John C. Zaher
Founder/President/CEO
email johnzaher@theprmg.com
phone 631-310-4655
View Resume
LinkedIn
John Zaher earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History from the University at Stony Brook and then worked for Republican National Committee and as a staff member on Rick Lazio’s campaign for U.S. Congress. In 1993, John joined Congressman Lazio’s staff as a Special Assistant.
In August of 1994, he joined TCI Cable of Brookhaven (later Cablevision of Brookhaven) as its Community Affairs Manager and later as Franchise/Government Relations Manager, earning numerous honors from the New York Cable Television Association for public service programs.
John graduated from Touro Law Center’s evening Juris Doctorate Program Cum Laude. His graduating paper, Exploring Councilmanic Districts for Long Island’s Towns, was published by the Suffolk Law Journal. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in January 1999. John served as Press Secretary in Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office beginning in 1999 and for the Nassau County Executive in 2001. In addition to his law degree, John holds a Masters in Political Science/Public Policy from the University at Stony Brook in December of 2000. He teaches Political Science and History at Suffolk and Nassau Community Colleges.
John formed the Public Relations and Marketing Group in January of 2002. The firm provides integrated services to attorneys and other professionals, governmental entities, non-profit organizations, retailers, restaurants, destinations, other corporations and political candidates.
The firm launched PR4Lawyers, a division of the company, in 2012 and launched Advocati Marketing in 2022. Since the inception of PRMG and later PR4Lawyers and Advocati Marketing, John and members of the firm have successfully provided marketing services to hundreds of law firms and attorneys.
Laura Gottfried
Vice President & Creative Director
email laura@theprmg.com
phone 631-310-4625
View Resume
A 2006 graduate of Farmingdale State College, Laura Gottfried holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communications. During her time at Farmingdale, Laura was a member of the Alpha Beta Gamma International Business Honor Society and featured in Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges. She also attended the International Study Abroad Program in Greece.
Laura then went on to obtain her Master’s degree from Dowling College in 2008. During her time at Dowling, Laura was an active member of both the Dowling-Belmont Partnership Program and the American-Slovenian Collaborative Action Research Program. She was also featured in Who’s Who Among Female Professionals.
Highly skilled in Adobe Creative Suite, Laura has been designing professionally since 2005. Her initial job responsibilities focused on print and branding campaigns. However, as industry trends changed, Laura took several continuing education courses to expand her skillset to include website design and development, digital advertising, and video production.
Laura takes pride in delivering real-world advertising and marketing solutions that encompass multimedia programs — all within tight timeframes. By producing quality logos, websites, brochures, direct mail, TV commercials, among others, Laura provides the resources and guidance needed to build the clients’ businesses most effectively, establish and maintain their companies’ desired images and, ultimately, improve their bottom lines.
Laura is a member of the International Society of Female Professionals (ISFP), a global network made up of professional women who have excelled in their industry and aim to support and empower likeminded individuals. She is also a member of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA).
In her free time, Laura loves to travel. She has traveled all throughout the U.S., Central America, and Europe. In fact, she credits her realization that the world has so many beautiful things to see, as what sparked her interest in art, and ultimately led her to a career in creative direction.
As someone who loves overcoming a challenge, Laura is most often found tackling outdoor adventures with her daughter and husband, including hiking, spelunking, kayaking and snorkeling. Their goal is to hike or swim at every national park in the U.S. Her other hobbies include painting, cooking, reading, and attending New York Islanders and New York Mets games.
Renee is currently an Account Executive and Digital Advertising Specialist. She is responsible for implementing and monitoring all digital advertising for our firm’s clients. Renee has a passion for marketing and has successfully helped multiple businesses with their social media content, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has done videography, photography, and graphic design for various companies across the Island. She is also certified in Google Search, Display, Video, and Election.
In her free time, Renee sings, plays guitar and piano and writes music. She performs at various Long Island venues during the weekends and has been professionally singing since she was seven years old.
Renee earned her Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management and Marketing from Saint Joseph’s University.
Meet Claudine! She graduated from Boston College with honors in English and concentrations in French and Visual Arts. She moved to New York City, where she worked at NBC and on various independent and feature film productions. Claudine worked on the first live Internet discussion with Tom Brokaw when the World Wide Web began to change our world. She then started working at Capital Thinking, where she created many of the financial packets and marketing items for the launch of the cutting-edge software program to facilitate online mortgage quotes. On Long Island, she designed marketing booklets and managed client support for the new company, 1stDibs.com, which was an online broker for the Paris Flea Market. Claudine says her favorite job was working as the gift shop manager and buyer at the Parrish Art Museum because she was able to use her creativity and marketing experience while interacting with customers. Raising two children was her main role for many years, but she also spent her time working as a fundraising coordinator and grant writer for their school, Our Lady of the Hamptons. For the past two years, Claudine has been working as a Realtor, marketing assistant, and content writer for the real estate and property management industry in Florida. She is happy to be back in New York, but she will definitely miss paddle boarding and golfing in February.
Fun fact about Claudine: she has studied painting in France and acting in Dublin.
Kaela Brandi is a current Assistant Account Executive for Advocati Marketing. She holds a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design from Sacred Heart University and is continuing her education with a Master’s in Professional Communications from Southern Utah University. Kaela is passionate about creating content and helping businesses’/brands’ build their online social media presence and improve their marketing strategies. She has previous experience from multiple companies she’s worked/interned, as a former freelancer, and from her college career. Initially born on a military base in Hawaii, she studied and worked in Connecticut for four years, and she currently resides on Long Island, where she grew up.
Since Kaela’s childhood, her hobbies have included painting, learning more about different topics, and creating art in any capacity.
Chloé earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Liberty University where she took extensive classes to learn about digital marketing and how to run a business. Formerly, Chloé interned at New York Adult & Teen Challenge where she was the Business Development Representative that helped the non-profit organization strategize their marketing efforts to raise seven figure funds annually. Chloé is passionate about marketing and being able to help clients find the best strategy for their unique business. She has experience in creating websites, graphic designing, content creation, SEO, and both traditional and digital advertising.
Born and raised on Long Island, Chloé dedicates most of her free time helping her local church community, enjoys strength training and dancing, and meeting new people.
Brian Kotkin
Assistant Account Executive and Legal Content Writer
email brian@theprmg.com
phone 631-310-4714
Brian Kotkin is a native Long Islander who loves his family and his pets. He graduated from Bard College with a B.A. in Political Studies, and received a J.D. from the Maurice A. Deane Law School at Hofstra University. He is formally admitted to the New York State Bar, and is the founder of Legally Literate LLC, a startup dedicated to helping regular people understand the law. He has also been involved in numerous political campaigns, and remains deeply involved in his community.
Hank Russell earned his Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from St. Bonaventure University. He has more than 15 years’ experience as a writer, editor and proofreader. His first job was sports editor of The Long-Islander. In 1991, he was named Suffolk County Wrestling Coaches Association Newspaperman of the Year.
He joined Volt Information Sciences as a proofreader in 1993. In July 1994, he earned Volt’s “Catch of the Month” award. He spent the first three years as a proofreader and two years as a trafficker. He also spent another year as a proofreader and copy editor for Wilen Business Media.
Between 2000 and 2006, Hank worked for a series of magazines as an assistant, associate and managing editor. He has also freelanced for numerous scientific and medical imaging magazines, and, in 2008, was a contributing writer and poetry editor for The North Atlantic Review. Before joining PRMG, Hank was a political reporter for Suffolk Life.
Francine is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Design at Syracuse University. Formerly an intern, Francine is now employed as the company’s Graphic Designer. Her responsibilities encompass producing advertisements, social media graphics, stationery, and etc. It also involves several aspects of programming, including updates to email blasts, e-newsletters, and websites, using HTML, CSS, and WordPress.
In her free time, Francine loves to indulge in food and cooking, trying out new restaurants and recipes from a variety of cultures. Her other hobbies also include drawing, painting, hiking, and biking.
Traci Gagarin is a seasoned marketer and Michigan native. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration with a marketing emphasis from Grand Valley State University. As the Marketing Specialist at PR4Lawyers, Traci focuses on the company’s external marketing efforts. She thrives on being creative in and out of the office. In her free time, Traci enjoys time with her husband and rescue pup.
Freddie Cain is a video production specialist with over 10 years of experience. A Long Island native, his love for photography and videography started in junior high school, when he first got his hands on a 35-millimeter SLR. It was then that his passion for creating visual content became clear. He graduated from Manhattan Edit Workshops’ program in 2010. Since then, he has focused his efforts on creating and learning how to work on a wide span of projects, such as commercials, music videos, live streams and podcasts.
In his free time, Freddie enjoys watching movies, video photography, video games and Dungeons and Dragons.
Terence Dollard
Video Production Consultant
Terence Dollard is a ten-year veteran of television production. In that time, he has worked in all phases of production and in many genres. Terence has produced and directed a dramatic feature, numerous commercials, music videos, documentaries and an awards show.
Combining real-world experience with a strong visual style, Terence offers clients variety, professionalism and quality in their video projects.
In 2000, Terence earned his Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Television Production, and his Master’s thesis, “Set List,” an hour-long dramatic feature, won the Graduate Production Award from Brooklyn College.
Since joining PRMG, Terence has concentrated on documentaries, commercials, and satisfying the needs of PRMG’s clients.
As a graduate of Stony Brook University’s Computer Science program, Hannah Perez is a skilled website designer and developer specializing in HTML, CSS, PHP, WordPress and Drupal. Being detail-oriented, she ensures each website is programmed using the latest industry standards with attention to responsive layout and optimization for search engines.
In her free time, Hannah enjoys fostering kittens, biking, reading and watching movies.
Jane Sferrazza is a web developer and educator. She earned her Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from NYIT and has been a computer instructor for MLI, Hunter Business School, and CUNY. She has also been designing websites as a freelancer since 2004 with expertise in PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Java, and SEO. Aside from building websites and teaching she has time to volunteer for the American Red Cross from time to time since 2009.
