This month’s employee spotlight is Lori Flint. Lori is Stokes’ proposal manager. To learn more, check out her interview with Will Rabinow below!

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from? Where did you go to school? And how long have you been with Stokes?

I started at Stokes in February of 2021, so I’ve been here a year and change. There’s been a sea change (more than one) from what I thought my career would look like when I finished college. I graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in journalism, even though I pretty much knew by mid-freshman year that I didn’t really want to be a journalist anymore. Since I didn’t know what else I wanted to be when I grew up, I decided to just follow through with that and figure things out when I got there. I took a job as a proofreader at a big-name ad agency right out of college and ended up spending most of my time in the art studio being jealous of what they got to do, so I went back to school to learn some art design basics and how to use the programs. Then I faked it for a little while until I got really good at graphic design. I also kept up my writing and editing skills by doing a variety of freelance jobs over the years. From that point right up until I started working here, I designed all kinds of print materials, from logos, to magazines, to newspaper ads, and everything else. I actually applied for a graphic design position at Stokes, but to the powers that be, my skill set seemed like it would be a good fit for an open proposal manager position, which I happily accepted.

Could you explain your role here at Stokes and what a typical workday looks like?

There really isn’t any such thing as a typical workday for me. I spend most of my time writing, editing, and designing proposals, but I also help out with social media and wherever else I might be needed. Jamie Feger, our proposal coordinator, and I work hand-in-hand getting proposals completed and on their way, and I absolutely wouldn’t be able to do my job without her exceptional organizational skills. The way the process generally works is we’ll either locate a promising RFP or start getting emails from the sales/outreach staff about pursuit requests. We’ll do a cursory evaluation and if it seems like a worthwhile pursuit, we’ll then have a kickoff meeting to make sure we know exactly what we need to create a successful proposal. After that, Jamie will assign jobs to the team, and we’ll get down to business. If we’re subbing the pursuit, my involvement is almost entirely writing and editing components that then go to the client to be worked into their proposal. If we’re priming it, I’ll take everything we gather and put it together into a nicely designed proposal which we then get out the door and move onto the next.

What do you most like about working for Stokes/your position?

As I mentioned before, I wouldn’t be successful in my position without Jamie’s help. Luckily, interacting with her is one of my favorite parts of my job! I like pretty much everyone I work with, which really makes a difference, and I love the fact that I can integrate all of my skills into my work. It can be a challenge, but that’s what keeps it from getting boring.

When you are not working what do you like to do in your free time?

I recently moved, so what spare time I have these days is spent trying to figure out where things need to go and wondering why I still have so many boxes sitting in the middle of every room in the house. What I enjoy doing, though, is reading, being abused by my dog, and hanging out with my kids. I love a good road trip, but I haven’t taken one in a while. I used to design jewelry and I’ve been stockpiling materials to get back into that again, and I have a Cricut that I’m dying to learn how to use and start making things with, but I just haven’t had the time to sink my teeth into it yet.

What is your favorite place in the world?

I once had a plan to go back to Ireland at least once a year, but I haven’t been back since 1996, so you can see how well that plan worked out. My friend’s mom lives on the west coast near Galway, which is my favorite city, and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to con him into taking me there with him sometime.

If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

That’s just a mean question to ask a foodie. I grew up in a restaurant family. There’s no way I can answer this!

If you could pick one super power what would it be?

What makes you think I don’t have one?

Do you have a personal motto?

I do have one, actually, but it’s not family friendly so this probably isn’t the place to share it. I guess the G-rated version would be “Play nicely with others.” Also, “Don’t run with scissors.”