Storytelling is at the heart of Donna Loughlin’s profession.

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As Founder and President of San Jose-based public relations agency LMGPR, Donna works with visionaries on a daily basis. Her award-winning PR firm specializes in publicizing creators of disruptive technology–both for consumers and business-to-business.

And for Donna, it all starts with the “why” of their creations.

With a background in journalism and expertise in both aviation and high-performance racing, Donna explores the “why” aspects of innovation. Insatiably curious about the world around her, she enjoys investigating the reasons behind cutting-edge technology–and sharing these stories, both through LMGPR and on her podcast, Before It Happened.

Donna talked about her background, offered a look at some of the innovations she’s found most interesting and shared her thoughts on keeping humanity at the heart of technology.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• The experiences that sparked Donna’s interest in science and technology;

• One of the coolest things she got to make, and what happened next!;

• How her storytelling talents grew from there;

• Why her creative journey included high-performance racecar driving!:

• How a risk–and a skill she didn’t initially want!–led to a career opportunity;

• The “happy accident” which led to the start of her business;

• Donna’s perspective on educational technology;

• How she worked with her two children (one arts-oriented and one a scientist) to interest each in both areas;

• A closer look at her podcast, Before It Happened;

• Some of the robots she finds most interesting:

• Her thoughts on teaching kids to discover wonder in the world around them;

• Some of the most interesting emerging technology she’s seeing;

• A look at job skills for the future and how they relate to emerging tech.;

• Donna’s favorite story about adopting new technology.