MYPR has created a structure that allows the agency to be nimble and efficient with a low overhead. We want our time and effort focused on client needs and results. Agency Principal Kristin Yantis handles the day-to-day activities for agency clients.
Agency Principal - Kristin Yantis
Kristin Yantis founded MYPR following an extensive career working for luxury travel and tourism brands. Yantis was assistant vice president of corporate communications for Destination Hotels & Resort, the fifth largest independent hotel management company in the United State. In this role, Yantis built a network of public relations agencies that captured the entrepreneurial spirit of their individual properties while promoting their affiliation with the overall collection.
Yantis was the opening director of public relations for The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Colorado. In order to communicate the property’s positioning as a luxury log cabin she developed a number of creative programs and services to tell the resort’s brand story. Her efforts resulted in extensive media placements in regional and national media outlets including being listed on the Conde Nast Traveler “Hot List” of new hotels and the resort landed on the “15 to Watch” list by the editors of Travel + Leisure.
Before transitioning into hospitality, Yantis worked for Vail Resorts, Inc. where she oversaw all aspects of the public relations effort for Vail Ski Area. As the spokesperson for the No. 1 ski resort in the United States, Yantis gained tremendous experience handling crisis and dealing with national and international media contacts. She conducted several international public relations missions throughout Germany, the United Kingdom and attended the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan on behalf of a company sponsorship. Her work with the ski area resulted in strong luxury and entertainment media contacts such as The Today Show, EXTRA, Dateline NBC, Robb Report, People, Departures and Town & Country TRAVEL.
Yantis’s background also includes work for agencies where she focused on public relations programs for non-profit organizations and issues management work.
Yantis has received a number of Gold and Silver Pick awards from the Public Relations Society of America for her public relations campaigns. She also received the “Rookie of the Year” award from PRSA in the early 1990s. The same award was given to Yantis by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company for her efforts on behalf of Bachelor Gulch in 2003. She is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and the Public Relations Society of America. Yantis graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder with a Bachelor of Science in journalism.
When she’s not working, Yantis enjoys telemark skiing, as well as hiking and exploring the mountains around the Vail Valley with her two yellow Labrador Retrievers.
Account Coordinator - Haley McNeill
Haley McNeill brings six years of diverse marketing communications experience to the MYPR team. She offers a unique perspective to the agency as her recent job at a local radio station included producing, writing and recording news segments. As a journalist, McNeill can provide MYPR clients with first-hand knowledge of what kinds of the stories the media find of interest.
McNeill's background includes media and community relations for a minor league hockey team. This role included game-day announcements and interaction with reporters, updating the team's Web site and the development of the team's media guides. She also was a project manager for an internet marketing firm that allowed her to engage in Web site launch projects and social media strategies.
She graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts & Science in journalism and mass communication.
McNeill is a life-long resident of the Vail Valley and when she's not working she enjoys skiing on Vail Mountains, hiking, gardening and summer concerts at Red Rocks in Denver.
