Shark Marketing's
PRESIDENT PROFILE: Shari J. Stauch

A touring professional pool player for 20 years (retired 2003) Shari launched Pool & Billiard Magazine with Harold Simonsen in 1983. She was honored by the Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) as the 1995 Sportsperson of the Year, given each year to a touring pro for outstanding contributions to the sport. She is a five-time WPBA President’s Award recipient, and will be inducted into the WPBA Hall of Fame in 2007.

Her involvement in the sport of pool included 8 years as secretary of the WPBA, 2 more as treasurer; 6 years as a BCA board member, heading the BCA’s Long Range Planning Committee; 2 years as founding president of the Billiard Education Foundation (BEF); was Secretary General of the World Pool-Billiard Association; and North American PR Director for the World Confederation of Billiard Sports, where she was part of billiards achieving recognition as an official Olympic sport, and also helped promote the first-ever billiards competition in the World Games (Akita, Japan 2001). In addition, she was instrumental in the launch of the WPBA’s highly successful Classic Billiard Tour, now seen regularly on ESPN. Her involvement included the tour's first TV negotiations, launching a PR division, and sponsor development, including sales of all industry sponsors and the tour's first-ever non-industry sponsorships.

Media appearances include Entertainment Tonight, ABC National News, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Daily Herald, For Your Money, the Dennis Prager Show, Country Music Weekly, WGN A.M. News Live, WGN T.V., and CBS Chicago. Shari appeared in and was a special consultant to the production of The Color of Money (1987), with screen credits.

She has been featured in hundreds of radio, television, newspaper and magazine interviews in major markets and in 1999 was named one of Charleston’s Top “40 Under 40” by the Charleston Regional Business Journal.

Shari is the author of 3 books, Precision Pool 1st and 2nd editions, and The Pool Player’s Edge (Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL c. 1998, 2003), both written with fellow pro player Gerry “The Ghost” Kanov. In 2004 she retired from the Women’s Pro Billiard Tour to pursue her role as WPBA's PR arm, where she established increased press attention for local and national press for women players.

In 2002 Shari was elected to the board of the South Carolina Writer’s Workshop and in 2004 was selected to co-chair their annual writer’s conference in Myrtle Beach. The 14-year-old conference set new records in attendance and attention for the state writer’s organization.

Pool & Billiard Magazine has expanded as well, and its new office at 115 S. Main St. in Summerville boasts a storefront gift shop called (of course): A Sporting Gift Shoppe, situated in a building that once housed Summerville’s only pool hall, S&S Billiards.

In 2005, Shari helped promote “You Can Do It”, the "merit badge handbook for grown-up girls" released by Chronicle Books. Featuring sixty life-changing goals, including horseback riding, investing, playing pool or starting a rock band, going back to school, or tracing your roots, You Can Do It features female experts who help readers picture their goal and provide warm encouragement alongside concrete, step-by-step objectives that guide the dream to reality. Shari is the mentor expert for the “Beat the Boys at Pool” section.

Shari lives with her husband and two children, plus several horses, dogs, cats and deer in Charleston, South Carolina. She is near completing a novel about women’s pro pool, and has returned to public speaking and teaching women's billiards to business and professional women across the country, encouraging the sport as a networking business tool.

MILE MARKERS:

1980s 1982 Turned pro, won Illinois State 9-Ball Championship. 1983 Launched Pool & Billiard Magazine with NPCA president Harold L. Simonsen. 1985 Was hired as special consultant to film production of “The Color of Money”, with screen credits. 1988 Elected WPBA Board of Directors, served six years.
	1990s
1990 1990	WPBA President’s Award – presented by Peg Ledman. Elected to board of Billiard Congress of America, served six years and headed Long Range Planning Committee.
1990	Created Pool & Billiard TV Magazine, a magazine format entertainment show about billiards that ran on Sports Channel of America.
1990 Elected as Secretary General of the World Pool-Billiard Association. 1993 WPBA President’s Award – presented by Vicki Paski. 1993 Assisted in launch of WPBA’s Classic Billiard Tour. Was responsible for sponsor procurement (over $120,000 first year, over $400,000 by 1995), as well as launching a PR division and negotiating first ESPN contract with WPBA for coverage of women’s billiards. Peg, Vicki and Shari at the launch of WPBA's Classic Tour 1994 Founding President, Billiard Education Foundation. 1995 WPBA President’s Award – presented by Vicki Paski. Ewa, Shari and Vicki, circa 1995!
1995	Named Women’s Pro Billiard Tour Sportsperson of the Year.
1997	Created and executed publicity campaign for World 9-Ball Championships staged in North America.
1998	Book release of Precision Pool by Shari Stauch and Gerry Kanov.
1999	Named one of Charleston’s Top 40 Under 40 by Charleston Regional Business Journal.
21st Century
2000	Appointed North American PR Director for the World Confederation of Billiard Sports.
2001 Assisted in promotion, publicity and fundraising for 2001 World Games (Akita, Japan). 2002 Elected WPBA Board of Directors as Treasurer. Served two year term. 2003 Book release of The Pool Player’s Edge by Shari Stauch and Gerry Kanov. 2003 WPBA President’s Award – presented by Ewa Mataya Laurance.
	2004 Named PR Director for Women’s Pro Billiard Tour. 2005 Selected as mentor in “You Can Do It” for section titled “Beat the Boys at Pool!” 2005 Helped Summerville Rotary Gift of Life program surpass new fundraising goal of $10,000 to reach $11,500 in funds for children requiring life-saving surgery. 2005 Selected as billiard broadcast voice for Chic Sports Radio. 2005 Launched www.SharkMarketingCo.com 2005 5th WPBA President’s Award – presented by Ewa Laurance. 2007 Women's Pro Billiard Tour Inducts Shari Stauch into WPBA Hall of Fame!