(Photograph courtesy of Harry Who, and used with permission of Loughlin Michaels Group.)

Storytelling is at the heart of Donna Loughlin's profession.

As Founder and President of San Jose-based public relations agency LMGPR, Donna works with visionaries on a daily basis. Her award-winning PR firm specializes in publicizing creators of disruptive technology--both for consumers and business-to-business.

And for Donna, it all starts with the "why" of their creations.

With a background in journalism and expertise in both aviation and high-performance racing, Donna explores the "why" aspects of innovation. Insatiably curious about the world around her, she enjoys investigating the reasons behind cutting-edge technology--and sharing these stories, both through LMGPR and on her podcast, Before It Happened.

Donna talked about her background, offered a look at some of the innovations she's found most interesting and shared her thoughts on keeping humanity at the heart of technology.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

* The experiences that sparked Donna's interest in science and technology;

* One of the coolest things she got to make, and what happened next!;

* How her storytelling talents grew from there;

* Why her creative journey included high-performance racecar driving!:

* How a risk--and a skill she didn't initially want!--led to a career opportunity;

* The "happy accident" which led to the start of her business;

* Donna's perspective on educational technology;

* How she worked with her two children (one arts-oriented and one a scientist) to interest each in both areas;

* A closer look at her podcast, Before It Happened;

* Some of the robots she finds most interesting:

* Her thoughts on teaching kids to discover wonder in the world around them;

* Some of the most interesting emerging technology she's seeing;

* A look at job skills for the future and how they relate to emerging tech.;

* Donna's favorite story about adopting new technology.