Why @colleendebaise of @wsj is #FollowFriday Worthy

Wall Street Journal’s Small Biz Wiz, Big Time Food and Curry Fanatic

Our #FollowFriday-Worthy recommendation this week is Colleen DeBaise, editor and writer for The Wall Street Journal’s small business section, also overseeing small business coverage and the development of new features that appeal to entrepreneurial readers special projects director at Entrepreneur.com.

Colleen has covered small business and finance for over 10 years now. She covers and shares valuable and useful content for any business owner or entrepreneur. What’s more, she also tells of other small business owners’ experiences and best practices, which makes her articles more practical with fresh ideas for many entrepreneurs.

Colleen began her career in financial journalism in 1998 at Dow Jones Newswires where she was lead court reporter and covered personal finance for seven years. She then moved to stints as editor for Business Week’s SmallBiz and Smart Money’s small business web site.

An award-winning journalist, Colleen authored, The Wall Street Journal Complete Small Business Guidebook in December of 2009, which I believe should be read by anyone who is thinking of going into business for himself. The well-received book is dead-on in telling every wannabe “biz bee” the truth behind owning and running a business on their own. Words of caution are there but the guide also gives you a realistic game plan, from starting a business to making exit strategies.

Colleen, we discovered, is not only a small biz wiz but also a big-time foodie, particularly her love affair with curry. Since her immersion to the spices in college, Colleen has followed her quest for different versions of the seasoning. Her busy life at The Wall Street Journal did not stop her from creating a passionate personal blog, CrackingCurry.com, where she shares her culinary life, specifically her adventures in cracking the curry code.

Get to Know Colleen DeBaise

Colleen loves our weekly #FollowFriday recommendations. She thinks it’s a fun and cool idea for a small business like ours.

Here’s Colleen’s take on our fill-in-the-blanks:

Laughs at: My own jokes, sadly. Someone’s got to.

Hopes: To start my own business! Don’t tell my boss.

Thinks: Life is flying by too quickly.

Reveals: I can juggle. Literally. Three balls in the air at once.

Dream Coffee Date: AOL Small Business Editor Rod Kurtz. (I laugh!)

Is Inspired By: Every entrepreneur I interview, no matter how small or successful. It’s why I do what I do.

WSJ’s small biz wiz may want to start a business for herself when the right time comes. Given her mad love for cooking and curry, I hope CrackingCurry.com takes off well and becomes her gravy train!

TIP to PR Professionals: Colleen prefers email pitches, and it’s always good to pitch a possible trend story, rather than one company’s success story.

Follow Colleen DeBaise on Twitter.

Catch all her latest articles at Entrepreneur.com.

Get saucy with Colleen and check out her personal blog at CrackingCurry.com.

Do you have favorite journalists who cover the small business beat? Share them with us, so we can follow them too.

Liz Estrella-Basilio is Elena Verlee’s San Francisco partner at Cross Border Communications. Together they work with start-up to multi-million dollar technology companies who want to get their story heard in traditional, digital and social media.

She recently revived her Twitter account and will be out on the prowl to find those who are truly #FollowFriday-worthy on Twitter. Follow her at @lizestrellab.

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Elena is founder of a technology PR agency that works with startups to billion-dollar companies. She is passionate about helping marketers and small business owners with practical publicity strategies.

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