A lot has changed since we founded ROOT Marketing & PR almost 20 years ago. Although we’re constantly expanding our expertise to help you master today’s ever-changing world, the roots of ROOT Marketing & PR have always remained the same. When you work with us, you get a true partnership.
THE ROOT OF WHO WE ARE
WE’RE EXPERTS IN OUR FIELDS.
With decades of experience in the food and lifestyle industries, the ROOT Marketing & PR team specializes in PR, brand strategy, digital and content marketing, special events, and so much more. We excel at networking, developing key messages, and landing feature stories that uniquely position our clients to reach their target market.
WE’RE DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE NATURAL, REGENERATIVE AND ORGANIC INDUSTRIES.
Its no coincidence that we have offices in what is widely known to be the natural products epicenter of the U.S. – Boulder, Colo. – and we’ve been passionately involved in the natural products industry since 2005. We live, breathe and eat natural and organic, and we can help make introductions to experts and influencers, and guide you on your path to changing the world.
WE’RE EXPERTS AT MAKING – AND KEEPING – RELATIONSHIPS.
And that extends far beyond the media. Whether you need an intro to or a strategic plan for working with local or national non-profits, industry experts, bloggers, or the food editor at a major magazine, we’ll help you shake hands with the right changemakers in your space.
WE SEE THE BIG PICTURE AND FINE DETAIL.
We’re passionate, go-getter-type people who love people, and love our work. ROOT Marketing & PR team members have the rare quality of being strong both left and right brained – we’re highly creative, and at the same time, we’re downright particular about the details.
WE’RE FUN. AND WE’RE SERIOUS. AND WE’RE SERIOUS ABOUT FUN.
MEET OUR TEAM
KUVY AX, FOUNDER
ROOT Marketing & PR’s founder and owner has helped lifestyle companies “with heart” make an impression for almost two decades.
Born in Colorado, Kuvy spent her formative years in England, then moved back to Colorado in 1990. After a decade working in radio, newspaper and TV as a writer, announcer, producer and promoter, an obsession with food prompted her to join Culinary School of the Rockies as Director of Avocational Programs in 2001.
In 2002, James Mazzio, a Food & Wine Magazine “Best New Chef,” hired Kuvy to handle his PR and media relations. In that moment, ROOT Marketing & PR was born.
Through ROOT Marketing & PR, Kuvy has handled public relations and marketing for almost every type of food or beverage-related company, program, and event. She’s handled PR for many restaurant openings (including Frasca Food and Wine,) coordinated many TV appearances (including Rachel Ray “Tasty Travels” at Mel’s Restaurant, and CNN Travel Channel HLN’s “The Social Life” at Piece, Love & Chocolate, and Zeal,) helped coordinate and promote hundreds of special events and festivals (including the Willamette Winery Association’s Pinot in the City.) She’s also led many national media tours, both bringing the media to her clients (e.g. multi-day tours of Colorado wine country,) and taking her clients for deskside interviews in NYC to meet media such as Food & Wine Magazine, Food Network, and Every Day with Rachael Ray.
As a storyteller first, Kuvy has written features for regional publications such as Edible Front Range Magazine, Boulder Magazine and Colorado Company Magazine. She was the President of Pollination Planet and Co-President of Slow Food Boulder County, on the Board of Directors of Les Dames D’Escoffier, been a member of the CTO and Dept. of Agriculture’s Heritage & Agritourism Committee, and frequently volunteers her time supporting organizations such as the Flatirons Food Film Festival.
In her spare time, Kuvy loves playing Monopoly with her son, taking tango classes, exploring new cities, cultures and foods, and making Indian curries for friends.
Follow Kuvy on Instagram
KRISTINE ROOT, Marketing & Brand Strategist
Kristine Root is a branding and marketing authority with over a decade of experience leading market research, positioning, brand development, and planning for food and wellness brands.
Kristine’s unique approach blends creativity and innovation allowing her to build holistic marketing plans that level up to business objectives and deliver measurable results. Her 14 years of experience in marketing strategy and consumer insights is coupled with an unmistakable passion for delivering impact.
Kristine currently manages brand and marketing strategy for ROOT Marketing & PR where she designs growth marketing programs and directs strategic initiatives for the agency’s growth minded clients looking to position for market expansion.
Having held positions in the agency and brand side, Kristine understands the complexity of marketing from both perspectives. She started her career at Whitney Morse, a prominent advertising and branding agency in Minneapolis, MN where she learned the ropes of brand strategy and the value of great design. Her clients included Pioneer Press, Augustine Medical, Digi Technologies and Vic Firth Drumsticks. She was the co-founder of Purple Bamboo, lead the 200% growth initiative for Biodentist, and served as the Director of Business Development and
Marketing for The Pineapple Agency — an experiential marketing agency focused on creating raving loyal fans for clients like Noosa Yoghurt, Outdoor Industry Association, Hansen’s Soda, and Under Armor.
Kristine holds a BA in Marketing Communications from Gustavus Adolphus College and digital marketing nano degree from Udacity.
After-hours, you will find her reading cookbooks and books on marketing strategy with equal vigor. She enjoys going to the market, playing with new recipe ideas, camping, biking, skiing, and practicing soccer skills with her family.
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Emily tracy, Account Manager
PR account manager Emily Tracy has six years of experience in hospitality PR. Emily was drawn to PR from her desire to support the small businesses who create the foundation of strong communities, which she does by creating award-winning PR plans, implementing strategic media relations campaigns, and creating compelling social content.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a dual major in journalism (PR sequence) and political science, she was the lead content specialist and an account manager for a full-service communications firm in Atlanta. During her time there, she managed two PRSA winning campaigns, one in content marketing and one in crisis management.
While living in Atlanta and falling in love with Georgia’s burgeoning beer scene, she created her Beer Babe persona via a column in The Atlanta 100 eNewsletter, which she continues for The Colorado 100, and other markets around the nation.
Today, she’s fulfilling her dream in Colorado by representing some of the finest breweries, distilleries, festivals, restaurants and coffee shops in the country, including Great Divide Brewing, Collaboration Fest, Mythology Distillery, Colorado Brewers Guild, the Town of Vail, Molly’s Spirits and the Underground Music Showcase.
When she’s not brainstorming strategy or honing in on media placement opportunities for her clients, she can be found hosting dinner parties, camping, cheering on the Tar Heels, checking out music venues around the Front Range, and tasting her way through the Colorado brewery scene.
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Bre Patterson, Social Media Manager
Social Media Manager Bre Patterson has more than 10 years of experience in marketing, social media and catering management, combined with a huge passion for food and connecting people. Bre brings a unique set of skills to our agency, leveraging the power of social media to grow online presences, develop strategy and content planning, and implement performance-driven solutions.
After graduating from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Food Science: Restaurant Resort Management, Bre began her career as the Beverage and Private Events Manager at CB & Potts restaurant and brewery, after which she served as the Sports & Entertainment Premium Service Director at ARAMARK. She then left Colorado for Sweden, where she dipped her toe into the marketing world and took a position as Project Marketing Manager at Technia AB.
After moving back to the States in 2014, Bre returned to ARAMARK as Catering Sales Manager. Her next three years were with Protein Bar as their Catering and Marketing Manager, a multi-faceted role in which she managed catering programs for the Denver-area locations, executed strategic marketing campaigns, drove local business development, and established community and influencer partnerships for the brand.
During Bre's time at Protein Bar, she began her own food blog, Bites with Bre, which allowed her to connect her love for all things hospitality with an interest in the ever-growing world of social media. Her experiences as a blogger and influencer inspired Bre to start her own social media consulting company, Bästa Media, in 2017. Bre enjoys sharing her social media expertise and has spoken at General Assembly technical school in Denver, Denver Startup Week, PRSA's Colorado Chapter, Colorado State University, Women of Denver and LadyKillas.
After hours you can find Bre covering a new restaurant opening or crafting Instagram posts. She enjoys exploring new hikes, yoga, DIY projects, hosting friends and family for dinner, traveling to new cities and of course - a great glass (or bottle) of wine.
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Lauren Nischan, Marketing Manager
Lauren Nischan, ROOT PR’s Marketing Manager, built her career over the last 15 years excelling in various sectors of the food industry. As the daughter of celebrity chef Michel Nischan, Lauren’s lifelong passion for good food was inevitable. She started off as a baker for two restaurant groups in Wisconsin before working at an organic farm through college. After receiving a degree from UW – Stevens Point in Soil Science and Resource Management Policy, she managed events and marketing for Organic Valley, a winter farmers’ market, and Fermentation Fest – a 10-day long event with 13,000 attendees.
Lauren left the Midwest to take a position in Denver with Niman Ranch as Marketing Specialist. She assisted in their rebranding, built a successful blog and social media presence, and curated effective channel strategies that reached hundreds of chefs and tens of millions of consumers. She has managed partnerships with prominent organizations such as Chefs Roll, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, Food Tank, and Chefs Collaborative to position Niman Ranch and its prominent staff as thought leaders in the meat industry. She also managed promotional campaigns with companies like Shake Shack, Costco, Legends Hospitality and The Hyatt.
After leaving Niman Ranch, Lauren consulted with Changing Tastes, a private sustainability firm. She coordinated and executed stakeholder engagement panels with the likes of the Humane Society, World Wildlife Fund, and Fair Trade USA for such prominent clients as Aramark; hosted culinary workshops to recover the West Coast Groundfish economy for Wilderness Markets with Compass Group USA at Googleplex; worked with the leading college and university foodservice program, UMass Amherst, to build a regional food system around poultry production; and assisted in marketing efforts for Seafood Watch and Meatless Monday.
She most recently managed marketing and operations as VP of Operations with RTE Cuisine, a startup natural food brand that provided restaurants with fully-cooked, shelf stable ancient grains and seeds.
The devastating effect of Coronavirus brought an end to her career with RTE Cuisine, but the experience allows her to make an even greater impact consulting with ROOT Marketing & PR once again. She now offers more comprehensive, top-level Sales & Marketing services to ROOT's various sustainably-minded clients.
When she’s not wearing her marketing hat, Lauren likes to get her hands dirty. You can find her experimenting in her kitchen or garden, fishing for trout, or solo camping with her springer spaniel Ready.
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Josephine Wood, Social Media and Influencer Marketing Manager
Josephine Wood, ROOT Marketing & PR’s Social Media and Influencer Marketing Manager, is a grammar-obsessed marketing conference nerd who brings 6+ years of digital marketing experience in social media, content strategy and brand voice development to the table. Josephine has a passion for conveying depth and authenticity through brands’ social media presence.
Josephine entered the world of social media marketing while working with MerleFest, one of America’s most renowned and oldest Bluegrass music festivals. With a passion and ear for music, Josephine moved to Nashville, Tenn., and became a go-to social media marketer for local restaurants, renowned musicians, and the Nashville Public Library system. She specialized in event promotion for some of Nashville’s most beloved events, helping to draw crowds that exceeded 100,000. Josephine has also worked extensively in the media world, handling social media for publications like Ed Helms’ The Bluegrass Situation, Edible Nashville, Nashville Scene and the Nashville Post.
She left Music City in 2018 to become the Digital Marketing Manager at Lucky’s Market in Niwot, CO, where she orchestrated social media strategy for more than 15 new store openings, strategically implemented all paid digital advertising, and taste-tested lots of tasty (and not-so-tasty) veggie chips.
These days, Josephine handles social media strategy and management for businesses of all sizes. When she’s not hashtagging, she can be found cooking Indian food, watching The Office, teaching yoga or pulling weeds in her garden.
Follow Josephine on Instagram
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