Many couples work together, but not Glenn and Lisa Gritzner: They work at competing public affairs firms.
Glenn Gritzner, 43, opened and heads the downtown L.A. office of Mercury Public Affairs, a Sacramento political strategy firm. Lisa Gritzner, 41, is president of Cerrell Associates, a public affairs and political strategy firm in Larchmont Village.
The two met more than 15 years ago working in the same government relations office at First Interstate Bank, but for different supervisors.
“Our bosses didn’t get along, so the two of us had to get along to get anything done,” Glenn Gritzner said.
They got along very well, in fact. They married in 1998.
Glenn Gritzner went on to work in the Los Angeles Unified School District for then-Superintendent Roy Romer, while Lisa Gritzner became chief of staff for then-City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski. After their public-sector stints, the Gritzners joined their respective public relations firms.
Right off the bat, the two squared off, pitching the same potential client back to back.
“Glenn won that one and I was happy with that,” Lisa Gritzner said. “Actually, it was more awkward for the prospective client than it was for either of us.”
Since that incident four years ago, the couple has adopted an informal noncompete clause.
“If I take on company X as a client on one side of an issue or campaign, then Lisa won’t take a company on the other side and vice versa,” Glenn Gritzner said.
Both Gritzners said that if one of them feels a potential client isn’t the right fit for their firm, they gladly recommend their spouse.
“People sometimes think it’s nepotism, but no, I tell them, he’s really the best person for the job,” Lisa Gritzner said.
Kennel Call
Jocelyn K. James decided to adopt a dog in June after the death of her previous canine companion. James, a general manager for Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. in West Los Angeles, was told by a friend to head to the South Central Animal Shelter, where she was shocked by the number of animals.
“There were lots of dogs coming to the end of the kennel, scratching, almost saying, ‘Take me, take me,’ and I looked in the back and saw this dog curled up, trembling, petrified,” she said. “He wasn’t going to get a home. He needed a chance at a life.”
She adopted the dog, a skittish terrier she named Coltrane. He still mostly hides in the closet of her Lake Balboa home, but recently she has been able to coax him out to the living room and get him on a leash. The experience has pushed the 51-year-old into activism – she is currently trying to raise $10,000 through “Strut Your Mutt,” a homeless pet fundraising event Sept. 15, and has signed up to be a foster mom for dogs.
“This has kind of catapulted me into now trying to be a voice for them,” she said.
