Denise Marsa’s voice has been influential to audiences and clients alike ever since 1978, when it rang out worldwide on the famous single Lucky Stars, a top pop song in the U.K. In the ‘80s, Marsa wrote songs under publishing contracts with the major labels Warner Brothers UK Ltd. and Warner/Chappell Music in Los Angeles, then released her first full-length solo album in 1998, SELF, and aptly promoted it herself. “I was pretty passionate about it because I really believed in what I was doing,” Marsa says.

Her work promoting her own album gave birth to her firm Key Media Public Relations, which has successfully promoted the clients Marsa believes in, like the Celebration Theatre, the West Hollywood Lesbian Visibility Community/ Etheridge award and several independent musicians. Not one to skip a beat, Marsa also began WO30 Records in 2006, a label dedicated to promoting the finished albums of women over 30, and SongReach, an outreach music program for underprivileged teenaged girls. “I never stop the music,” she says. “If I were to stop it, I don’t think I’d be the whole person that I am.” —LF