I turn insights into strategies and authentic stories that make brands, experiences, and places memorable.
Sonoma County Tourism
Background
Sonoma County has long been known as a place to restore yourself—a world-class wine destination rooted in nature, craftsmanship, and a slower pace of life.
As travel rebounded in 2022, the destination faced a pivotal challenge: how to invite visitors back while protecting the land, culture, and community that make Sonoma County special.
Rather than treating sustainability as a standalone initiative, the brand evolved its long-standing wellness positioning to encompass not just personal wellbeing, but the health of the land, local communities, and the destination’s future. Responsible travel became a natural extension of the brand—not a departure—and a new way to express that brand promise that in Sonoma County, Life Opens Up.
The Challenge
The challenge wasn’t awareness. It was to find a way to bridge the gap between wellness and sustainability, encourage more mindful travel, and inspire responsibility without diminishing joy, spontaneity, or escape.
Traditional sustainability messaging often asks people to do less. Sonoma County needed a way to flip the script and encourage visitors to immerse themselves in everything the destination has to offer while being fully present.
Awareness wasn’t the issue. The challenge was bridging wellness and sustainability in a way that encouraged mindful travel—without diminishing joy, spontaneity, or escape.
Traditional sustainability messaging often focuses on limitation. Sonoma County needed a way to invite visitors to experience more, immerse themselves in everything the destination has to offer, while being more fully present and intentional.
The Insight
Wellness and sustainability are both rooted in the act of pausing with intention.
Slowing down heightens awareness—of place, of experience, and of impact. When visitors engage more fully with their surroundings, responsible choices feel additive rather than restrictive.
If responsible travel could be framed as awareness instead of limitation, it could deepen the experience rather than interrupt it.
The Impact
That insight became the foundation for Pause & Effect—a campaign connecting personal wellbeing with collective impact and inviting travelers to engage thoughtfully, intentionally, and with care.
The “Pause & Effect” campaign drove 700,000 incremental trips, achieved a 27:1 tax-revenue return on advertising spend, and increased responsible-travel coverage from 6% to 58%. The work firmly positioned Sonoma County as a leader in wellness-driven, sustainable travel and attracted visitors aligned with the destination’s values.
Role
Director of Strategy; client-side producer and supporting art director for commercial footage
Awards: Platinum Adrian Award – Pause & Effect PR campaign | Mosaic Addy Award – :30 Sustainable (Responsible) Travel TV Spot
Pause & Effect Campaign Samples
Credit: Agency – Fahlgren Mortine, Production Company – Matador Network
TourismOhio
Background
In 2015, TourismOhio set out to rebrand the state to counter low awareness and compete with better-marketed destinations. The goal was to capture the state’s diversity—big cities, small towns, farmland, forests, and a Great Lake—within a single, emotionally resonant brand.
The Challenge
Ohio’s strength was also its challenge: how do you unify a wide range of experiences into one cohesive destination story?
Extensive research—including more than 100 hours of one-on-one interviews across Ohio and six surrounding states—was conducted to uncover perceptions and emotional drivers.
The Insight
While Ohio wasn’t seen as flashy or iconic, research revealed something more powerful: its diversity and accessibility made it one of the easiest places to truly connect.
Friendly people, varied geography, and an abundance of experiences allowed Ohio to be positioned as a place where connection—to family, friends, and shared moments—comes naturally.
The Impact
Ohio. Find It Here. reframed the state as a vibrant, welcoming destination rooted in connection and discovery of all the varied experiences you can have in Ohio. From 2015-2022, the campaign boosted visitor spending by $8B, increased overnight trips from 41M to 47M, and helped generate $53B in total sales impact in 2022.
Role
Senior Account Strategist overseeing the research, strategy, messaging, and creative implementation, including voiceover and photography/video direction, and music rights negotiations, blending strategic leadership with hands-on execution.
Ohio. Find It Here. Campaign Samples
Credit: Cult Marketing, LLC
Quantum Health
The “Warrior Creed” serves as a bold backdrop behind the welcome desk, setting the tone for the exceptional service the company provides for its members. Image credit: cincinnatidesignawards.com
Background
In 2014, Quantum Health set out to reimagine its brand and deepen emotional connection with members navigating the healthcare system. The goal was to build trust, loyalty, and differentiation in a complex and often overwhelming category.
The Insight
Research revealed that members felt lost — like Dorothy in Oz — when navigating healthcare. Quantum Health was perceived as a strong and trusted guide and advocate, offering clarity, protection with proprietary real-time intercept software, and sanctuary within a confusing system while also providing significant cost savings.
The Challenge
To differentiate from the competition and prove that Quantum Health provides better outcomes through its strong values, exclusive technology, and connection-focused approach. Internally, there was an additional challenge for the rollout, as employees viewed themselves as caregivers, not warriors, so there was an additional objective to help empower them to understand their impact and rally around a shared identity that reflected their role as “Warriors” helping protect their members every day.
The Impact
The rebrand established a powerful new brand narrative centered on guidance, advocacy, and empowerment and led to double-digit growth, increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, strengthened internal alignment and brand pride, and supported exponential growth culminating in a billion-dollar valuation by 2020.
Today, the brand is fully embedded across the organization — from communications to physical space — including sanctuary areas and the prominently displayed Warrior Creed, serving as a daily rallying call.
Role
Senior Account Strategist, leading strategy, messaging, marketing planning and campaign execution, and co-directing and producing video content to support a cohesive internal and external brand rollout.
Credit: Cult Marketing, LLC
Testimonials
Sally Hughes
, Caster Connection
Carrie has an unparalleled energy and passion for her work. She is the perfect combination of a strategic and creative thinker which has been critical in thinking through and executing our marketing programs.
Katie Lundy
, Inspire PR Group
I have worked with Carrie on various projects including the strategic rebrand of TourismOhio. Her strategic eye, outside of the box creativity, attention to detail and impressive work ethic ensures her clients achieve their business goals, always. One of Carrie’s best assets is her authentic nature and ability to form lasting relationships with clients.
All of this, combined with her professionalism and quality work, allows her to produce results and makes her an ideal partner for any marketing project.
Kyle Hickman
, Revel Branding
When Carrie walks into the room the energy lifts and good things happen. Her marketing knowledge and experience take this energy even further. She has proven time and again that she can turn complex marketing and branding problems into smart, successful solutions.
Anyone who hires Carrie will not only see great results, but they will enjoy the process as well.
Dana Bernstein
, BernYoga
Carrie is as tenacious as she is creative. I’ve seen firsthand how she gets things done — intuitively, efficiently and with a wealth of knowledge. Through her creative direction, she takes each brand’s story and translates it into design work that reflects that business’ unique vision.
And, she’s one of the easiest people I’ve ever worked with, making the creative process an absolute pleasure.
Katy Burrier
, DHL
Carrie is a rockstar. She has an incredibly creative mind, packaged with an analytical perspective and balanced demeanor that results in top-notch brand work for her clients. And she can manage projects from conception to implementation, something very difficult to find in this industry. I have worked with her on a high-profile project that if it weren’t for her vision, strategy and determination, the outcome could have been very different.
Your project success rate increases exponentially when Carrie is your partner.
Lee Carman
, Chewy
I had the pleasure of working with Carrie on several cross-departmental initiatives over the past two years and am thoroughly impressed with her dedication and drive for excellence. Carrie’s creative spin on some of our new product introductions have helped Mac Tools achieve an increased level of sell-through and also given us tremendous gains into new channels of distribution. Under Carrie’s PR leadership, our advertising campaigns were extremely effective at penetrating deeper into our core markets … her sharp insights and branding instincts lent a fresh approach to solutions for old issues.
I would recommend Carrie as an asset to any organization.