Driving Ms. Elva  Spring  2000 by Shirley Smith

Ad executive creates her own destiny using pure energy and sheer talent

It�s 7 o�clock on a winter evening and Elva Pellouchoud is still at work. - nothing unusual about that. Working day and night is her rhythm�because she loves it, loves her job. �I�m spastically driven, always have been,� she says with a laugh. �Working 12 to 16 hours a day in my being.�

Pellouchoud is executive vice president of The Exline Agency, a full service marketing, media, and public relations company. The 20-person firm can do it all for its clients from creating ads to arranging a press conference. It can mean setting up an opening for the Hard Rock Caf� in Denver; helping a cable company with a name change, being the local agency for the Burger King chain, or devising a campaign for a shoe company from Barcelona.

Pellouchoud has found her niche, but it isn�t always easy to find your way. Just ask her.

She grew up in Boulder with 11 brothers and three sisters. Her parents, Barbara and Patrick Pellouchoud, who were white, adopted five mixed race children and Elva was one of them. �I have an incredibly supportive family, a great foundation,� she says. �My parents are the most kind-hearted people.� The family is close despite the children�s age differences. Elva is 14^th of the 15 children. Recently, she went to California to see her older brothers and she tries to get to Boulder every weekend to see her parents.

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Ruth Brooks Putting Her Stamp on the U.S. Post Office  Summer  1999 by Annette Walker

Customer satisfaction is the major goal for the United States Post Office," says Ruth Brooks, director of marketing for the Western Region.

The public annually purchases $250 million worth of postal products and services. Brooks claims the Post Office has worked hard to tailor its products and services to meet customer needs.

"And we're seeing good results," she says. "The best example is that we're ahead of such competitors as UPS and FedEx. During the strike, UPS customers turned to us and learned that the Post Office moves the mail, including packages, in an efficient, cost- effective way."

Brooks says they are proud to have retained many UPS customers since the strike was settled. In addition, she says the Post Office's Express Mail service has taken back some of the business lost to FedEx.

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