AKR Public Relations, Cross Marketing PR, and Mannfolk PR — Three Boutique Firm Profiles

Three-firm profile from EPR’s PR Firms & Communications Agencies directory. Celebrity, fashion, beauty, and entertainment PR. See also: Akrete Firm Profile · Coyne PR · Q&A with Novità’s Christine Abbate.

Originally published January 2016. Updated 2026.

AKR Public Relations was founded in 2010 by Amanda K. Ruisi. The firm specializes in celebrity representation, entertainment, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle. Ruisi built the practice on a decade of experience at NBC, and the direct-service model is the pitch: senior operators on every account.

The firm has been recognized with awards including the ACE Award from PR Daily and Ragan Communications, and Ruisi has been named to Connecticut Magazine’s “40 under 40” and the Wall Street Journal’s “Women of Note.”

AKR’s offering runs across brand building and media relations in celebrity, television, personal, and organic-placement PR. High-visibility music-industry clients have included Steven Tyler and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. The firm has managed brand accounts for celebrity-facing companies including 495 Productions, Lifetime, MTV Productions, and Leather and Laces.

The AKR playbook is simple and repeatable: connect commercial brands to celebrity credentialing, and drive social amplification through the celebrity followership. That is a strategy that scales when the right names are matched to the right event or product.

Cross Marketing PR

Cross Marketing PR is a boutique PR firm based in San Francisco, founded by Claudia Ross. Before starting the firm, Ross spent 15 years as sales director at Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire. Those relationships built the base of the practice, which concentrates on celebrity, fashion, and hospitality clients.

Notable clients over the years have included The Viceroy Hotel Group, Restoration Hardware, Popchips, and Banana Republic. One of the firm’s earliest and most-covered engagements was the San Francisco Ballet Gala, which drew coverage in papers and periodicals internationally. The firm’s operating model, run by senior partners with working-mother schedules, is deliberately structured for senior time-on-account.

Mannfolk PR

Mannfolk PR operates from Los Angeles and New York and was founded in 2000 by Dorothy Mannfolk. The bulk of the firm’s work is West Coast — celebrity placement, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and social media — anchored by ongoing presence at Golden Globes, Fashion Week El Paseo, and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Los Angeles.

Services include fashion shows, event production, product placement, and endorsement matching. Celebrity placements have included Katherine Heigl, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Zooey Deschanel, Cameron Diaz, and Amber Heard. Commercial clients have included designer Sue Wong, fitness professional Terri Walsh, designer Bianca Nero, Chaz Dean, and American Rag. A boutique operation with a track record of high-visibility placements.

The common thread

Three boutique firms, three cities — New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles — one shared discipline: senior operators, celebrity credentialing, and media placements that read as editorial rather than paid. The boutique model has become the shortlist for consumer brands that want senior time-on-account without the layered handoffs of a global holding-company shop. For the full boutique landscape and how to shortlist, see Boutique PR Firms and the full PR Firms & Communications Agencies directory.

Related on Everything-PR

• PR Firms & Communications Agencies — the full agency directory.
• Boutique PR Firms.
• Celebrity PR Agencies.
• Fashion PR.
• Beauty PR.
• Entertainment PR.
• New York PR Firms · Los Angeles PR Firms.
• Akrete: PR and Marketing Firm Profile.
• Coyne PR Profile · Q&A with Tom Coyne.
• Q&A with Christine Abbate of Novità.
• Ask The Experts — Q&A series with agency founders and CEOs.

Related: Lotus Public Relations: Susan Lindner's Boutique Tech PR Firm (2002–2009)