Patrice Tanaka retired this week from PadillaCRT after 35-years as a Public Relations professional.
Beginning her career working days at a pineapple cannery on Oahu, she has seen the company through great growth. The management buyout she led in the late 1980’s resulted in the formation of Patrice Tanaka & Company in 1990 with 12 staffers.
Her new company became known as PT & Company and experienced success for 15 years before merging with Carter Ryley Thomas in 2005. She assumed a creative and co-chair role at CRT including their merger with Padilla Speer Beardsley in 2013. The company soon thereafter became known as Padilla CRT.
During her time at PadillaCRT she received many honors, including being named as one of the top New York Women in Communications, Asian Women in Business, and many others. She intends to focus her future energy on a new venture, Joyful Planet, serving as a career and business coach for companies and individuals.
Ms. Tanaka also wrote her personal memoir entitled “Becoming Ginger Rogers,” an outgrowth of her taking up ballroom dancing following personal tragedies including the death of her beloved husband of 23 years.
PadillaCRT is one of the top 15 independent public relations and communications firms in the country. It is a founding partner of WorldCom Public Relations Group, a partnership of 100 independently owned partner offices in 133 cities on six continents.
The firm specializes in branding, investor relations, research creative, digital, crisis management, research, social media and mobile communications. It helps clients in the healthcare, consumer goods, financial services, manufacturing, financial services sectors, and more. Offices for PadillaCRT are in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia and Washington, DC.
PadillaCRT recently created a new brand identity. Their new stated mission is helping clients understand and express what drives their business and achieve their purposes. It is launching this effort through numerous channels including social media, its nationally recognized blog, The Buzz Bin, advertising, and a new agency website.
We wish Ms. Tanaka continued greatness as she did great work for the industry and her clients over the past many years.