Gary Frahm - Publisher
Gary Frahm, 
founder, President and Publisher of Smart Shopper Magazine, has more than 25 years of local, regional and national advertising and publishing experience. He started his advertising career with Baltimore Magazine in 1982 as an account executive. In 1983, he joined Baltimore City Paper as Marketing Director. In 1986, he joined Times Publishing Group as Advertising Director where he remained until the company sold to Patuxent Publishing Co. in 1988. A year-long stint with Snyder Communications, in Rockville, Maryland followed, where he held several titles, including VP of Marketing.
In 1990, Gary launched Smart Shopper Magazine (then known as The Smart Shopper) from his home's guest bedroom.
"I knew from past experience that coupons offered the measurable results that traditional media such as newspapers and
magazines couldn't. I figured the trick to putting out a high-end product was simply targeting the right households,
the right advertisers and the right format," recounts Gary. "The marriage of ‘image and response’ was a concept
that I incorporated in our very first issue, and it remains the foundation of what we do today. The message is just as important as the medium. "
A Baltimore native and graduate of Towson University, Gary enjoys playing guitar in local rock band Tall in the Saddle and working on other musical projects in his spare time.
Lauren Esakoff - Associate Publisher
Lauren Esakoff joined Smart Shopper Magazine in 2002 as an Account Executive. Since then, she has been promoted to Sales Manager, Advertising Director, and in June 2006 moved into the role of Associate Publisher.
A Cum Laude Graduate of Goucher College, Lauren Esakoff had a 20-year career with MCI Telecommunications Corporation prior to joining the Smart Shopper Team. While with MCI, she served as National Director of Sales and Service, Marketing, and Information Technology in both consumer and business markets.
Since 2001, Lauren has served as Vice-President on the Baltimore Zionist District Executive Board. In 2003 she was appointed
Trustee on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Family Education. Lauren was elected to the Board of Directors of her neighborhood association,
where she was Treasurer and Vice President from 2000 to 2005.
In 2005, Lauren moved to an historic home and was concurrently appointed Co-President of the Pikesville Township, where she resides.
Gary Lafrance - Sales Manager
As a teenager, Gary was so
fascinated with radio that he made tapes (recordings) of himself playing ‘disc jockey ’ in his family's attic. Little did he know that his
pastime would become his profession. After a 20 year run cross-country (Maine to Arizona) in broadcast and management Gary moved to Baltimore, MD
in 1993 to begin a career in sales/sales management.
Prior to joining SSM as Sales Manager, Gary gained valuable experience in Direct Mail, National Radio Sales and newsprint, including stints locally
at Clear Channel Radio and both the Sun and Examiner Newspapers. Somewhere along the way he found time to own and operate a small business in the city.
Gary currently resides in Reisterstown with his bride Jennifer and her two boys Logan and Ian.
Sharon Sigelman - Operations Manager
A native New Yorker, Sharon has spent the last 26 years in Baltimore. Her work experience is varied, from General Services Coordinator at the brokerage firm of Baker Watts, to medical billing and running her husband's landscape company.
She has two teenage children who provide barely enough free time to enjoy tending to several gardens situated on the grounds of her
family's 100 year old home in Pikesville.
Stacey Yinger - Production Manager
A graduate of University of Maryland at College Park, Stacey Yinger joined Smart Shopper Magazine in 2005
and has a background in foreign languages and business.
After spending 8 years in operations and project management with a foreign language translation agency in Baltimore City,
Stacey brings her creative, software, and management skills to our growing company. Her attention to detail and thorough approach
to quality are invaluable assets in the production of each issue.
Stacey has lived in Spain and traveled often in Italy, and enjoys traveling just about anywhere in the U.S. and abroad. With a Master's
degree in Spanish language and literature from Middlebury College, Stacey speaks Spanish and Italian, and is currently learning French.
She lives in Reisterstown with her husband, Wayne, daughter, Ava and their Italian Greyhound rescue, Lady.
Jane Leibowitz - Graphic Designer
Jane inherited a love and talent for art from her art director father and an art-appreciative mother.
Her commitment to commercial design became obvious when she forfeited a Ford Foundation fine art scholarship
to study with a well-known commercial artist teaching at the Art Students League in New York City. The route to
becoming a professional graphic designer was circuitous: a native New Yorker, she lived as
far out as La Paz, Bolivia, and as far West as Wyoming before settling in Maryland in 1991.
Jane has been an account manager for several publications, including Smart Shopper Magazine, as well as for radio, where she learned
to write and produce spots for advertisers. Add to the list caterer, restaurateur, ad department manager and
photographer, and one gets an idea of the unique perspective she brings to the art department: an understanding
of what clients want and need, and how to best communicate that to their target audience.
Jane enjoys cooking, weight training with her husband, and designing jewelry. She resides in Woodstock
with her husband and son, who will soon be off to Hollywood to pursue his dream of acting.
Stacey Ryan - Senior Account Manager
As Smart Shopper Magazine's senior account representative, Stacey Ryan believes that helping businesses
market themselves is rewarding, fun and creative. With a strong desire for a career in advertising, Smart
Shopper Magazine has allowed Stacey to cultivate her talents. Stacey's enthusiasm for the magazine is
contagious and her motto these days is "Be first, be daring, be different".
Stacey's hobbies are ballroom and swing dancing, volunteering for the MD SPCA (7 years and going strong),
and walking her way to physical fitness.
A graduate of University of MD, College Park and a native Baltimorean, Stacey has lived in Florida and New York and now resides in Owings Mills.
Ellen Hunt - Account Manager
Ellen Hunt graduated from the University of Maryland. Her career includes positions with Johnson
& Johnson, Xerox, CBS Publishing, and now Smart Shopper Magazine. Ellen was the National #1
Salesperson while working with CBS.
Ellen has three teenage boys, Ben, Chris, and Connor and has spent much of the past few years on the sidelines
following her children in sports. Ben, the oldest, is currently playing Division I lacrosse at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Chris will follow Ben to UNC in 2007. Connor is also following in his brothers' footsteps.
Ellen and her husband of 22 years, Geoff, live on the Severn River in Arnold, Maryland.
