SCOTT SEITZ

Advice

I was once told by an HR friend that the degree you get in school is just a key to the door, access but not limiting your future. My degrees have given me discipline and the ability to observe. I have never felt there was anything stopping me from pursuing my interests.

After losing dozens of friends and his partner in 1993, Scott struggled to find motivation and purpose. Corporate life was no longer satisfying, but he knew it was possible to create good business that also gives back to the community.

Recognizing that maximizing affinity with gay consumers required highly specialized marketing communications strategies, Scott founded SPI Marketing in 1996. Drawing on the lessons he learned from 16 years of corporate work and 10 years of community volunteerism, Scott created SPI for the purpose of linking community with commerce in meaningful and sustainable ways. The LGBTQ community is largely self-funded, and he wanted to help LGBT entrepreneurs gain access to the resources they needed to succeed.

“As multi-cultural entrepreneurs, we must try to create programs uplifting the entire community, building strength in our LGBTQIA organizations and visibility in our diversity,” Scott says. “As business advocates, we hope to inspire internal conversations and deliver programs that demonstrate brand loyalty, amplify the brand and the community and track convincing metrics to support ongoing investment. Our legacy is demonstrating that you can do both.”

Active in community service, Scott has served on the Board of Governors of Bread & Roses, a Connecticut AIDS service organization; and the board of Stonewall Speakers Bureau, an LGBTQIA educational outreach organization. He is a founding board member of Honoring Our Journey, a men’s spiritual group. Scott has been listed in OUT100 and Instinct Men of the Year and has been awarded recognition by several LGBT service organizations he has supported.

Active in the First Congregational Church of Norwalk, he has provided expertise to a variety of other community organizations and businesses. Scott lives with his husband on the Connecticut coastline.