Deanna Russo & Gillian Whitney chat about: Standing Out From the Crowd. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Deanna believes that first impressions are everything! Which might be why she has a purple squirrel as her business mascot. Purple squirrels have a way of attracting attention. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Deanna Russo is the owner of Leverage Up. She is a LinkedIn Strategist, Coach, and Accountability Partner. Deanna grew her network LinkedIn dramatically from 400-25,000. She has a distinct strategy for growing and doing business on LinkedIn. She shows solopreneurs and companies how to brand themselves on LinkedIn, without being salesy or spammy.