Starr founded Sound Solutions, Inc., in January 2004, on the premise that a sound communications strategy provides the solutions organizations seek - whether marketing a brand or product, or managing reputation. She specializes in corporate and brand message development accompanied by delivery through the most effective, relevant channels.

During her 25 years in communications, Starr served on the management teams of global PR firms Edelman Worldwide and Porter Novelli International. She began her career at a highly regarded mid-size Chicago firm, Public Communications, Inc. (PCI).

At Edelman, she was on the team that developed the firm’s proven messaging process, and led a team to create its litigation communications protocol. Starr also has provided communications and media training for dozens of clients from front-line employees to CEOs and professional athletes, and was a presentation coach at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Through her tenure in media relations and hands-on production experience Starr has a successful track record for identifying strategic and effective communications vehicles. As new resources were developed, she often was on the forefront of implementation.

In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when video revolutionized the PR industry, Starr was producing nearly a dozen product information videos and video news releases (VNRs) each year, and even co-wrote an award-winning documentary used as both a marketing piece and an historic archive for the Chicago White Sox. In the late '90s she ventured into the then-new frontier of Web writing when BlueCross/BlueShield Association re-launched its consumer site, bluecares.com, based Starr’s messaging for BCBSA.  As Edelman’s national service manager for Sears, Roebuck & Co., in 1999 she led the PR effort to launch sears.com.

These events were the starting point for Sound Solutions' Internet Marketing capability as Starr expanded from content writing and site launch management to strategic site navigation, search-engine optimization (SEO), and stakeholder interaction through blog sites and social media campaigns for numerous other clients.

Starr's work has been recognized with several Publicity Club of Chicago Golden and Silver Trumpet Awards and International Association of Business Communicators Awards of Excellence, a Chicago-Midwest Emmy and an Inside PR Creativity in Public Relations Award (CIPRA).  A Fox-5 New York anchor described a controversial press conference for which Starr messaged and trained the spokesperson as “a master’s class in public relations.”  She was nominated for the Kathy Osterman Award recognizing the outstanding professional among nine municipal government agencies during her service to the Chicago Park District. 

Starr is a Chicago native and a 1986 graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in English and a public relations/journalism minor.

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