Starting out as a Travel Vlogger, Megan Gilman turned her love of travel and videography into a travel brand, Megan Without A Plan. As a full-time videographer and producer, Megan created and built a travel-inspired marketing brand set to inspire others to travel and find their passion, all whilst working with tourism companies around the world creating marketing and promotional media content to gain traction and boost sales.
After the sudden halt of her travel career due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020, Megan returned home and dedicated every day to sharpening her skills in the film & media industry. Shortly after, she open her own company “Reel Good Media”, a media company specializing in film & video production, assisting companies with advertising, photography, creative strategy, branding identity, and more.
Kara has used her voice in various ways during her 20 year career as a radio personality on Long Island. As a voice for the company’s brand, to sell client’s messages, and as a friend to the listener. No matter what Kara is speaking for she believes in what she is saying and will use her voice to give life to whatever it is you’re trying to convey.
Kara is passionate about diversity, the arts, authenticity, and making people laugh. Kara received a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication & Rhetorical Studies, from Hofstra University, in 1999.
Sag/Aftra member since 2002
1997-2000
WRHU 88.7 FM Radio Hofstra University
On-Air personality and Promotions Director and News Anchor for Hofstra TV’s, “News & Views”
1998
WLTW 106.7 Lite FM
Intern
1999
Barnstable Broadcasting Kjoy/Country 94.3/1100 WHLI
Promotions Director
2000-2001
96.7 EHM
Middays and Assistant Promotions Director and weekend talent at 104.7 Beach Radio
2001
Barnstable Broadcasting/103.9 WRCN & Love 96.1
Air Personality
2002
Barnstable Broadcasting KJOY 98.3 and 94.3 WMJC
2005-2007
103.1 B-103
Middays
Earned Certificate of Achievement in recognition of remarkable ratings in the Arbitron 2005 Winter Ratings Book.
2007-2009
WALK 97.5
On-air personality
2010-2020
KJOY 98.3/WALK 97.5/1000 WHLI/103.1 MAX FM
Morning show on Kjoy (2018-2020.) Middays on 1100 WHLI (2019-2020)
Earned Champion for Children Award – March 2012
Care and expertise help to distinguish Laney.
She is a breast cancer survivor, joined Tiger Schulmann’s Martial Arts to build her strength and volunteered with a not-for-profit to raise funds to support breast cancer research and promote women’s health. She seeks continuous improvement always and believes it is important to learn something new every day. See’s Candies branded “lollypops” are a favorite of hers.
Laney’s experience running her own business to elevate her clients through branding, marketing and design strategies will be leveraged at Straight Forward Media (SFM). She also worked at top Manhattan agencies advising clients such at American Express, Barnes & Noble, The New York Times and the U.S. Navy to name a few.
As a content strategist at SFM, Laney gets to know each client, learns what is important to them, their prospects and their customers. A content marketing strategy is then designed and high-quality and engaging copy is developed with SEO best practices when writing for digital environments. This includes relevant keyword phrase research including LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords so search engines will know what a page is really about. She also identifies the best backlinks strategy for each SFM client to ensure website authority and to maintain their relevance in commerce.
Crunchin’ numbers is Jerry’s forte. With more than 45 years in Finance, 40 in the retail field, analyzing a Balance Sheet and a P&L comes naturally.
Jerry’s finance career spans such companies as Modell’s Sporting Goods, Paragon Sports, Fabric Bonanza and Telco Stores.
He has an optimistic vision for Straight Forward Media’s future in the Advertising and Media field.
In his spare time, Jerry enjoys traveling and spending time with his family.
Email: Jerry@StraightFM.com
Phone Number: 516-430-6699 x7
Lauren La Franca is an accomplished marketing professional with more than 20 years of experience across traditional media, digital marketing, branding, campaign strategy, and business growth. As Chief Marketing Officer, Growth & Operations at Straight Forward Media, Lauren plays a leading role in developing strategic marketing initiatives, strengthening client relationships, improving internal processes, and driving measurable results for businesses across a wide range of industries.
Her work spans multiple marketing disciplines, including media planning, social media strategy, content creation, email marketing, analytics, brand development, print collateral, digital advertising, and website strategy. Known for her ability to blend creativity with data-driven decision-making, Lauren focuses on creating campaigns and marketing assets that are not only visually compelling, but also purposeful, trackable, and aligned with each client’s larger business goals.
Lauren brings a strategic, hands-on approach to every campaign. She understands that successful marketing requires more than strong creative. It requires clear messaging, smart placement, consistent execution, operational organization, and the ability to adjust based on performance. Her experience working with both large-scale campaigns and small business initiatives has given her a well-rounded perspective on how to build marketing strategies that are practical, effective, and results-focused.
“The future of marketing belongs to those who know how to balance innovation with intuition. Data, tools, and technology allow us to work smarter and make more informed decisions, but the strongest campaigns still require strategy, creativity, and a personal human touch.”
Email: Lauren@StraightFM.com
Phone Number: 516-430-6699 x2
David had a vision. When he was asked to describe his ideal job in his first interview, he knew all along that he was going to work in advertising and marketing. He built his career on the foundation of print media and marketing working at The NY Post Newspaper in 1997.
David continued to advance into large agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, Mindshare, MediaCom, AllScope Media, HN Media & Marketing, Zenith Media, and even has experience In-house at Cablevision & WeatherBug.
David is a loving husband and devoted father to his two kids Justin and Emily. He enjoys working out and attending the Tough Mudder & Spartan Challenges every year.
“My view of Marketing and Advertising is similar to my passion for Tough Mudder’s. I start with a clear objective, develop strategies and then finish the objective. Then without hesitation, I move on to the next objective and strive to overcome any obstacles. Marketing is much more than making money and ROI. It means looking at everything from a bird’s eye view and seeing how some actions affect others.“
Email: David@StraightFM.com
Phone Number: 516-430-6699 x1
