Snadowsky to moderate FestiTalks™

For the second year in a row, Leslie Snadowsky, the multi-media news editor for Biz New Orleans, will be moderating a panel of women leaders from various fields called FestiTalks™ as part of the weekend’s FestiGals series of events, which began yesterday, Thursday, June 22.

Leslie T. Snadowsky

“We kinda describe it as a rapid-fire, dynamic presentation of all sorts of topics,” she explained in an interview with the CCJN. “The trick is you have to deliver your message in five minutes or less.”

FestiGals, now in its seventh year, is an empowering series of events centered about women, which are largely presented by and for women. The series of events raises tens of thousands of dollars for causes of concern to women such as Breastoration, the Cancer Association of Greater New Orleans and the New Orleans Family Justice Center. These are non-profit charities that support women affected by breast, cervical and other cancers and those who are victims of domestic violence and abuse.

“Women are born multi-taskers. Ask any woman what they do in the afternoon and the list will be about their job, their kids, their housework or groceries, their bankbook and even social media,” Snadowski mused and then added:  “Or even fun stuff like organizing shoe closets.”

“We definitely don’t have a lot of time to waste and that’s why FestiTalks™ is such a powerful event, because you get so much in such a short amount of time,” she said.

This year’s panel is composed of motivational speaker and New Orleans native Havilah Malone, Joan of Arc Project founder and president Amy Kirk Duvoisin, stylist Aimée Gowland, motivator and coach Courtney Elmer, weight loss motivator and author Karol Brandt-Gilmartin, trainer consultant Valerie Grubb, brandmaker and website developer Wendy Dolan and holistic health counselor and nutritionist Dr. Michelle Clay.

Snadowsky, who originally hailed from New York, was the daughter of an entertainment attorney and owner of the famous Bottom Line jazz club in New York City. As a teenager, she got to know a very young Harry Connick, Jr., who was just breaking into the Manhattan jazz scene. His passion about this fabled, faraway place known as New Orleans intrigued her and eventually brought her to the Crescent City as a student at Tulane University.

Following graduation, she returned home briefly to earn a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University’s School of Journalism, but has largely called New Orleans home since 1995, writing for Bloomberg News, Reuters News Service, the New York Post as well as working in several TV markets and for CNN.

Her local work as a Biz New Orleans  liaison reporter for WWL- and WUPL-TV got her noticed by FestiGals organizers as did her ebullient presence off-camera. “I live in the French Quarter and, you know, New Orleans is a small town. You just get to know people and because I’ve been in the Quarter for such a long time, our paths crossed,” she explained.

Although she doesn’t describe herself as particularly observant, Snadowsky still clings to her Jewish upbringing. Perhaps it is because of what she knows of her maternal grandmother, who was a Holocaust survivor and who, the journalist and broadcaster says, escaped almost certain death by jumping off a transport train and finding a family many miles away that kept her safe during the war.

It may be that same tenacity and sense of purpose experienced by her grandmother that keeps Snadowsky so busy these days. She serves as the news editor for the Biz New Orleans website, prepares and airs a daily video business news blog and works Wednesday evenings on WWL- and WUPL-TV as a weekly business reporter.

It’s probably that kind of multi-tasking and passion that makes her such a great moderator for FestiTalks™ organizers.

Founded by local public relations whiz Diane Lyons and others, FestiGals has established itself as the largest and longest running business and social networking event along the Gulf Coast and will be held at the downtown JW Marriott Hotel, 614 Canal Street, now through June 24, culminating with the Stiletto Stroll through the French Quarter on Saturday night.

Women are invited to purchase tickets for the entire weekend package or to pick individual tickets for more than a dozen separate events by clicking here.