The Ultimate Photography Experience in Portsmouth, NH

Branding Photography Session with Anna Goldsmith, Executive Director, TEDxPortsmouth

With TEDxPortsmouth coming up in May, it is only fitting that I feature Anna Goldsmith. She is the Executive Director of the TEDxPortsmouth https://tedxportsmouth.com. When Anna joined in my photography event last summer of 2021 - The Extraordinary Female Entrepreneurs and Leaders in Portsmouth, it seemed only fitting that we do the photoshoot at The Music Hall. I love the Music Hall. Every time I am there, I can’t help but think of all the history in Portsmouth and all the people that sat in these seats many years ago. This photo of Anna is one of my absolute favorites!!

Photo by Ruth Ganev of Anna Goldsmith at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH

Here is Anna’s story,

by Anna Goldsmith

Anna left college with a degree in art and no marketable skills. Her career began unceremoniously with a humiliating stint working a frialator at Seattle SuperSonics basketball games. 

She soon returned east to a slightly less humiliating job as the towel girl at a swanky health club. 

Seeing some promise — or just seeing the opportunity to take advantage of a disillusioned 23-year-old — a member hired her away to write telemarketing scripts for Brain Gum. (As in “chew more, study less,” IQ-enhancing bubble gum.) While the experience caused her to wrestle with her moral compass, she had never had so much fun.

After a fateful meeting with another young copywriter who had also been laid off (ah, the dot com era) the two decided to start their own copywriting agency “until we get real jobs.” 

Twenty years later ….

Anna and her business partner, Dan O’Sullivan, work with major brands around the world, helping them find the right words, the right voice and the right platform. Their agency now includes 15 senior-level writers and has won numerous awards.

Does Anna have words of advice for people who want to start their own companies, too? (Yes, and thank you for asking!) Here it is: You don’t have to do it alone. Find a business partner who you trust implicitly, you like immensely … and perhaps most importantly, can do the stuff you’re bad at.
You can learn more about their company at www.thehiredpens.com. (They are always looking for exciting new clients and great writers to add to their roster.) 

Being “good in business” also means using your skills to do some good in your community. 

Anna grew up in Portsmouth. So did her father, her grandfather, his father and a bunch of relatives before that. Her husband loves to make fun of how they all talk when they get together (e.g., “Remember Patchy from XYZ store before it because ZYX?”). And while she knows this is a pastime among many long-time residents — reminiscing about the “old Portsmouth” — Anna thinks the city has grown and changed in some pretty amazing ways. 

Wanting to get more involved in the community after moving back to Portsmouth with her family in 2015, Anna joined the TEDxPortsmouth team, helping take the event from a 150-person gathering to a sold-out show at The Music Hall — and one of the biggest TEDx events in the country. Now as the executive director, she works with a great team of people who are also passionate about sharing bold new ideas from Seacoast voices. Visit www.TEDxPortsmouth.com to learn more — whether you want to sponsor, take the stage or work behind the scenes. 

But wait! There’s (just a little bit) more! 

During the pandemic, Anna got back into art, turning the family’s empty guestroom into a studio. She’s in there almost every day, often with a son or two painting beside her. She had her first show in early 2021 and a second this fall. You can see her mixed media collages at www.annagoldsmithart.com. As you might expect from a copywriter, her art work prominently features … words.

Anna holds an MA in non-fiction writing from the University of New Hampshire and a BA from Colby College. 



Entrepreneur Spotlight - Aileen Dugan - Agency Owner State Farm

Aileen was one of the first women that I photographed for my Female leaders and entrepreneurs event in the summer of 2021. It is my pleasure to share her story — written by Lisa Leslie of Magnolia Content.

Aileen moved to Portsmouth to open her own business in 1990, as a State Farm insurance agent in Portsmouth.   Licensed in NH and ME, Aileen and her team serve customers throughout both states with a focus on serving the Seacoast areas of NH and Maine. 

A NH native, born in Manchester, Aileen attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine. One of the most interesting places she lived was on Bailey Island in Maine, when she was a senior at Bowdoin College, back when the island was still very much a small lobster and fishing island with breath-taking scenery in every season. Raised by her parents with the “Live Free or Die” mentality, Aileen loves NH and can’t imagine living anywhere else. She loves the creative people who reside here and is inspired by people she meets in Portsmouth every day, even 31 years after moving here.

Having volunteered and supported dozens of important Seacoast organizations that care about this community and the people in it, Aileen has become increasingly invested in keeping Portsmouth the special place that it is.

She currently serves as Vice-Chair of Portsmouth Music and Arts, and previously served on the Board of the Prescott Park Arts Festival for seven years. She believes that our thriving Arts and Culture scene is what makes us unique.  She is also very involved in Portsmouth Rotary Club, one of the largest Rotary Clubs in the Northeast. 

“I believe that seeing other women who are successful is not just inspiring, it’s affirming to your own beliefs and goals, and when I have the opportunity to help other women succeed, it gives me a lot of satisfaction that I have skills I can offer and share.”

Aileen’s mother, Anita Aubin, was the first female State Farm agent in the State of New Hampshire in the early 1980’s. This was a big breakthrough for women at a time when women were not well-respected or even well-treated in the workplace. She is very proud to have an enterprising and hard-working woman as her mentor and role model, and attributes being where she is today to the encouragement and support of both her parents. 

In 2020, Aileen completed her 48 4000 footers in New Hampshire, which was a life goal of hers. She and her husband of 16 years enjoy gardening and have a large vegetable and flower garden. In the winter, they love to ski with friends and family. People are often shocked to hear that Aileen has 5 children, 3 of hers and 2 of her husband’s. She says they are truly the “Brady Bunch” and feels that the Seacoast has been a great place to raise their family. They also have a golden retriever, named Brodie, who comes to the office every day, and is the official greeter.

Copywriter and Content Strategist - Lisa Leslie of Magnolia Content →

Throughout the summer and fall of 2021, I created an Event called the Extraordinary Female Entrepreneurs and Leaders of the Seacoast. I set out to photograph and tell the stories of 25 women. I wanted to create an event that would celebrate the person behind the business. I was hoping to inspire other women and to create collaboration and networking. I had so much fun creating this gallery of photos. But… I am not a writer. So, I brought on Lisa Leslie of Magnolia Content to tell the stories. Lisa was so much fun to work with and created some beautiful stories to go along with the photographs. Here is Lisa’s story:

Lisa is a copywriter and content strategist who is passionate about using her love of writing to help business owners thrive. Her love for writing began as soon as she learned to write. Though her handwriting was questionable at the time, her passion for telling stories through written words was anything but. She genuinely enjoys listening to how people got started in their business, what keeps them going, and helping them share that with their target audiences — by stringing together words in a compelling way that inspires action. 

After working in several industries (finance, insurance, real estate, retail, marketing, etc.) in a variety of roles, Lisa decided to pursue her love for writing officially in 2015, when she created Writer By Default, a copywriting business focused on helping small businesses with affordable copywriting, including website copywriting, email content, press releases, blogs, and social media marketing. In 2019, she relaunched her business as Magnolia Method Consulting, adding content strategy and consulting services to her offerings. After a year of unprecedented ups and downs in 2020, Lisa rebranded again, settling on the business name, Magnolia Content. This name and brand change was a result of her desire to simplify her brand identity and clarify her passion — which is helping small, service-based businesses share their brand stories, attract their ideal clients, and grow their businesses organically, with authentic, relevant, and compelling content

Lisa is married with two teenage stepdaughters, a 4-year-old Great Pyrenees named Hainesy, an 8-year-old Labrador retriever named Honey, and a 3-year-old white Siamese mix cat named Casper. Her three favorite pastimes include hiking, skiing, and singing. She likes trying new things, and sometimes she likes to get crafty with paint and make art out of scrap wood.

“If the passion is there, do it! Don’t wait. Know that it will be terrifying, and you will have your doubts. You will have days where you want to quit, but you will also have days where you feel like you are one of the luckiest people in the world to be able to do what you love every day.”

For more information about Lisa visit her website at Magnolia Content, follow her on Instagram @Magnoliacontent, on LinkedIn @Magnolia Content and on Facebook @Magnolia Content.