Meet the team.
Jay Elliott
In the more than 20 years Jay has been working in PR and marketing, she has participated in creating programs and events for a broad range of technology, consumer, healthcare and travel clients. Her combined skills-- across project management, strategic planning and a hands-on approach to crafting key messages and newsworthy stories- have been put to good use.
As a long time consultant, Jay has enjoyed an exciting career working with a diverse clients on a variety of interesting projects. On behalf of both corporate and PR agencies, Jay has been actively involved in the management of new and annual product launches, project managed partner programs and created and managed executive presentations for internal and external conferences. She has established many long-term working relationships, providing ongoing support for internal PR and marketing teams.
Prior to starting WErPR, Jay worked for Manning, Selvage & Lee, a top-ten worldwide public relations agency. While at MS&L, she managed multiple consumer accounts, including Crystal Cruises t, Four Seasons Hotels, Sega and M&M Mars. She also worked for Macy’s, managing special events for their 26-store retail division in Northern California, and was a member of the PR team for Hyatt Hotels, San Francisco.
An entrepreneur outside of communications, Jay also established Gialina, a neighborhood artisan pizzeria, which has been consistently named to the SF Chronicle’s Top 100 San Francisco Restaurants. When it’s time to take a break, Jay enjoys working to get her golf handicap out of the double-digits, and traveling to faraway destinations.
Lorraine Hamby
Lorraine is a public relations professional with a proven track record of delivering creative, news-driven programs. Over the course of her 20+ year career, she has led PR programs at several Fortune 500 corporations, and has also successfully supported a variety of smaller businesses-- from agencies to start-ups and mid-sized organizations. Her work has included major corporate announcements, product launches and consumer outreach. She has delivered integrated communications programs that incorporate PR, analyst relations, employee communications and social media—always focused on supporting clients’ overall business objectives.
Lorraine has broad and deep high-tech experience. She has worked directly for major brands such as Symantec, Hewlett-Packard and Intuit, and has managed communications outreach for consumer devices through educational software and enterprise technologies. She has a knack for translating tech innovations into clear and compelling layman’s terms. She also has experience reaching mainstream consumer audiences and her creative campaigns have incorporated seasonal trends, celebrity angles, broadcast outreach and mommy bloggers.
Lorraine has also been on the other side of the interview, having begun her career as a journalist. She has retained her news discipline and journalist perspective, bringing strong skills to positioning and messaging work.
Lorraine has a passion for creative expression—from music, to storytelling and the visual arts. She recently dusted off her old violin and is also attempting to acquire some singing skills. She supports WineCaster, a podcast which shares stories from the wine industry, and has written stories of her own in the form of children’s books. She also dabbles in painting, sketch and collage, and has shared some of her artwork via The Sketchbook Project.
Rebecca Weill
Rebecca has spent two decades developing and executing successful public relations and marketing communications programs and campaigns for some of the biggest consumer and lifestyle brands in the world. Utilizing a unique blend of creativity, strategic thinking and a passion for connecting consumers and brands, Rebecca has imagined and built nationally recognized programs and secured thousands of media placements to build awareness and drive sales.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Rebecca headed up public relations for William-Sonoma, Old Navy and Gap. At the helm of William-Sonoma, she created the media relations strategy to secure traditional press coverage as well as social media and blogger results and oversaw direct consumer engagement programs, including in-store events featuring celebrity chefs, pop-up experiences and mobile tours.
While working for Gap, Inc. brands, she oversaw all PR and buzz marketing initiatives, implementing strategic programs that secured media coverage and buzz. Rebecca also developed some of Gap’s most memorable PR campaigns, including Gap Casting Call and Gap at Work.
In the early part of her career, Rebecca was with Manning, Selvage and Lee in Los Angeles, where she was the Account Supervisor for Nike and introduced new lines of fitness footwear and apparel.
When she’s not creating breakthrough PR campaigns, Rebecca is probably trying the hottest new restaurant in San Francisco or hosting a dinner party, then working off the meal by running the hills of the City, and tells us that Twin Peaks is beautiful at dawn. She also spends much time in the yoga studio, giving her the tenacity and composure for a career in PR!