Strategic Marketing, PR, Branding & Digital

For Hospitality’s
Most Ambitious

Carnes Agency helps hospitality brands, leaders, and organizations clarify what they stand for, strengthen how they show up, and bring their ideas to life.

What We Do
Who We Are

Strategic marketing, communications, and brand support for growing organizations

Carnes Agency helps businesses and leaders sharpen their positioning, strengthen their brand, and build visibility through integrated strategy, content, communications, public relations, and digital execution.

Brand Strategy & Positioning

Messaging, positioning, brand development, and strategic direction that give your organization a stronger foundation for growth.

Marketing & Content

Websites, campaigns, social media, email, creative, and content that bring your brand to life consistently across every channel.

PR & Executive Visibility

Media relations, thought leadership, executive positioning, and strategic opportunities that build credibility, reach, and influence.

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SELECT PAST & PRESENT CLIENTS

Trusted by ambitious brands and organizations

Meet Heather Carnes

FOUNDER-LED. BUILT TO EXECUTE.

Founded by Heather Carnes, a former executive turned entrepreneur with nearly 20 years of experience, Carnes Agency brings senior-level strategy to brands in moments of growth and change.

Heather leads the agency’s strategic work alongside a multidisciplinary team built to turn ideas into action.

Meet Heather
Black and white logo with a large letter 'C' inside a rectangle, with two small dots on either side of the letter.
“The strongest brands are built when clarity, creativity, and consistent execution work together.”
— Heather Carnes

WHAT WE OFFER

Hospitality is our field. Perspective is our advantage.

We combine hospitality expertise with strategic thinking and hands-on execution to help ambitious organizations strengthen how they communicate, show up, and grow.

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  • Senior-level perspective for organizations navigating growth, change, launches, new initiatives, and important moments of visibility.

  • Integrated content, social media, email marketing, thought leadership, public relations, and communications support designed around larger business goals.

  • Positioning, messaging, visual identity, marketing collateral, and creative systems that give organizations a clear and credible presence.

  • Strategic website planning, copywriting, design, development, and ongoing digital support that turn a website into a meaningful business platform.

  • Personal branding, leadership messaging, media opportunities, speaking support, and content that help executives share their expertise with confidence.

  • Event positioning, promotion, communications, programming support, partnerships, and on-site execution for the moments that bring the industry together.

Built for the people moving hospitality forward.

  • Management companies, ownership groups, investment and brokerage firms, lenders, suppliers, technology companies, service providers, and emerging ventures supporting the hotel industry.

  • Leaders building companies, launching ideas, expanding their influence, or preparing for the next chapter of their professional story.

  • Mission-driven organizations, conferences, charitable foundations, and communities working to educate, connect, and advance the people they serve.

The Latest from Carnes Agency

News & Insights
Carnes Agency Expands Team to Support Continued Growth

Carnes Agency continued to expand its team in 2026, adding new talent and specialized capabilities to support a growing client portfolio and increasingly diverse scope of work.

Built as a modern, nimble agency, Carnes Agency brings together professionals across strategy, account management, content, creative, digital, and technical disciplines. The team structure allows the agency to provide clients with senior-level strategic guidance alongside the day-to-day expertise needed to execute across multiple channels.

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Carnes Agency Partners with KLA Schools to Support Franchise Growth

Carnes Agency partnered with KLA Schools in 2026 to support the organization’s franchise growth, marketing strategy, and communications efforts.

KLA Schools is a premium early childhood education and private school brand with a growing franchise network. The engagement represents a natural extension of Carnes Agency founder Heather Carnes’ experience working with franchise organizations and owner-led businesses throughout her career in hospitality.

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Heather Carnes to Speak at AAHOA HerOwnership 2026

Carnes Agency founder Heather Carnes will speak at the 2026 AAHOA HerOwnership Conference, taking place September 27–28 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Carnes will join the AAHOA Charitable Foundation session, “Lead with Purpose: How Service Shapes Stronger Leaders,” alongside Dee Patel and Kataki Patel, with Jagruti Panwala serving as moderator.

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Carnes Agency Expands Partnership with She Has a Deal

Carnes Agency expanded its partnership with She Has a Deal (SHaD) in 2026, providing strategic marketing, communications, and brand support for the organization’s growing portfolio of programs and initiatives.

Founded by Tracy Prigmore, She Has a Deal is a hotel ownership education and investment platform designed to help women—and increasingly a broader community of aspiring owners—build the knowledge, relationships, and resources needed to pursue hotel ownership.

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Carnes Agency to Partner on New Hotel Operations and Sales Technology Platform

Carnes Agency will partner with a hospitality management company in 2026 to support the development and launch of a new hotel operations and sales technology platform designed to streamline communication, task management, sales activity, and day-to-day property performance.

The engagement brings together Carnes Agency’s hospitality experience with its growing work in brand development, technology positioning, and go-to-market strategy.

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Heather Carnes Featured in Today’s Hotelier Magazine 10th Anniversary Story

Carnes Agency founder Heather Carnes was featured in the August 2026 issue of Today’s Hotelier as the publication marked its 10th anniversary, reflecting on her role in helping develop and launch the magazine in 2016.

The milestone carries particular meaning for Carnes. As she shared on LinkedIn, Today’s Hotelier became her gateway into hospitality — introducing her to an industry, a community, and what would ultimately become her life’s work.

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Heather Carnes Takes on Expanded Role at LendingCon 2026

Carnes Agency founder Heather Carnes took on an expanded role at LendingCon – Hospitality Investors Conference in 2026, serving as emcee, podcast guest, panel moderator, and strategic communications partner during the annual event.

LendingCon brings together more than 1,000 hotel owners, investors, developers, operators, lenders, and industry partners to discuss hospitality investment, capital, operations, brand growth, and emerging opportunities across the industry.

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Carnes Agency Partners with Storied Global Foundation to Support African Diaspora Storytelling

Carnes Agency partnered with Storied Global Foundation in 2026 to support the organization’s communications, storytelling, and digital content initiatives centered on African and African-diasporic history, culture, and wellness.

The engagement reflects a core commitment of Carnes Agency: supporting nonprofit and mission-driven organizations whose work creates meaningful cultural, educational, and community impact.

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