Q & A with Lynn Hanford

What is your favorite color? Periwinkle…It's the melding of a lot of great colors and I think it has a sense of humor.

In a few words, how would your friends describe you? Optimistic and Fun

In a few words, how would your colleagues describe you? Fair and Creative

In few words, how would your family describe you? Happy (except if I don't get enough sleep)

What does your family think you do for a living? My 7-year old thinks I talk a lot for a living, especially on the phone. My 9-year old believes I make movies for TV and will probably be terribly disappointed one day to learn that though this is somewhat true they're not Ella Enchanted.

What is your professional background? It all began in a small little town in upstate New York, just under the Canadian border where I hosted the “Wood Chop Shop Swap Shop” on the local radio station, serving all 50 residents (well, maybe a few more than that on a good day). This blossomed into my on-air and behind the scenes producing for several small town TV and radio stations throughout college at Syracuse University and between parties and basketball games – Go Orange!  After college, a position as a producer in creative services at Channel 9, WUSA brought me to DC.  A job at Professional Video Services, a small production facility kept me here and I've lived here ever since.  What fun PVS was, serving many of the foreign broadcasters including the BBC, EBU, NHK, etc…and corporate clients as well.  There wasn't anything PVS wouldn't let you try and learn and that made working there very exciting. I think what I learned the most from my time at PVS though, was that the client becomes the family and you work really hard to make them happy.  This simple philosophy has served me well in business.  From there to freelance producing/special events coordination and then into business with Constance, the founder of Flying Colors Broadcasts.  I'm having a blast and see myself here for a long time.

What excites you in an average day at FC? So much about Flying Colors excites me (and I truly mean that).  I'm really lucky that my work is something I look forward to and I try not to take that for granted.  What I like best is when I'm talking with a client and I learn of an idea they have, and in the back of my mind I know of another client/vendor who has an idea and perhaps a service that when I put them together, the ideas will flourish and the projects come to fruition.  I'm not sure what you call that, but it really makes me smile.

What attributes from you personal life fall into FC? My multi-tasking ability, perfected from being a parent of two little girls under the age of 9.  If I can read stories, brush hair, argue over what's for breakfast all while playing the fireman in a pretend game of emergency, I can certainly coordinate a couple of live shots and their simultaneous transmission paths.

What is your favorite age? I actually like my 30s. I'm finally starting to look old enough that people take me a little more seriously, but not so old they take me too seriously.  I suspect I'll like my 40s too - I better, they're soon approaching.

Who is your best friend?  Best client? My husband, Troy.  He's the first person I want to talk to when anything good or bad happens.  To me, that constitutes a best friend.

Best client? I think that one could get me into a lot of trouble.  No comment, they're all great, especially the ones who challenge us (as long as it's not about the invoice.)

What is your favorite "tool" at your work? E-mail – I don't know how any of us survived without it.  Having the brains of so many talented co-workers with various areas of expertise to pull from isn't a bad tool either though.

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