If you haven’t met award-winning comms pro Chanel Cathey before, you’ve at least seen her byline in a prestigious business journal. Her agency, which has focused on supporting female founders and BIPOC and minority-owned businesses, is revered for its work helping emerging brands and startups raise money, scale and innovate through game-changing communications, narrative development and press. Her team helps the big names, too; CJC Insights has been supporting Fairview Capital, the second largest Black-owned private equity company in the US, with external communication strategy and media relations. Cathey is embracing all things IRL of late; she often presents to large organizations about best practices in PR and encouraging women entrepreneurs for numerous organizations. This summer, the team worked with digitalundivided to launch an investor series called InvestHer with the Nasdaq Foundation, with stops in New Orleans and Martha’s Vineyard.
Leadership team:
Chanel Cathey, Founder & CEO
Notable long-term clients:
digitalundivided, Esusu, Fairview Capital, IFundWomen Previous Clients / Ongoing Partners: Luminary, Starfish Accelerator, Cards For All People (Black Card Revoked), Armoire
New client wins:
Fairview Capital
How is the agency advancing DEI in the industry?
“Our business and the work we do is anchored in a DEI mission. CJC Insights’ founder received the 2020 ADCOLOR Change Agent Award for enhancing corporate cultures and creating more inclusive industries. We were proud honorees on last year’s ‘The PR Net 100’ list and since then, Chanel Cathey worked with The PR Net to launch its BIPOC Mentorship Program. As a result of that program, we hired our mentee Alexis Stewart to join us in our work. Launching that program with so many amazing leaders was a wonderful experience for us. It’s representative of a lot of the mentorship programs that our team supports throughout the year with organizations like the Jackie Robinson Foundation and more. Chanel is on the Advisory Board for the Wall Street Journal's Women in the Workplace Series, helping to curate national events and conversations around the future of women and work. She is a contributor to Fast Company and on the Advisory Board for TheLi.st, an exclusive women’s community of pioneers across media, technology, entrepreneurship, and business. Chanel joined a number of organizations working to advance equity including the Board of Directors for Wellness In The Schools, helping to bring healthy food and exercise options to today’s youth, especially in urban centers.”
Parasol Marketing’s client roster is essentially a dream bucket list of top names in luxury lifestyle hospitality and travel. For example, the agency was awarded One&Only Resorts to its client portfolio for the eighth consecutive year, and the team oversaw the launch of One&Only Mandarina, the ultra-luxury collection’s second outpost in Mexico (and now one of the most sought-after resorts in the country). Most recently, One&Only Mandarina was honored in HD Awards 2022 by Hospitality Design Magazine and has welcomed leading tastemakers including photographer Alice Gao and author and interior designer Athena Calderone. This year, Parasol also introduced One&Only Portonovi, the collection’s debut in Europe, located on Montenegro’s Adriatic Coast. On the hospitality front, the agency started representing beloved restaurant Emmy Squared Pizza’s 16 outposts all over the US, a beach resort in Turkey and a mezcal bar and restaurant in Brooklyn.
Leadership team:
Andrea B. Werbel, Founder
Notable long-term clients:
One&Only Resorts, Inn at Perry Cabin, Baglioni Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Miramar Hotels & Bungalows, Baha Mar
New client wins:
Emmy Squared Pizza, METT Hotel & Beach Resort Bodrum, Fandi Mata Restaurant + Mezcal Bar
How are you innovating and moving the industry forward?
“As the traditional media landscape continues to shift, brands will benefit more and more from less traditional forms of awareness. I've been a big proponent of designing and integrating thoughtful brand marketing partnerships and collaborations for our clients. This is not about simply putting a logo on a glass, but rather (and especially for luxury brands), when done well, partners benefit from enhanced value propositions, expanded awareness and increased revenue. We continue to serve as brand architects for our clients to innovate our approach with unexpected brands with whom we collaborate, designed to propel awareness within the right audience. Additionally, Parasol continues to advance the industry with our entertainment marketing initiatives. We continue to successfully connect our hospitality clients with today's leading celebrities and tastemakers as well as secure filming opportunities that result in global expanded storytelling awareness for our hotel and resort clients.”
