The Team

LEO "LEE" PEARLSTEIN - Founder & President

When Leo founded Lee & Associates, Inc. in 1950, he had no idea he would one day be referred to as a "Legend of Food PR," as part of a feature in the Public Relations News publication, or be named a "PR superstar" in the Public Relations Quarterly magazine. TV Guide has even featured Leo and cited his ability and professionalism in getting his clients' products placed on television shows and in movies.

Over the years, Leo, who personally supervises all phases of the agency's operations, and members of his highly respected firm, have won numerous awards for outstanding accomplishments in public relations, marketing and merchandising from many organizations.

Leo has spearheaded financial and corporate public relations programs for Norton Simon Communications, Pepsico, Frito Lay and Interstate Bakeries Corporation. In addition, he has served as the public relations consultant to the Financial Group, as well as various hotel and community development projects including Cabrillo Marina and The Los Angeles Airport Hilton & Towers. Pharmaceutical manufacturers, food conglomerates and major corporations have called on Leo's expertise in corporate communications.

He pioneered in California agricultural commodity and generic promotions, and has created and supervised successful programs for over 40 different advisory boards, trade associations and co-ops, as well as state and federally-funded marketing groups. This includes industries such as almonds, apples, artichokes, asparagus, boysenberries, chives, corn, eggs, figs, grapefruit, papayas, peaches, pineapples, plums, prunes, seafood, tomatoes and turkeys.

Some of the commodity groups he has handled range from the Danish Dairy Board and the English Cheese Association to the Mexican shrimp industry. He has worked with large conglomerates, such as J.R. Simplot. Beverage clients he has worked with range from Pepsico and the milk industry to Suntory International (a billion-dollar conglomerate which produces over a hundred whiskey, wine and soft drink products).

And because of his great knowledge of food, Leo was invited to participate in the first President's Council on Nutrition at the White House.

He enjoys membership in many public relations and trade industry organizations, such as the International Association of Culinary Professionals, in addition to the Los Angeles Chefs d'Cuisine and the American Culinary Federation, for which he is also a consultant. He is also a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Leo received his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the School of Merchandising, College of Commerce, at the University of Southern California, where he was honored with the Paul G. Hoffman Award, presented to the most outstanding marketing graduate.

HOWARD PEARLSTEIN - Principal/Vice President

Howard has been with Lee & Associates, Inc. for over 35 years and oversees all public relations activities for clients, arranging print interviews, as well as TV and radio appearances. His contact with newspaper and magazine editors and writers, as well as broadcast program and news directors and producers, is a daily activity. He also supervises video production for our clients, as well as coordinating broadcast media planning and buying for the agency.

Howard has been account executive or supervisor on a wide range of accounts including Suntory International, a billion-dollar conglomerate which produces over one hundred beverage products; the Panda Management Co., the largest Chinese food restaurant chain in the country; Florida’s Natural Fruit Snacks; Frito-Lay's Tostitos; Ocean Garden Products (large Mexican shrimp); The Oregon Potato Commission; Del Monte; Guiltless Gourmet snack products and also several products of Interstate Bakeries Corporation, including Weber's Bread and Dolly Madison cake products; Affordable Quality Pharmaceuticals and ORIKI Cosmeceuticals.

Major special events he has supervised range from the Grand Opening of the Los Angeles Airport Hilton & Towers (and then supervised PR activities for the hotel for eight years), the West Coast product launch of Johnson & Johnson's 1-Day Acuvue Disposable Contact Lenses, and the Annual Sweet & Hot Music Festival, to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) WESTEC show, the largest Manufacturing Expo in North America.

For his involvement in various civic and community organizations on behalf of the agency, Howard has been honored and has received plaques and proclamations from the United Nations, three Mayors of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department, to name a few. He has also been a public relations advisor to Los Angeles County's Department of Health Services' “Public Health Week.”

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations from the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California. He is a member of Beta Phi Gamma, the National Honorary Journalists Fraternity.

He was chairman of the prestigious Counselors Section, Public Relations Society of America (Los Angeles Chapter), and also served on PRSA's Board of Directors for two years. In addition, he is a member of numerous organizations such as the Fresh Produce and Floral Council and the International Foodservice Editorial Council (I.F.E.C.), as well as the International Association of Culinary Professionals (I.A.C.P). He is occasionally a guest lecturer for UCLA'S Public Relations classes and also lectures at USC and other major universities, when time permits.

FRANK PEARLSTEIN - Principal/Vice President

Frank has been with Lee & Associates, Inc. for over 30 years, working closely with clients on strategic planning and implementation, as well as overseeing development and budgeting of client programs.

He has strong expertise in trade media relations and maintains constant contact with editors, publishers, writers and representatives.

He oversees and coordinates all print media planning and buying for the agency, as well as advertising and collateral material production. And, he plans and implements free-standing-insert (FSI) programs for clients, as well as coordinating and administering couponing and bar codes.

Frank oversees the agency's Internet Marketing division, "Marketing Blend," which "blends" traditional, offline marketing services with online marketing solutions. With his up-to-date, constantly evolving knowledge of the Internet and its marketing opportunities, he utilizes his wealth of traditional marketing expertise with the "new medium."

Frank has been an account executive or supervisor on a wide range of accounts, from the international shipping and storage giant, P&O Cold Logistics, to consumer products accounts, such as Mrs. Cubbison's Foods, Marie Callender's Croutons, Florida’s Natural Fruit Snacks; Morehouse Foods, Rojos Salsas and Tropical Preserving Company; Internet accounts, such as Chowbaby.com; high-tech accounts, such as SRC VISION (optical sorting machines) and Loronix Information Systems (Digital security/surveillance systems); and all of the agency's industrial food accounts, including Woodstone Foods Limited (fiber, protein and starch), Monte Cristo Almonds and Interstate Brands Corporation (Dry Products).

He is also instrumental on the Affordable Quality Pharmaceuticals and ORIKI Cosmeceuticals accounts.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the California State University at Northridge as an honorary Phi Kappa Phi, and is a member of the Second Wind National Advertising Network.

JUDITH KING - Senior Account Manager

With over 30 years in the public relations industry, Judith King has extensive experience in the strategic planning of media campaigns, as well as the development and implementation of plans. She enjoys a successful record of positioning a wide variety of clients in both the public and private sectors.

She has been with Lee & Associates for over eight years.

After completing her education in Canada, Judith began her public relations career in the Television Publicity Department of Metro Goldwyn Mayer. From there she worked for advertising agencies Grey and Clinton E. Frank, and later performed freelance PR services for such major companies as J. Walter Thompson. Later, Judith joined an entertainment publicity company where she worked on projects for Merv Griffin. A short time later, Merv Griffin Enterprises brought her on board to develop an in-house publicity department geared to handle his wide variety of enterprises on a full-scale basis.

Over the years, Judith has provided writing, public relations and community outreach services to a varied list of clients. Among them are television production companies, major commercial developers, authors, financial institutions, health care providers, hotels and restaurants, nonprofit organizations, major sports organizations, transport, energy recovery, telecommunications, Internet companies, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical companies.

Judith also spent seven years in biotechnology, where she spearheaded education programs and was in charge of corporate communications and community relations, for a major genetic diagnostics company. She is a peer-reviewed author and has lectured on the need for biotechnology education programs in the health care community and across the population.

Judith's work with Lee & Associates clients includes strategic planning, writing media and marketing communications materials, media contact, and community involvement.

Katherine Griffith - Media Relations Director

Katherine has been with Lee & Associates for over seven years. She’s responsible for dissemination of client news and feature stories to the media, obtaining press interest and support for client products, industry news and trends, as well as corporate activities.

She has worked with a large variety of accounts here, including such food products as Mrs. Cubbison’s Foods, Marie Callender’s Croutons, Colombo Bread, Florida’s Natural Fruit Snacks, Morehouse Mustard, Ready Pac Produce, Armanino Frozen Pesto, California Salmon Council, California Sea Urchin Commission and Tumaro’s Gourmet Tortillas, in addition to such consumer accounts as Affordable Quality Pharmaceuticals and ORIKI Cosmeceuticals, as well as major trade shows and consumer events, such as the WESTEC Expo & Conference (the largest manufacturing Expo in North America) and the Sweet & Hot Music Festival.

With 20+ years in media relations, Katherine has earned her PR stripes from having worked on major brand accounts at such top PR agencies as Daniel J, Edelman (Schering-Plough for Claritin and Clarinex, as well as the Searle media tour for Ambien); Stratis KPR (Hoffman-La Roche for Xenical’s “Shape up America Survey” with Delta Burke); Grey Healthcare Group (Proctor & Gamble’s Actonel and American Society for Bone & Mineral Research, Ivory Moisture Care Bar and Pampers); Burson-Marsteller (Redux’s “Resolution to Reduce Program,” AT&T’s “Spirit of America” 5-K run in 21 cities, as well as Parke Davis, Pfizer and Miles Laboratories); Ketchum (Genentech); and Lobsenz-Stevens (Ciba-Gigy, Mazola Corn Oil and Miss Clairol).

She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the prestigious Juillard School in New York.

RACHELLE BUGTONG
Client Activities Coordinator

Rachelle has been with Lee & Associates for over five years. She oversees and coordinates all client account activities for our agency, including administrative, media and client communications. She is finishing up her degree in Health Administration at California State University, Northridge.

BILL GOLDFINE
Manager, Creative Services, Production

In addition to owning his own Los Angeles-based design firm, Bill has been an art and creative director for several advertising and marketing agencies. He has been associated with our agency for over 12 years.

Bill has supplied his design and production expertise in advertising and marketing for a wide range of clients in such fields as food, industrial, financial, automotive, recreation/leisure, hotels, furnishings and home improvement. When the advertising industry computerized, Bill embraced the change, making a point of gaining the knowledge it takes to offer our clients the highest technical level of creative and production service.

Some of his current and past food industry accounts have included Host International, Tastykake and Lawry's California Center. His involvement with Lee & Associates has included Mrs. Cubbison's Foods, Interstate Brands, Marie Callender Gourmet Croutons, Tropical Preserves, Morehouse products, Armaly Brands, Woodstone Foods, The California Fig Industry, Lascco fish specialty products, Ocean Garden Products, Fisherman Johnny, Charlie's Pride Meats, John Morrell, Chilay Salsa Products, Juice Tree and Trade New Zealand.

Jessica Ikeda - Executive Assistant

Jessica assists the agency’s principals with client administration activities, as well as various projects, plus coordination and budgeting of client programs.

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of California, Irvine.

Western Research Kitchens Team

Meet the food professionals of the Western Research Kitchens Team!