Star City Six – Cris Trautner

Infusionmedia is a marketing and design agency, specializing in custom book publishing, website development, and content marketing. Cris Trautner is a partner at Infusionmedia (infusion.media).

Tell us a little about your business.

Infusionmedia helps small businesses and entrepreneurs develop custom tools to market themselves more effectively—books, websites, content marketing, as well as our most recent offering, newspapers. Our goal is to make design work for our clients and to help them provide the right information to the right people at the right time.

How did you get started in the business?

I started out as a regular graphic designer, doing logos, flyers, and brochures, but I was a secret writer and editor. I mentored with a custom publisher, designing, typesetting, and editing books and newspapers. I also designed a lot of print ads during those years. Then came the web and blogs and digital media, and that led to new skills and services. Along the way, I became a certified copyeditor.

What has been your most important achievement professionally?

Staying in business—and enjoying it—for over 25 years.

Tell us a little about your family.

My husband and I have three dogs, one quail, and one turtle.

What is your favorite thing to do on a day off?

When the weather’s nice, I enjoy getting outside and walking the dogs. I also like to read—I usually have two or three books going. I also play video games.

What is the most unique or interesting thing about you that most people probably don’t know?

I hatch and raise quail as pets.

What is your favorite quote or the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein.

What is your greatest talent that you don’t utilize in your daily work life?

I was a fairly good bass guitar player. I don’t play much now because of tendinitis, but noodling around on the bass makes my brain go down different pathways and opens up my creativity.

Which talent would you most like to have?

I would like to paint artistically, especially oil on canvas.

If you could choose any other profession to be successful in, what would it be?

I would enjoy being a sci-fi writer.

What local non-profit organization(s) are you passionate about or involved with, and are there any special reasons why?

I’m on the board of the Loren Eiseley Society. Eiseley was a noted anthropologist, philosopher, and natural science writer. He had the ability to combine science with literature in his writing and make it interesting to a popular audience. Eiseley lived his formative years right here in Lincoln, and many of his essays are based in Lincoln and Nebraska. He had a powerful influence on me in my early years, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to help encourage interest in his work.

What is your favorite book or the last good book you read?

I’m reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. It’s changing how I think about decisions, how I use my time, and how to build a better system for effective productivity.

If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so?

Check out our website at infusion.media. My email is cris@infusion.media and our office number is (402) 477-2065.