The Vision Thing

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When Stan Yoshihara left his job at commercial real estate giant CBRE Group Inc. to start his own property management firm, he wanted to create a smaller company that gave him some flexibility and creativity. That creativity even extended to his title.

Yoshihara, 55, took some direction from the tech industry, where executives have creative titles. His business cards list him as Chief Visionary Officer instead of the more traditional CEO.

“We did a little research on innovative companies and one of my partners said to me that I’m the visionary. He encouraged me to use that as my title,” Yoshihara said.

Now, when he hands out business cards, they serve as an ice breaker as well. Potential clients ask why it has that title, which gives him a reason to explain the strengths of his Torrance company, which is named R7 Real Estate Services Inc.

“Everyone looks at it and asks the same question. It’s a great calling card,” he said.

Call Security

Jill Campbell doesn’t resemble a typical techie. But the 67-year-old financial planner recently won a White House-sponsored iPhone application contest.

Campbell traveled to Washington, D.C., last month to pick up her first-place award in the Apps Against Abuse Tech Challenge for her app, OnWatch, which alerts police and a user’s close friends that the person is in trouble. The app is geared toward college students. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, presented the award to her.

Campbell, who heads Sun Valley firm Campbell Tax & Financial Services, said she stood out from the developers who attended the conference.

“One of the guys said to me, you’re probably the oldest woman here,” she said.

Campbell designed OnWatch with the help of safety consultants and developers. She also has a similar program for adult women called WatchMe911.

She said that she first came up with the idea in 2007 after her husband passed away.

“I found myself leaving the office at night alone and going on business trips alone,” she said. “I wanted to create a method by which I could feel safer.”

Luckily, Campbell never had to use the app.

“I hope I never use it,” she said.

Putting on the Dog

As host of “Business Hour” on KNX (1070-AM), Frank Mottek is used to seeing important people.

But even he was awestruck last week when he got to attend the Golden Globes awards show at the Beverly Hilton hotel. It was a first for him, and he rubbed elbows with such luminaries as Queen Latifah, Steven Spielberg, Howard Stringer, Leslie Moonves, Rupert Murdoch, Harvey Weinstein, etc.

It was a “Valhalla of the entertainment industry,” Mottek gushed.

“But outshining all of the stars and executives was the dog from the movie ‘The Artist,’” he said.

The dog, named Uggi, was dressed for the occasion in a little black tie and charmed everyone on the red carpet with his tricks. So it was no surprise to Mottek that, at the end of the night when “The Artist” won for best motion picture comedy or musical, the adorable dog jumped on stage, in the spotlight, where he belonged.

Staff reporters David Nusbaum and Natalie Jarvey contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

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