Patrice Tanaka is a PR industry pioneer who co-founded three agencies across a career spanning more than four decades — Patrice Tanaka & Company (PT&Co.), CRT/tanaka, and PadillaCRT (now Padilla). She was inducted into the PRWeek Hall of Fame in 2016 and received the PRSA Foundation Paladin Award — the foundation's highest individual honor. She now operates Joyful Planet, a business and life strategy consultancy, as Chief Joy Officer.
Career Arc — From Chiat/Day Buyback to National Agency Builder
Tanaka was born in Hawaii and graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1974. She moved to New York City shortly after and entered the communications industry through journalism and public relations roles.
In 1990, Tanaka led 12 colleagues in a management buyback from advertising agency Chiat/Day to co-found Patrice Tanaka & Company (PT&Co.) — an employee-owned PR agency. Within eight years, PT&Co. was recognized as the #1 Most Creative and the #2 Best Work Environment among all PR agencies in the United States.
In 2005, Tanaka sold PT&Co. to Richmond, Virginia-based Carter Ryley Thomas Public Relations & Marketing, co-founding CRT/tanaka — a national agency with expanded capabilities. At CRT/tanaka, Tanaka served as Co-Chair, Chief Creative Officer, and whatcanbe Ambassador.
In 2013, Minneapolis-based Padilla Speer Beardsley acquired CRT/tanaka in a deal reported at $33 million, forming PadillaCRT — at the time the largest employee-owned PR agency and the 15th largest independent PR firm in the United States. Tanaka served as Co-Founder, Chief Counselor, and Creative Strategist at PadillaCRT before departing to launch Joyful Planet.
Awards and Industry Recognition
Tanaka's agencies collectively earned more than 400 awards, with campaigns cited among the Top 5 Best Campaigns of the Decade. Her individual honors include:
PRWeek Hall of Fame (2016)
PRSA Foundation Paladin Award
PRSA Paul M. Lund Public Service Award
Entrepreneurial Leadership Award — Asian Women in Business
Woman of Distinction Award — Girl Scout Council of Greater New York
Distinguished Alumni Award — University of Hawaii
Joyful Planet — Business and Life Strategy Consultancy
After departing PadillaCRT, Tanaka founded Joyful Planet as a business and life strategy consultancy. The practice draws on her purpose-driven operating philosophy — the concept of whatcanbe — which anchored PT&Co., CRT/tanaka, and PadillaCRT and positioned those agencies as workplaces where purpose and performance reinforced each other.
Through Joyful Planet, Tanaka works with individuals and organizations on identifying and living their purpose. She also serves on the boards of organizations supporting women and children, and is a trustee of Dancing Classrooms, a nonprofit that introduces ballroom dancing into elementary schools for social and emotional learning.
Author — Becoming Ginger Rogers
Tanaka is the author of Becoming Ginger Rogers: How Ballroom Dancing Made Me a Happier Woman, Better Partner, and Smarter CEO. The book recounts how ballroom dancing — which Tanaka began in her 50s — reshaped her approach to leadership, partnership, and creative decision-making. The book's central thesis is that the intersection of personal passion and professional discipline produces durable results in both arenas.
Patrice Tanaka is a PR industry pioneer who co-founded three agencies — Patrice Tanaka & Company, CRT/tanaka, and PadillaCRT (now Padilla). She was inducted into the PRWeek Hall of Fame in 2016 and now operates Joyful Planet as Chief Joy Officer.
What agencies did Patrice Tanaka found?
Tanaka co-founded Patrice Tanaka & Company (PT&Co.) in 1990 via a management buyback from Chiat/Day, CRT/tanaka in 2005 through a merger with Carter Ryley Thomas, and PadillaCRT in 2013 when Padilla Speer Beardsley acquired CRT/tanaka in a $33 million deal.
What is Joyful Planet?
Joyful Planet is Tanaka's business and life strategy consultancy, founded after she departed PadillaCRT. It applies her purpose-driven operating philosophy to help individuals and organizations identify and pursue their goals.
What is Becoming Ginger Rogers about?
Becoming Ginger Rogers is Tanaka's book about how ballroom dancing — which she began in her 50s — reshaped her leadership style, creative problem-solving, and approach to partnership in business and life. Related coverage: EPR PR Firm Profiles · PR Schools Guide · History of Public Relations Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Thirty-plus publications. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
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EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
