A veteran marketing and public relations specialist, Carey Kirkpatrick founded CKP in 2014 with a focus on supporting clients through public relations, content marketing, and advertising consulting. Since then she has attracted a robust and diverse client list that runs the gamut from worldwide brands to small non-profits, and everything in between. Under her leadership, CKP has been recognized both regionally and nationally by peer and industry organizations and the agency is the recipient of more than 100 awards and honors by the AMA Houston, PRSA Houston and Dallas, and the Association of Marketing & Communications Professionals for achievement in client work. CKP has ranked twice on the Inc. 5000 Series list of the fastest-growing private companies in Texas, ranked twice on the Houston Business Journal’s Best Places to Work in Houston list, ranked on the 2021 Inc. round-up of Best Workplaces in the U.S., and been named Agency of the Year three times by the Houston Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

In 2017, Carey was recognized by the Houston Business Journal for outstanding community and professional achievements as a Class of 2017 40 Under 40 honoree, and in 2018 she was recognized by BizWomen.com as a BizWomen Headliner in the Marketing & Communications Field. Carey has been a featured speaker on topics such as remote working environments and virtual collaboration, diversity and inclusion, team building and trends in communications for such organizations as AMA Houston and the National Diversity Council, and has appeared as a subject matter expert on KPRC, Fox26, and KUHF. She is a frequent contributor to Forbes on industry best practices. In addition to serving as a Houston Symphony Governing Director, she also serves on the Houston Symphony’s Marketing Committee, is a member of the Marketing Committee for the Asia Society Texas Center, and is a member of the Hermann Park Conservancy Advisory Board, serving as co-chair of the Park’s Marketing Committee.

Following positions in public relations and marketing with several acclaimed performing arts organizations, including the Houston Symphony, New World Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic, Carey joined fledgling media startup CultureMap.com as director of marketing in 2009. Carey has a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School