Good Neighbor Podcast: North Shore
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of North Shore
Good Neighbor Podcast: North Shore
EP #77 - Barrie Atkin: How One Consultant Transforms Businesses and Nonprofits
Barrie Atkin, founder of Atkin Associates, is revolutionizing marketing strategy and fundraising consultancy with a hands-on, accessible approach. Having transitioned from corporate roles at TV Guide and Rodale to an independent consultant, Barrie breaks the traditional consultant mold by offering practical, affordable services for organizations of all sizes. Her philosophy of making her expertise financially accessible extends to writing grant applications to help clients secure funding for her services, setting her apart in an industry often criticized for high fees and theoretical strategies.
What makes Barrie’s story particularly inspiring is how personal tragedy transformed into a professional mission. After losing her partner to lung cancer, she became involved in "Gen Silent," a documentary and movement addressing healthcare discrimination for LGBTQ+ seniors. This intersection of professional skills and personal passion drives her work, helping clients—from businesses to nonprofits—create customized strategies for growth and impact. Barrie’s personalized approach focuses on understanding client goals and encouraging organizational buy-in for long-term success. Ready to transform your approach to marketing and fundraising? Visit barrieatkin.com to learn more.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Yvonne Godfrey.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today, I have the distinct pleasure of meeting with Barry Atkin. She is the owner of Atkin Associates and we're excited to have her with us today. Barry, how are you? I'm great, Yuan, and thank you for inviting me. Oh, it's a pleasure to have you here, and so, barry, can you please tell our listeners about your company, sure?
Speaker 3:So it's a marketing strategy and fundraising consultancy. I help businesses and non nonprofits raise more revenue, get more focused on their business and become more aligned for the future.
Speaker 2:Okay, how did you get into this? What's the background?
Speaker 3:I've been in corporate America for a number of years. I've worked for TV Guide, I've worked for Rodale, I'd done some consulting in between jobs for ESPN, for the Nature Conservancy, for Consumer Reports and the consulting became a life of its own, and so, instead of looking for a full-time job when I was between jobs, people were asking me to consult, and so I expanded my consulting business. Originally it was just marketing services and strategy, and then it expanded into fundraising as well. Beautiful, colorful background. Thank you.
Speaker 2:So what are some myths or misconceptions that you've discovered in your industry?
Speaker 3:A lot of people think consultants are remote, they aren't hands-on or they're very expensive.
Speaker 3:I like to make it possible for all of my clients to afford me. I even help them find ways to raise money or write grants, and I also write grants to grant applications to raise money for them to hire me. I tend to be very hands-on, I'm not theoretical, I'm very practical and work with them on specific projects, such as coming up with a rebranding, coming up with a strategic plan, coming up with how they're going to raise money for a specific project.
Speaker 2:Wonderful, sounds like you are definitely the one to have in your corner for any industry, nonprofit as well. Thank you. So, outside of work, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:One of the things I do for fun is go to the beach with my dogs. I do for fun is go to the beach with my dogs. I have two wonderful, friendly dogs and take walks on the beach, go bicycle riding, go swimming, spend time with my wife, go to movies, volunteer in a number of different organizations and capacities.
Speaker 2:Wonderful Barry. So changing gears. Can you describe one hardship or one of life's challenge that you rose above and can now say that because of it, you're better, you're stronger? What comes to your mind? Who died of lung?
Speaker 3:cancer after seven years of living with lung cancer and multiple operations. So we went through that together and later, a number of years later, I heard about a documentary that was going to be for caregivers and people involved with older lesbian and gay folks to help them understand what it was like as they aged. The documentary was called Gen Silent, generation Silent, gen Silent, and it was later critically declared one of the best documentaries about aging period. I saw the trailer and it resonated for me in terms of the experiences I had had with my late partner. So I offered to help to get the money raised to get this documentary out, and that was life-changing for me as well as others.
Speaker 3:Yes, in fact the documentary became a movement that helped older adults, and especially LGBT adults, become much more aware of their options and helped overcome discrimination that was often happening with older LGBT folks as they went into nursing homes or had to kind of caregivers come in that didn't understand who they were or didn't respect or appreciate them.
Speaker 2:Thank you for the in-depth background surrounding that that was life-changing. Sounds it. So, Barry, can you please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about Atkin Associates?
Speaker 3:Well, one of the things is that my name is spelled Atkin A-T-K-I-N, no S, and my first name is Barry B-A-R-R-I-E. So barryatkincom is my website. So if they put in barryatkincom in their web browser, they should be able to find me. Or if they just Google my name, barry B-A-R-R-I-E, atkin A-T-K-I-N, they'll find me, okay.
Speaker 2:Thank you for that. What should they remember about your service, though?
Speaker 3:That I offer very customized, personalized services. So if someone comes to me and says we need to rebrand our organization or we need a new brand or we need a strategic plan, I will sit down with them and talk with them about what their goals are, what they've done in the past, and I'll give them some options about how to go about that. And I really encourage them to really focus on getting buy-in from their organization and how to do that.
Speaker 2:Okay, thank you for that. Thank you for that. So, barry, we really appreciate you taking the time to be with us today. We certainly wish you and Atkin Associates all the very best moving forward.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPNorthshorecom. That's GNPNorthshorecom, or call 857-703-9406.