An Interview With Sara Connell
Don’t be a doormat. Learn to say “no” if you have too much on your plate. You don’t want employers to take you for granted. Saying that you have a class to attend or a date, doesn’t mean you are less worthy. Set boundaries to create work-life balance. Another tip — turn off the cellphone after hours.
Books have the power to shape, influence, and change our lives. Why is that so? What goes into a book that can shape lives? To address this we are interviewing people who can share a story about a book that changed their life, and why. As a part of our series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlotte Tomic.
Charlotte Tomic is a Paris-born daughter of Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who works as a publicist and realtor in Miami Beach. Through Tomic Communications, she promotes companies, authors, nonprofits and academic clients who want to burnish their brand in the media. Charlotte is married to Samuel Mowerman MD and travels around the world with him.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory” and how you grew up?
I grew up in Queens, New York, to overprotective, but loving parents who showered my siblings and I with love. My mother Hilda Frenkel is a survivor of the camps in Transnistria and will be 102 in June.
Let’s talk about what you are doing now, and how you achieved the success that you currently enjoy. Can you tell our readers a bit about the work you are doing?
I enjoy doing publicity for national and global clients, including nonprofits, colleges, authors, professionals and companies. My other passion is real estate and I love to match people with the condo or house of their dreams.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Persistence- you can never succeed as a publicist if you can’t take rejection and if you aren’t persistent. It just won’t happen.
Kindness — Life is too short to be mean to someone and you never know when that person will re-enter your life and reach out to you. So think before you write or say something you can’t take back.
Attention to detail: Details are everything in doing a good job. When you take pride in your work, don’t forget to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. Write thank you notes to people who help you, like reporters, so they keep you top of mind.
What’s the WHY behind the work that you do? Please share a story about this if you can.
I love education, having spent most of my career working in academia with St. John’s University as their AVP Communications. So doing public relations outreach is a way to educate the public about important news that they can benefit from. Public health, for example, is so important in the age of Covid, and getting physicians to get out there and explain what the CDC is recommending is vital. Science is truth and you need credible professionals to advise the public.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Mentors are always important and should be lauded. I will always be grateful to my managers who taught me so many vital skills I use every day.
Awesome! Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Can you please tell our readers about “The Book That Changed Your Life”? Can you share a story about how it impacted you?
As a Jewish daughter of parents who survived the Holocaust in Romania, I was always mindful of that history and how you can say “Never Again” but how the world is a fragile and dangerous planet. As we look at what is happening right now in Ukraine, my heart breaks at the human suffering being inflicted on innocent civilians, especially children. The Nazis killed all of my grandparents, an uncle and an aunt I never met, and as a child I was always jealous of kids that had grandparents. Elie Wiesel’s book “Night” was a life-changing book for me. In his beautiful prose, he described indescribable cruelty and what he had to do to survive the brutality of Auschwitz. His guilt at not running to his father as he lay dying really struck me and stayed with me to this day. As we see the world in flames again in Ukraine, this book has flown back into my consciousness. We cannot repeat the horrors of World War II, especially in an age of nuclear weapons. Everything must be done to bring this conflict to an end and those responsible must be punished by the civilized world.
What was the moment or series of events that made you decide that you wanted to take a specific course of action based on the inspiration from the book? Can you share a story about that?
The book “Night” inspired me to always fight anti-Semitism, to support Israel, and to donate my time to working with nonprofits that educate people about what happened in World War II. I volunteer with organizations that are involved in those efforts.
Can you articulate why you think books in particular have the power to create movements, revolutions, and true change?
Books can serve good and evil causes. Hatred has been perpetrated by people who hate a group of people just because of the religion they were born into or the color of their skin. Nazis truly wanted to exterminate all Jews from the planet. The only way to counter that hatred and genocide is through education, and books contain factual information and photographs that are incontrovertible. When you hear anti-Semites deny the Holocaust ever happened, you hear the words of bigotry and lies. The proof is in those living who endured the bestiality and cruelty of the Nazis and in the books they write about their individual experiences. “Night” is one of the most powerful memoirs and that’s why it is taught in schools around the world.
A book has many aspects, of course. For example, you have the writing style, the narrative tense, the topic, the genre, the design, the cover, the size, etc. In your opinion, what are the main, essential ingredients needed to create a book that can change lives?
The writing style of Elie Wiesel is very calm, yet emotional in terms of how he describes what he endured during World War II. Creating that connection to the reader is what makes the book so powerful.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started My Career” and why?
Appearances matter. Try to maintain a professional look at the office. Your ability to rise in the ranks can sometimes be attributed less by merit than by looks. Get your haircut regularly, wear dignified clothing and make-up to create the best first-impression you can.
Toot your own horn. Be assertive. Make yourself valuable by speaking up at meetings. You will never be able to negotiate a pay raise if you don’t create a good case for yourself in any negotiation. Make sure you have measurable accomplishments that you can list as you try to get a raise. Think to yourself — I’m worth it!
Don’t be a doormat. Learn to say “no” if you have too much on your plate. You don’t want employers to take you for granted. Saying that you have a class to attend or a date, doesn’t mean you are less worthy. Set boundaries to create work-life balance. Another tip — turn off the cellphone after hours.
Exercise — never neglect your own body. Exercise is important for your physical and mental well-being. Make time in the day for it, even if it means taking a walk at lunchtime.
Have fun! If your job is creating a lot of stress and worry, you may need to look for a new opportunity. Work is like a marriage — it’s a two-way street. If you’re not enjoying getting up and going to work, it’s time to switch gears.
The world, of course, needs progress in many areas. What movement do you hope someone (or you!) starts next? Can you explain why that is so important?
I would hope that NATO and the UN would become more sophisticated to reduce world conflict and effectively prevent wars.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
They can follow me on Linked In and Facebook or email me anytime at charlotte@tomiccommunications.com
Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us and our readers.
Charlotte Tomic Of Tomic Communications On The Book That Changed Her Life was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.