ChrisieYabu
Chrisie Yabu, APR, always demands the whole story. She wants to fully understand a situation to provide the best strategic guidance for any coworker or partner. Her perseverance led to many career achievements, including passing her APR test on the first try and pitching and placing a story in the Sunday New York Times.
Growing up in San Francisco, Chrisie first felt a calling to PR while watching a local news anchor named Wendy Tokuda, one of the first Japanese-American women anchors in the west. Inspired, she pursued this newfound passion and graduated magna cum laude with her B.A. from the University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her dream of working in PR came true when an internship at the Phelps Agency in Santa Monica, CA led to a full-time position as the agency’s team coordinator, followed by a quick rise to team leader (the youngest at the time). This allowed her to work with partners like Bushnell Performance Optics, World Shoe Association, Panasonic, and Crystal Cruises.
Chrisie moved to Reno, NV and held positions in both corporate and agency roles. But, as an agency-lifer at heart, Chrisie gladly accepted a senior account director position at KPS3 in 2014. Here, she’s won multiple awards. The one she’s proudest of? The National PRSA Silver Anvil Award she earned for the "Most Effective Campaign on a Shoestring Budget" for one of KPS3's nonprofit partners.
She’s since moved to Largo, FL, where her morning routine is nothing less than sacred. It’s Chrisie’s time to focus on herself. To do this, she’ll either ride her Peloton or take a quick swim in the ocean. (Just #casualthings for us landlocked, totally-not-jealous people.) If she’s feeling especially motivated, she might even sit down at her desk with a cup of coffee and check her email before most of her west coast team wakes up.
Chrisie considers herself lucky to have grown up around her grandfather and mother—two very creative people that showed her how to be successful in the arts. These days, she finds herself inspired by her son, fashion, technology, and Japanese pop culture—a fact illustrated by the 27 (give or take) Hello Kitty figurines lined up on her desk.
Certifications & Awards:
- Accreditation in Public Relations (APR)
- PRSA National Silver Anvil Award
- PRSA Sierra Nevada Silver Spikes Best of Show
- PRSA Sierra Nevada Hall of Fame Award
- PRSA Tampa Bay PRestige Awards
- Top 10 Most Influential Women of the Sierra Nevada
- Nevada Women’s Fund Women of Achievement
- Presidio Middle School Girls Basketball MVP
