But Whitney Keyes spied a little problem that the then-richest man in the United States didn’t notice. When Gates pulled the vest over his head, the static made his hair spike up in several places.

As a rookie in Microsoft’s corporate public relations office, Keyes had the responsibility to guard Gates’ and the company’s image. Unkempt hair on the boss for a magazine cover photo? That wouldn’t do.

“He’s so focused on the product and the company that he didn’t focus on his look,” Keyes said in an interview last week.

Later, Keyes helped prep Gates for photo shoots and interviews with The Wall Street Journal and other business and trade media outlets.

You might remember Keyes as the manager of her family’s former gift shop in Tacoma’s Proctor District: Keyes Minas Contemporary Craft Gallery. The store closed in 1994 after her artist parents, David Keyes and Barbara Minas, split.

Or you might remember Keyes from her two-year stint as a small-business adviser with the City of Tacoma’s business district assistance program.

Since leaving Microsoft, Keyes has turned her experience and passion for growing businesses into a new career as a business marketing consultant and motivational speaker. She spoke Monday in Portland at Shop/08, a conference for independent-business owners. She’ll appear Friday in Tacoma at a seminar to teach business owners how to partner with the competition.

Keyes also has put her broadcast journalism degree from Pacific Lutheran University to use as executive producer and co-host of an online TV talk show targeted at women: WhitneyandWyatt.com.

Some of the four- to eight-minute video episodes – all archived for you to view on the Web site – deal with business issues, such as finding a career you love or branding your business. But you can also learn how to rearrange your furniture, cook an Italian dinner or choose a bra that fits.

Keyes and her co-host, Seattle independent filmmaker Wyatt Bardouille, like to call the show “serious stuff and girly fluff.”

“I’m an optimist,” Keyes said last week.

I’d call that an understatement. I’ve known Keyes for more than a decade, and I can’t think of anyone with a more effervescent personality.

While at Microsoft, Keyes served on multiple marketing teams – for the lackluster entrepreneurial launch of Windows CE, an operating system for pocket PCs, and the formidable suite of Office 2000 software.

“I learned a lot on that job. I feel like I got an MBA in a short amount of time,” she said. “When I left the corporate environment, my entrepreneurial blood was still rushing. And there’s so much you can apply from large companies to small companies.”

Yet she draws her vigor these days from the lessons she learned peddling artwork and gifts in her family’s store.

For example, customer service wasn’t just a buzz phrase.

“We would go above and beyond the call of duty all the time,” she said. “Once my brother (artist Josh Keyes) drove a huge metal sculpture someone purchased at our store to their house in Gig Harbor. For free.”

Although the gallery didn’t have a computer to track customer information, Keyes didn’t let that block her. Under the counter, she kept a stack of index cards. Each one recorded personal information of regular customers.

She recalled one about a customer who later became a friend: “Katy Jolley. Short. Blonde bob hair. Wears vintage clothing. Under 30. Has a boyfriend of 10 years. Owns an antique store. Loves cats. Buys a lot of pottery.”

Keyes could remember faces better than the details. So when a customer she recognized came in, she’d pull up that card to refresh her memory “as to what she bought the last time and what her interests were and try to offer her excellent customer service.”

She also likes to quote her dad, who used to tell her, “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.”

“The meaning behind this is that there is always something you can do for your business to make it better,” Keyes said. “There is no time for sitting around when you’re self-employed.”

Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785

dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com

Partnering With the Competition

WHAT: Workshop for business owners. Learn the secrets of using the competition to boost your business, including the benefits of collaborating on everything from marketing to media relations. Leave this session with a plan in hand for creating strategic partnerships.

WHO: Whitney Keyes, business marketing consultant, co-host of WhitneyandWyatt.com, a new TV talk show for women on the Web, former manager of family art gallery in Proctor Business District. Graduate of Charles Wright Academy and Pacific Lutheran University.

WHEN: Friday, 8:15-10:15 a.m. (doors open at 8 a.m.)

WHERE: Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, 950 Pacific Ave., Tacoma (third floor)

COST: $35 in advance, $45 at door

REGISTER: Call Linda 253-680-7194 (lindaj@seattle ccd.com) or David 253-680-7770

Sponsors: U.S. Small Business Administration, Women’s Network for Entrepreneurial Training, South Sound Washington Business Center