By Erik Zygmont
ezygmont@CatholicReview.org
Mixing business and pleasure may be a bad idea, but mixing business and faith is just the opposite, according to Dena Lorenzi, owner of a boutique marketing and consulting firm.
“God is always with me, helping me discern my path,” she said. “Everything runs better if I am aligned with my GPS – God Positioning System.”
Lorenzi has been involved with the Catholic Business Network of Baltimore since 2011, when she noticed a small ad for a morning networking meeting in her church bulletin at the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier, Hunt Valley.
“The ad piqued my curiosity, so I decided to go and check it out,” she said.
She was glad she did.
“Everyone was so welcoming, and it was so refreshing to talk about faith and business,” Lorenzi said.
She has been a board member and communications chairwoman for the fledgling organization, which today covers the Archdiocese of Baltimore and has more than 100 members.
“Our organization’s goal is to create an environment where business people and like-minded individuals can interact and do business together or grow in faith together,” said Mark Fitz-Patrick, current CBNB president. “We hope it’s a little of both.”
The organization’s largest event, its annual dinner, is April 16. Members will recognize CBNB’s newly-elected leadership, enjoy a speaking engagement and present a leadership award to a local business leader.
The group will present money raised through its annual activities and the dinner itself to Partners in Excellence, an archdiocese program providing partial scholarships for needy children at Catholic elementary and high schools.
“We’re not in the business of making money,” commented Fitz-Patrick, who heads the Fitz-Patrick Wealth Management Group of UBS Financial Services. “We give it away.”
But CBNB members don’t leave empty-handed.
“Personally, the biggest dividend of belonging to CBNB is the friendships,” Lorenzi said. “It serves as a way to meet new people with similar values.”
She brings those values to work every day, she said, noting her fondness for a passage from Proverbs: “He who answers before he hears – his is the folly and the shame.” An apt choice for a consultant.
With broad experience from brand management to professional organizing, Lorenzi started Faith in Fashion in 2006, as a simple blog about fashion and modesty. Something had “clicked” while she was attending a talk about blogging for business at an American Marketing Association meeting.
“I could see the possibilities of using social media platforms to connect to people,” Lorenzi said.
Today, Faith in Fashion is much more than a blog.
“The scope of my work ranges from brand positioning, writing content, developing and planning social media marketing, and also acting as a creative consultant in the design of products,” she said.
Lorenzi is currently helping a young retail company launch its online business. She is also sharing her new media expertise in two presentations, one of which is titled “A Royal Smack Down. Content is NOT King. It’s the Jack.”
Lorenzi, Fitz-Patrick and their colleagues will be trading ideas and networking at the CBNB annual dinner, April 16, 6-9 p.m. Father Leo Pantalinghug, founder of the Grace Before Meals ministry, will give the keynote address and a cooking demonstartion. Tickets are available at cbnbaltimore.org.
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