Polaris Team

Shelley has a knack for developing creative solutions that generate results, regardless of a client‘s budget. Some of her favorite campaigns include award-winning initiatives for Hallmark Canada, Cadbury Canada and Canada Life. Her experience covers a variety of industry sectors, but she‘s happiest when she‘s working on consumer products, including food, beverages and personal finance. She‘s got agency and client-side marketing experience having worked as a product manager for Unilever Canada and for multi-national PR firm Hill and Knowlton. Shelley is the quarterback for the Polaris team, running interference with clients, project deadlines and budgets.

Kathryn is a tenacious Brit on a mission to seduce mainstream media. She nurtures relationships, shares a joke or two, and uses that mid-Atlantic accent of hers to advantage. She can pitch and she can write. She‘s pithy, serious, comedic…quite frankly she’s a chameleon. Kathryn’s experience runs the gamut on both the client and agency side. She’s worked in Canada and Europe with not-for-profits; regional government; international engineers; consumer product manufacturers; technology companies; and financial organizations. Kathryn loves a challenge and is passionate about securing meaningful coverage for clients.

Michelle is a senior communications consultant who is equally at home reaching out to traditional top-tier media or high-profile bloggers. She’s known for her strong media knowledge and excellent relationships with reporters, producers and gatekeepers. In fact, Michelle’s tenacity for getting coverage is the stuff of legend. Her creativity in pitching stories is matched only by her commitment to clients for delivering consistently outstanding results–in terms of both breadth of media coverage and quality. Clients have included well-known names in B2B, consumer goods, technology, health care, fashion, travel, food, home decor and energy.  Her media outreach extends beyond Canada and includes the US and UK.

Eden is a communications strategist with a unique perspective on emerging media. Client-side, agency-side and high-profile blogger, she’s seen the digital world from all sides. Eden is the resident geek for the Polaris team where she helps clients navigate the digital space. She’s happiest helping colleagues and clients to be a little disruptive, challenging the status quo and how people think about brands. Eden’s also outspoken about the importance of building online engagement and targeted relationships, one influencer at a time. Some of her favourite campaigns include successful influencer initiatives for S. Pellegrino, True North Salmon, financial services and consumer technology.

Denny is our media-training superstar and butterfly wrangler. She knows how to quell fears and ensure that you always get your message out properly. She has more than 25 years of communications expertise as a journalist, public relations practitioner, media trainer and crisis manager. She has appeared on all major Canadian television networks as a media spokesperson as well as national and regional newspapers across the country. She worked in executive and management roles at a leading public relations company and Bank of Montreal and was a communications advisor to a provincial health minister.

Anita thrives on helping her clients see their stories in the media–the way they want to see them. She has a degree in journalism and has worked as a reporter, newspaper editor and radio host. In short, she knows how to craft a story that attracts media interest. And, with over 20 years experience in media and PR, she has a wide network of media contacts, both mainstream and digital influencers. Located in Vancouver, Anita volunteers at a local transition house and has helped organize a social media conference.

Julie is the powerhouse behind Girafe Communications, a Quebec-based boutique public relations agency offering bilingual communication services,specializing in lifestyle. She’s our go-to person for the Quebec market. She understands how Quebeckers think, what they like and dislike, and what motivates them to act. She lives and breathes consumer and lifestyle public relations, trade and retail events management. Her ability to launch consumer products is truly formidable. Based in Montreal, Julie is a communications expert, in both official languages. Clients love her ability to innovate, her professionalism and, of course, the outstanding results.

Holly has a strong national reputation in the development of communications and issues management strategies – from health to consumer products, in the private and not-for-profit sectors. We could tell you about the ongoing counsel to many national and provincial organizations she’s provided or how she has created and directed award-winning public awareness and public affairs programs. But what lifts Holly into a whole other stratosphere of communicators is her incredible ability to generate creative ideas that are strategic and impact our clients’ bottom-line. If we could bottle Holly’s magic, we would.