Laurel Petsas with Maggie’s Place Debi Nielson with 88.7 The Pulse and Gwen Gustafson with Arizona Fun Services E1
On this Collaborative Connections show, we discuss the need for supporting local businesses and working together to build a stronger community. Tune in to learn more about supporting Maggie’s Place, a local non-profit for pregnant women and their children, or if you want to shop at a locally-owned Costume and Party store, Arizona Fun Services, or if you want to grow your business on the radio with The Pulse 88.7 while supporting high-school students.
Maggie’s Place opened in 2000 with a single home when five recent college graduates saw a need. Today, Maggie’s Place provides life-changing programs and services for pregnant and parenting women and their children by offering a warm and welcoming community, a safe place to live and learn, and on-going services to help them become self-sufficient. 
Maggie’s Place:
• Targets the most vulnerable population: women experiencing poverty and their fragile infants and children.
• Enhances protection and nurturing of children by building, maintaining and constantly improving a network of family support services.
• Has found powerful ways to help families build resiliency, stay together and change their lives.
• Utilizes prevention and intervention programs that have a greater impact on families.
• Provides trauma sensitive services based on meeting clients where they are, creating services based on what families ask for, and building trust.
Laurel Petsas has spent the last 5 years with Maggie’s Place.
She is the Marketing and Stewardship Director who works to end homelessness and strengthen families through building relationships within the community and sharing the impact the support brings to the mother and their families.
Laurel is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where she received an undergraduate degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing.
Dedication to the community and the not-for-profit sector are an important part of Laurel’s life. She is a program graduate of the Association of Fundraising Professional’s Mentoring Program and has served as a committee and board member of the Greater Arizona Chapter.
Follow Maggie’s Place on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
88.7 The Pulse & 90.7 Neon are student & staff run radio stations located on the 65 acre campus of the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa, AZ.
Debi Nielson is a 30+ year radio and marketing veteran. Her radio career has taken her to legendary stations across the country including 99.9 KEZ/Phoenix, KEGL “The Eagle”/Dallas and Greater Media/Washington, D.C.
Returning to her hometown of Phoenix in 1996, Debi reunited with the place of her first radio station, 99.9 KEZ then moved on to 100.7 KSLX. After leaving “corporate” radio in 2018, Debi enthusiastically accepted a position as Sales & Marketing Manager at non-commercial 88.7 The Pulse & 90.7 Neon where she offers local businesses the opportunity to market themselves to Valley consumers while supporting the students in the Radio & Audio Production department and our next generation of leaders at the East Valley Institute of Technology.
Connect with Debi on LinkedIn.
Arizona Fun Services is a year round locally owned party, costume and event rental Shop. They rent and sell costumes. They sell costume accessories, wigs, hats, masks and theatrical makeup. They rent booths & games, cotton candy, sno-cone, popcorn, and frozen drink machines. 
They rent inflatables, dunk tanks, hi-striker, bingo cages, raffle drums, & spinning wheels. They do full-service carnivals, company picnics, casino parties, church festivals, and private back-yard parties or you can rent individual items and pick them up.
They have a back room full of prizes you can use for giveaways, loot bags or incentives in your classroom.
Fun Services is the originator of the Santa’s Secret Shop/Holiday Gift Shop program, the in-school shopping program for elementary schools during the holiday season.
Gwen Gustafson has been at Arizona Fun Services for 33 years. Gwen moved to Arizona with her parents in 1986 to help them run the business. Gwen took over the business with her business partner Tariq Chaney in 2010. Gwen is an active member in the Tempe Chamber of Commerce and LocalFirst Arizona.
Follow Arizona Fun Services on Facebook and Instagram.
About the Show
Kelly Lorenzen started the “Collaborative Connections” show to bring her clients and favorite charities together to meet each other, connect and collaborate in life and business. She hopes to build a stronger community one show at a time. 
About Our Sponsor
KLM Consulting is a business concierge and project management firm. They help small business owners and non-profits build, brand and brag about their businesses.
About Your Host
Kelly Lorenzen, CEO of KLM Consulting, is an award-winning entrepreneur with over 15 years of business-ownership experience. She is also a certified project management professional.
Kelly’s expertise is in business development, customer service, marketing, and sales.
Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn, and follow KLM Consulting on Facebook.
