About The Geekettes Club

The Geekettes Club was formed in late 2009, after Founder, Sonya Schweitzer, became increasingly crazed by the number of stories of females cat-fighting their way to the top of the corporate pile. The Geekettes Club was formed to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment, where helping other women is strongly encouraged and educational and professional opportunities will abound.

Sonya Schweitzer, Founder

Sonya is a passionate and sometimes fanatical proponent of the marketing industry. She is a seasoned senior marketing professional with proven success in developing and implementing comprehensive marketing strategies, leveraging a targeted array of online and offline channels.
Sonya is currently Director of Marketing at Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services company serving the wide-ranging needs of many industries including real estate, apartments, specialty vehicles, employment, automotive and travel. Sonya holds a particular interest in leading edge marketing techniques, including social media, word of mouth, viral and conversational marketing.
Previously, Sonya owned her own full service marketing firm, Wave Marketing.  Prior to Wave, she worked in a variety of roles at AOL, as Program Director, Marketing, New Ventures & Innovation. Other experience gained at AOL was in product and brand marketing. Prior to AOL, Sonya held senior marketing positions in the finance, online education and technology sectors.
Sonya is a strong advocate of women in business and founded The Geekettes Club to provide the training, tools and resources to empower women in marketing, business and technology. As Founder, and former Chief Geekette, Sonya’s continues to serve on The Geekettes Club Board of Directors in an advisory role.
She also regularly blogs (www.socialsonya.com), Tweets (@SocialSonya), Facebooks, Skypes and anything else involving connecting with people.
Sonya is married to an über geek, and resides with him in Virginia Beach, Virginia, along with their three cats and a crazy Australian cattledog/beagle mix.

Nicole Newsome, Executive Director

Nicole is proud to lead The Geekettes Club and is the President of Huddle Up Management, a specialized marketing firm.  With more than 20 years in sales and marketing, Nicole’s focus the last 10 years has been in technology, web visibility, and search engine optimization.
Nicole has performed as a senior executive and director in a variety of industries including construction, travel, technology, performing arts, and online services.  Her expertise includes web site analysis, technical SEO, ethical link building, optimized blogging, online PR, and strategic online planning.  She has worked for local companies including Spirit Cruises, Goodman Consulting and Technology, Virginia Opera, Customer Magnetism, and Local Marketing Expo, LLC.
Nicole is often recognized for her enthusiasm and volunteer efforts.  Nicole serves on the Boards of The Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and Hampton Roads American Marketing Association.  She is the Founder of Food Allergy Association of Virginia Beach and is also a member of the national nonprofit Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) where she served locally as the Virginia Beach Volunteer Walk Chair in 2009 and 2010.  She is a proud native of Hampton Roads born in Norfolk General Hospital and alumna of Old Dominion University.  Now residing in Virginia Beach with her husband and two young children, Nicole enjoys family activities, community events, and fundraisers.
Connect with Nicole on Facebook, Twitter& Linked In.

Karen Clements, Chief Operating Geekette

Karen is an enthusiastic and innovative professional with extensive experience in event management.
She is passionate about The Geekettes Club and will tap into her knowledge of event planning to develop, coordinate and manage The Geekettes Club workshops, seminars and networking events.
Karen has launched her own event planning business, “Events In Every Occasion” and is looking for new clients. She can help provide event coordinating services, rental furniture for special events, and catering all in one stop.
She can also be found doing social media on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.