KRISTI HUGHES, FOUNDER

A longtime public relations professional and media pro, Kristi Hughes launched Manavista PR to meet the many needs of the volume of colleagues in her network who were in search of successful communications strategies.  

Having spent several years as a Philadelphia PR firm executive, another five years as the communications chief of the world's largest online network of professional business women and a half-dozen years as a producer at a Philadelphia broadcast television affiliate, Kristi is perfectly poised with the talent, tools and media savvy to work along side her clients and develop media-ready material which articulates their message and appropriately represents their brand---generating goodwill with employees, the public and the community.  

In addition, Kristi’s prior broadcast television production experience allows her to understand the needs of television producers and assist them in the development of story segments---using her clients as a keystone.  She has established a strong network of media contacts who are continually in search of valuable sources and story ideas.   Also, she has experience developing strategic marketing plans for upcoming client initiatives and events--such as workshops, trade shows, presentations, conferences.

FURTHER BACKGROUND

From April 2002 to April 2007, Kristi worked at the epicenter of WorldWIT’s dynamic public relations activity which included securing feature stories for WorldWIT and its founder, Liz Ryan, in such publications as TIME and Fortune and on CNN, CN8 and The WB.  As a senior account executive and then associate vice president at two center city PR agencies, Kristi worked on a number of other high profile media campaigns for clients such as Sprint PCS, AccuWeather, Vertex, Greater Philadelphia Venture Group, Corporate Financial Services, SEI Investments, Beneficial Bank and Cadient Group. 

Prior to that, Kristi served as Media Relations Manager for iPlace Inc. from 2000 to 2002, a leading credit and real estate services company, formerly in Langhorne, PA.  There, she generated over two million dollars worth of media exposure in a six month period as a result of a strategic marketing and public relations campaign.  This campaign was instrumental in the young company’s rapid growth and profitability.  

Before joining iPlace, Kristi worked as a news promotion producer at WPHL-TV, a major Philadelphia broadcast affiliate, from 1995 to 2000.  There, she created, wrote and produced promotional and news spots and was also nominated for two Emmy awards for “Outstanding Promotional Campaign.”  During her time at WPHL, Hughes also produced and hosted “Teen Extreme”, a critically acclaimed children’s program that focused on the positive influence that teens could have upon one another. 

Kristi is active in the local networking community.  She holds a B.A. from Rosemont College, in Villanova, PA.