charlotte Caffey, of the groundbreaking all-female rock band, the Go-Go’s. As a female singer/songwriter and mother of a 16-year-old daughter, Caffey was happy to get involved with the project to help provide young girls a greater access to music and music education. Girls and moms alike jammed out to the Rockin' Roland Girls Band rendition of We Got The Beat while Caffey cheered them on. Also in attendance was Disney darling Shelby Spalione, previous lead singer of the all-girl teen rock band KSM and former Girl Scout. Spalione, who says she was inspired by the Go-Go’s, performed for the workshop participants and met many of them as well.

The high-energy project goes on the road this month, crossing the country for workshops to be held in Chicago, New York and Miami. In a recent Billboard Magazine article, Roland U.S. president Chris Bristol states “I want to give young girls a positive, hands-on experience playing musical instruments and making their own music.” The goal of the initiative is to empower young girls through music, while offering them the chance to learn something too.

With the budget cuts schools are facing these days, music programs get pushed further and further to the bottom of the priority list. Having majored in music and worked in the area of performing arts, I know the extent to which music can have a positive impact on peoples’ lives. Seeing the smiles on the Girl Scouts’ faces as they were jumping up and down, getting excited about music brought tears to my eyes. We believe this initiative will have life-long benefits for the Girl Scouts involved and we are so thrilled to be part of it!

At FletcherPR, we believe in the power of women. Nothing excites us more than seeing women be empowered and inspiring others to do the same. We just wouldn’t feel right if we didn’t shine a bit more spotlight on an incredible woman, Ashley Johnston. You might know her as a member of the Pink Team on Season 9 of NBC’s The Biggest Loser. Partnered with her mom, Sherry, a fellow Knoxville-resident, Ashley fought her way through the entire season. While she may have finished the contest in second place, she is still a winner in our book! Prior to going on the show, Ashley struggled with weight issues for some time and finally decided to make a change when she realized that she could no longer participate in everyday activities without difficulty. Over the course of the 6 month experience, she lost over 49% of her body weight, a remarkable 183 pounds.

As of early October, Ashley was still dating another contestant of the show, Koli from California. She’s currently working with The Biggest Loser to create her own line of workout clothing…and says that being a designer has always been a dream of hers. Ashley also travels a great deal sharing her story with others at various speaking engagements to promote health and being a healthy size. We are so proud of you Ashley…way to follow those dreams!