Our Team

Founded in 1998, Pivot Communication has grown quickly into a full-service marketing and PR firm serving clients in a variety of industries, including criminal justice, health care, technology and alternative transportation, among others. Today, the Pivot staff includes in-house expertise in public relations, marketing services, graphic and web design, outreach and event coordination, social media strategies and crisis management. Pivot’s goal remains to work with organizations and individuals influencing positive change, helping to communicate their capabilities and stories.

Laura  Holloway

Principal
A CU alumna and former director of communications for a $1.2 billion pharmaceutical provider, Laura co-founded the company that became Pivot in 1998. She provides public and media relations, advertising, corporate identity and branding, crisis communication and other services for Pivot’s clients, also engaging with project rollouts and implementation. Laura is an experienced facilitator who communicates easily across diverse audiences, and she is adept at moving projects forward, undaunted by “red tape” challenges. A creative thinker, she loves assembling creative teams and developing smart, cost-effective solutions to communication challenges.

Patrick Hyde

Principal
Patrick has more than 20 years of strategic communications, crisis communications, public relations, marketing, writing and project management experience, in both corporate and agency settings. Patrick co-founded the company that became Pivot in 1998, and provides all of the above services and more for a wide range of clients. He has written for the Boulder County Business Report, Boulder Daily Camera and National Business Media, and has published more than 50 trade media articles for clients in industries ranging from sports to health care to engineering. Patrick graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Journalism and an MBA.  Patrick likes problems and, even better, solutions.

Denise Chapman

Vice President of Client Engagement & Strategy
Denise Chapman has nearly 18 years’ experience building brand visibility and establishing thought leadership through strategic marketing communications programs in the B2B and B2C sectors. Working from Pivot’s eastern satellite office, she manages several north east clients across multiple engagements. Always one to think beyond borders, Denise strives to create new ways to approach common challenges. She is results-oriented with instinctive problem solving skills, always a step ahead to abate delays, sustain projects on-time and on-budget. On the personal side, her passion is her family, grandson Ryder, and beloved pug Bear. Denise has always been fascinated with design, whether it’s using her creative senses on the computer designing a brochure, interior design, or get her hands in the earth creating a beautiful garden of wonder. She is infamous for transforming the interior of their home to correlate with the colors of the season, precisely when the seasons change. Denise’s love of “design” has only bloomed over the years.

Andrew Krzysiak

Creative Director
A member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Andrew is a visual problem solver who has been leading creative teams in the design of cohesive print, online and mobile media campaigns since 2005. He specializes in taking complex messages and boiling it down to a universally understood design, and has an advanced understanding and command over a variety of professional design programs, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. As a back-country guide for over 10 years, Andrew’s experience outdoors has spawned enough stories to fill countless evenings around the fire pit. He enjoys collaboration, wandering in the mountains and the color blue.

Rebecca Heaton

Account Executive
A former magazine and website editor, Rebecca has over 15 years of experience in writing, editing, creative content planning, project management and social media for clients in the wellness, travel and outdoor industries. Rebecca has written for numerous publications and website including The Denver Post, Boulder Magazine, Women’s Adventure, VeloNews and more. A passionate outdoors person, Rebecca enjoys the Colorado lifestyle, road cycling and mountain biking, hiking with her dog, practicing yoga and Nordic skiing in winter. She also enjoys curling up in front of a wood stove with a cup of hot chocolate and knitting.

Kayleigh Karutis

Account Executive
As a former daily newspaper reporter in New York and Boston, Kayleigh provides copywriting, social media marketing, strategic planning, public and media relations, and other expertise for her wide-ranging clients. When she’s not (joyfully) taking red pen to paper, Kayleigh enjoys balancing her “left brain” mentality on the yoga mat, a remote mountainside or Boulder’s myriad running trails. She can most often be found accompanied by her sidekick, a border collie/terrier mix named Fiona, whose favorite mode of transportation is a 20-year-old Burley cart towed behind Kayleigh’s bike – the “Fionamobile.”

Claire Autruong

Project Coordinator
Claire provides social media, organizational and analytics expertise inside the Pivot office and to Pivot’s broad client base. Prior to joining Pivot, she implemented marketing campaigns for successful real estate teams, and was an editor and columnist for an independent student newspaper. She was recently adopted by a black lab mix named Dashiell, is a regular winner in her fantasy football league, and bleeds blue-and-orange and burgundy-and-blue for the Denver Broncos and Colorado Avalanche.

Megan Hettwer

Administrative Coordinator
Megan provides organizational, administrative and client relations expertise. Prior to joining Pivot, she managed study abroad programs, provided legal and organizational support for a public interest law firm and executed marketing and communications campaigns for a non-profit education organization. She has also spent time abroad with underserved rural populations, assisting with community outreach and teaching. Often referred to as a modern-day Carmen Sandiego, Megan regularly finds herself exploring foreign countries as the travel bug takes hold.

Melissa Brooks

Account Assistant
Melissa Brooks provides writing and editorial support for Pivot’s account executives. She blogs, edits, drafts news releases, columns, letters and more for clients in diverse industries. Prior to working for Pivot, she co-founded the online entertainment magazine Cultural Transmogrifier, for which she served as editor in chief. Melissa secretly desires to be an entertainer, but since she possesses a sense of humor so dry it itches, she derives satisfaction from crafting quirky short stories and essays.