Ellie founded Promotional Source in 1997 and has been in the promotional products business since 1988. She spent nearly 10 years working for a leader in the industry in sales before starting her own business. She initially started school majoring in Hotel and Restaurant Management but switched gears when she realized a career in that industry would mean relocating to various parts of the country. Ellie received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a Marketing Management Major from Cal Poly Pomona in 1987. Prior to that, Ellie spent a number of years in the hotel and restaurant industry primarily working for Hyatt & Marriott Hotels as well as a number of independently owned restaurants.

Ellie & Steve are happy to announce the arrival of their first child, a baby girl; Violet Kate. Violet was born on March 26th, 2009. She was Eight pounds, six oz.

She also spends quality time with mother, Bernice and her Yorkshire Terrier, Chloe and older brother James as well as her kitty cat Woofer. She especially enjoys local and long distance travel, restaurants, concerts, boating, racquetball, the outdoors; walking around the area, animals and all facets of the Arts. Ellie's hobbies include taking photos, making photo albums, home decorating, fashion, antique buttons and a small jewelry business. She was an Air Force Brat in her early years and spent time living in Japan and Taiwan and has lived in Long Beach since 1976.

Susan joined Promotional Source in July of 2002 after spending a number of years in management and sales support. Susan earned a BA degree in Psychology from Seton Hall University in New Jersey where she grew up. Last year, Susan moved from support into full time sales. Susan brings with her nearly 20 years experience in the industry which allows her to provide top notch service to her growing client base.

Susan gave up her true passion of becoming an 80’s rock star in the 90’s, but she can still be found any given evening listening to live music along the coast. She plays a mean air guitar! Susan loves working a block from the
beach and living only a few miles away. A far cry from Jersey but as they say “You can take the girl out of Jersey but you cannot take Jersey out of the girl”. Her wry sense of humor keeps her going in an industry that at times can be high pressured and demanding. Susan resides in Long Beach with her partner Carri and their dogs Isaac and Gustavo.

Natalie joins Promotional Source with over three years of experience in the Promotional Products business and boundless enthusiasm. She truly loves the industry, thrives on using her creativity to recommend the right products for her customers, and takes pride in seeing the finished results. Natalie has found her niche. Her natural energy, spirit and humor is a perfect match for this business, so it is easy for her to love her job.

Natalie is a California native and was born and raised in Santa Barbara. She has lived in several places along the coast and finally settled in Long Beach in 2007. Natalie is a foster "parent" for Kitten Rescue (www.kittenrescue.org), the largest no-kill animal rescue group in Los Angeles. She has appeared on TV and Internet Webcasts discussing the joys of being a kitty foster mom. She also teaches other volunteers and Los Angeles City Animal Control employees about caring for abandoned neo-natal, bottle-fed kittens.

In addition to the foster kitties who come and go, Natalie shares her home with two rescued dogs (Ralphie, a Pointer and Ari, a one-eyed German Shepherd) and two cats (Tyler, a Chocolate-Point Siamese and Bigsby, an orange tabby). And as an animal lover, Natalie is also a strict vegetarian who enjoys trying out new and exciting ethnic cuisine. In her spare time, Natalie enjoys all types of performing arts, especially musical theatre.

Jalaine is our newest addition to Promotional Source just having been introduced to the promotional products industry this year but already loves it! She has two years of experience in Research and Development, as well as excellent customer service skills, both which lend themselves nicely to this line of work. She hopes to stay in the field for a long time and learn all there is to know.

She loves all kinds of movies and music. Some of her favorite musical artists are the Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash and Styx. She still holds on to her junior high dream of someday marrying Ad-Rock.

She currently lives with her two beautiful children in the South Bay where she likes to go to the beach, roller skate and try new restaurants. One of her favorite parts of working in Belmont Shore is her lunchtime walks to the beach and the great 2nd Street food!

Justine grew up a stone's throw from Promotional Source in Belmont Heights, CA. She comes from a family of unique and charismatic individuals who share liberal ideals and a collective thirst for mischief and adventure. As the youngest of 8, she was exposed to a household filled to the brim with raucous political debate, parents or siblings coming or going on exotic world travels and athletic trophies and medals piled high to the rafters. Mom owned a health food store and Dad was a true renaissance man, with a wide range of hobbies and interests. When it comes to staying active and healthy, Justine has big footstep to follow...both her parents were running marathons well into their 80's.

When it came time for college, Justine knew that, in addition to going to a good school, she wanted to stay close to the beach. The obvious choice was Long Beach State. While attending CSULB, she was able to keep her really cool job as a barista at Polly's Gourmet Coffee. In those days, there wasn’t a Starbucks anywhere, so if you wanted a good cup, Polly's was the place to go.

After graduating CSULB with a degree in Liberal Studies, Justine worked in a number of capacities for various small marketing firms and even spent time in the marketing department of a giant health insurance company. After that, she decided to take on a new, full time challenge...staying home and raising three kids. Justine enjoys time spent at the beach and the great outdoors with husband Mark, who she has been together with for more than 20 years. Now that the boys are getting a bit older, Justine reentered the workplace a year ago with Promotional Source. She enjoys the challenges this industry offers.

April joined Promotional Source in 2006 as graphic designer creating custom artwork for projects, helping clients get a visual image of what their finished product will look like, cleaning up logos, etc. There isn't anything she can't do or figure out how to do when it comes to graphics. She enjoys the challenge and the satisfaction of providing a visual idea to a client resulting in a positive response with the final product.

Her previous career was in Interior Design, working for various firms and designers, including the famed Kelly Wearstler. After living in LA for may years, she moved to San Francisco to pursue other interests discovering her passion for graphics and went to SFSU for the design and industry program. April moved back to her home town, Long Beach and began to work for Promotional Source in 2006. Not only did April get such benefits as walking to work, an amazing office with a view of 2nd street and a cool boss from working at Promotional Source, but she found her husband, Jason there too. She and Jason bought a house in San Clemente and now works for Promotional Source as a freelance artist. April enjoys the beach, bike riding, snowboarding, traveling, cooking, volunteering and spending time with her her puppy, Barkley and Jason.

Steve started with Promotional Source in 2001 in sales. Over time he has participated with the company in outdoor special events and in-house fulfillment projects.  Currently, he now supervises the accounting department for Promotional Source.  Steve brings a lot of experience to the company as he has been in sales and retail management for over 15 years. 

Steve lives in Long Beach, CA near the marina and enjoys being outdoors golfing, hiking, and boating.  He also works in sales part time as an outside rep for an Italian foods distributor in the restaurant industry, so I guess you could say he’s a bit of a food-ie.  His number one interest in life (other than sharing time with the love of his life, Ellie Rappaport) is dining out and trying new and interesting foods.  Some of Steve’s other interests include spending time with family, traveling, art of all types, going to open-air farmers markets, wine tasting and driving on scenic roads.

Steve grew up in West Covina, CA.  He has been involved in many organized sports, such as baseball, football and golf.  Recently, Steve has a new found interest for wines, where his goal is to retire young, buy some ridgeline property near the Russian River up in the wine country and start a vineyard of his own with his best friend Ellie... 

Phyllis has been in the Promotional Products business for 16 years. Prior to this industry, she was a Commercial Real Estate Agent with Grubb and Ellis selling investment properties. Her career started years ago with Hilton Hotels in the Sales Department as an assistant and worked up to Director of Sales in a 1300 room convention hotel.  Phyllis is a native 'Angelino' and has lived in California all her life. She especially enjoys travel and quality time with her love Chuck.

Dale grew up in West Covina, CA, kindergarten through high school and moved up north to Santa Barbara to continue education and the working knowledge of the restaurant and service industries. He has worked in the field in a number of positions including Purchasing Manager and Maitre d' for well-known hotels and establishments.  He currently sells fine meats in San Francisco as well as taking care of promotional product sales for the restaurant division of Promotional Source. With over 21 years in the service industry and nine years in the management field, Dale brings a lot to the table.  A people person said by most and a great listener.  San Francisco became home because of love and has lived happily with his love Jin for the past nine years.  Whether you meet Dale at a restaurant or at your neighborhood deli or putting green, he will be happy to chat about most anything. Golf is certainly his number two love. He takes pride in being a good trusted friend.