Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk (like rustic without the “t”) is the founder and owner of bbr companies llc. After having built a widely recognized and respected marketing firm, bbr marketing, she decided to make a big change in 2017 and scale her business back so she could focus on what she does best and brings her the most joy. And thus her part-time chief marketing officer service was born. Most firms can benefit from the input of a seasoned, experienced strategic marketer, but don’t need or want to invest in that resource full-time. This way partners can focus on what they do best with the knowledge that their marketing (and often their marketing team) is being managed by an expert with their strategic plan always in mind.

Bonnie hails from Lakeland, Florida but has firmly-planted roots in the Atlanta neighborhood of Kirkwood with her husband, Paul, and their two dogs. With original aspirations of being a journalist after graduating from high school, Bonnie earned her BA in journalism, public relations and French from Troy (State) University in Alabama graduating summa cum laude. She later followed up with an MBA with a marketing concentration from Georgia State University.

Fast forward a few years, and Bonnie quite literally wrote the book on online marketing for accounting firms, Take Your Marketing Online: Proven Ways to Grow Your Firm in the Digital Age, at the request of the AICPA. She is a regular contributor and quote source for Social Media Today, Accounting Today, Entrepreneur, US News & World Report, CPA Practice Advisor and other industry-related publications and websites. She has been recognized as one of Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People (2012, 2013, 2016) and One to Watch (2011), Volunteer of the Year by the Association for Accounting Marketing and one of CPA Practice Advisor’s Most Powerful Women in Accounting (2015, 2016).

Never one to put aside her passion for marketing, small businesses and women’s issues when she closes the door at the end of the day, Bonnie also uses her acumen to help others simply because it matters. She is a founding member of the Atlanta Independent Women’s Network (AIWN), a board member of the Association for Accounting Marketing and a former president of its Atlanta, marketing committee chair for CPA Consultants’ Alliance and former marketing committee chair and board member of Atlanta Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners.