About Us

Laura Pasternak
President and Brand Strategy Consultant

Laura Pasternak brings over 15 years of marketing, brand strategy and communications experience to the firm. She combines executive-level management experience with creative thinking and strategic marketing skills to help business-to-business companies grow through effective brand management. She has created, launched and managed numerous marketing and branding campaigns at regional, national and international levels across a wide number of industries—from education and the arts to technology and real estate. Her expertise includes strategic planning, brand management, marketing strategy, customer acquisition, PR/communications and M&A brand integration.

In 2001, she established MarketPoint, LLC, a brand management firm focused exclusively on marketing strategy and brand management. Prior to this, she held senior marketing and strategic planning positions with such companies as Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. and Prometric, a part of Thomson Corporation, where she worked closely with Microsoft, Oracle and Cisco. In these roles she was responsible for managing lead generation and brand strategy, establishing co-branded promotional campaigns and integrating marketing and communications initiatives for five separate acquisitions.

Her career also includes work in public relations for several nonprofit organizations, among them National Credit Counseling Services and the Washington Chamber Symphony, as well as various positions with Walt Disney World, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and Maryland Public Television. Laura is a graduate of the University of Illinois and is an active member of the American Marketing Association, Public Relations Society of America and the Executive Women’s Roundtable.

JoAnn Peroutka
Brand Strategy Consultant

Specializing in marketing communications, JoAnn Peroutka focuses on understanding audiences and developing strategies to reach them successfully, whether through print and electronic media, or via the live experience. With more than 20 years of professional experience in both public and private sectors, she brings marketing expertise from such diverse industries as commercial banking, sports marketing, higher education, not-for-profit, special events and meetings and hospitality.

JoAnn has managed marketing and design initiatives for such organizations as Johns Hopkins Institutions, the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, Systems Alliance, P.W. Feats, the Cal and Kelly Ripken, Jr. Foundation, University of Maryland, and the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives. She holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, graduated magna cum laude from Western Maryland College and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Julie Johnson
Public Relations & Communications Consultant

Julie Johnson has more than 20 years experience in the business world and an extensive background in public relations and communications. She maintains a specialization in writing marketing collateral, ghost writing and public relations materials, as well as articles and essays published in local, national and international newspapers, magazines, newsletters and online publications.

A writer and media consultant, Julie approaches public relations from a journalistic point of view which results in greater respect among editors and other media she pitches. She has a proven track record of drafting press releases, case studies, testimonials, media kits and articles as well as securing media placement. In addition to her work as a PR specialist, she has authored the book, “Loudoun: Blending Tradition with Innovation” for the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce.

Becky Choi
Organizational Development Consultant

Becky Choi has nearly 15 years of experience helping organizations and leaders understand and leverage their individual and group dynamics. Throughout her career, she has helped companies build efficient, productive, high-performing teams and strong leaders that achieve sustainable results. Becky’s unique blend of experience in organization development, business, law and human resources provides an integrated perspective on how to help people and organizations move forward to achieve their goals.

She holds a Certificate in Organization Development from Georgetown University and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas at Austin. She is admitted to practice law in Virginia, DC and Georgia.

John Hrastar
Business Management Consultant

John Hrastar combines a background in technical engineering with a wide range of business, operations, financial, and management skills. Highly regarded for his ability to distill key components of a situation, then integrate the best combination of resources to achieve the client's objectives, he has a substantial track record of enhancing the productivity of emerging growth and mid-market closely held companies. John is an experienced senior manager and proven leader in a wide variety of businesses, particularly high growth situations. Throughout his career, John has been an active business manager, operating companies alone or as part of a senior management team. He founded a unique specialized financial software company that sold over 600 copies of its new program within the first seven days of product release. In addition, he was a key member of investors and managers who grew a trading company from zero to $25,000,000 in annual revenue in three years.

John graduated with a Bachelor of Science, cum laude, in Mechanical Engineering from George Washington University and has completed postgraduate studies in business, management, and finance. He is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth, Society of International Business Fellows, Omicron Delta Kappa (National Leadership Honor Society), and Mensa.