Strategic Marketing, PR & Branding
For Hospitality’s
Most Ambitious Minds & Missions
In an industry built on trust, service, and connection, we understand the critical role reputation plays. How you show up is important – it's how your reputation is solidified, how you stay relevant, and how you give back to others.
We partner with ambitious leaders, brands, and change-makers to help them define their voice, tell their story, and show up with purpose. Because in hospitality, showing up well opens doors, sparks opportunities, and positions you exactly where you belong: As a service-driven leader worth following.
Influence grows when you show up with purpose.
What We Do
We’re on a mission to elevate how hospitality communicates.
Carnes Agency is a boutique consultancy rooted in hospitality, specializing in strategic marketing, branding, PR, and communications.
We bring PR-centric expertise, creative precision, and trusted advisory to those in and serving America’s hospitality industry. We serve as a partner to leaders, entrepreneurs, and ambitious brands who want to show up consistently, and build reputation and influence where it matters most.
Why We Exist
To serve those who serve others.
Hospitality teaches you to lead with heart: to show up, serve others, and build something bigger than yourself.
After years of working alongside the people who power this industry, Heather Carnes was moved by their stories of sacrifice, perseverance, and purpose. Carnes Agency was founded in that same spirit: to serve those who serve others. For Heather, Carnes Agency serves as a way to give back by helping others share their story and keep building their legacy.
“Every ambitious brand deserves a trusted advisor who brings clarity to the message and strategy to the story.”
We do things different.
What sets us apart is our deep-rooted expertise at the intersection of editorial strategy, thought leadership, and reputation-building.
With nearly two decades of experience across the editorial, agency, and association worlds, we understand what moves the hospitality industry and who drives it. Our PR-centric approach to marketing, content, and branding is uniquely tailored to each partner we serve.
Everything we do is grounded in purpose-driven communication. Because in this industry, influence begins with service, and success is measured by the lives you enrich along the way.
Marketing
Strategic campaigns and content that drive visibility, connect with the right audience, and support business goals.
Public Relations
Media relations, thought leadership, earned media, and brand storytelling to position with purpose and authority.
Branding
Foundational brand strategy, messaging, and visual identity that ensure consistency, confidence, and credibility across platforms.
We partner with brands and leaders who are creating movements, legacies, and momentum in the industry.
Who We Serve
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Ownership groups, management companies, hotel investment firms, and the businesses powering the hospitality ecosystem.
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Leaders, founders, executives, and change-makers launching something meaningful or defining their legacy.
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Associations, collectives, and curated experiences rooted in connection, culture, and bringing the industry together.
Sound Familiar?
→ You’re a founder with big goals, but not enough time or support to execute marketing and public relations on your own.
→ You need a trusted expert to evaluate your brand and help you grow to what’s next.
→ You’re struggling to stand out and want to carve out a clear, confident space in our industry.
→ You’re a small team without the resources to hire full-time marketing or PR staff, but you still need visibility.
→ You’re ready for a smarter, more strategic approach to marketing and PR that supports your business goals.
If you see yourself in any of the above, you’re in the right place. You are exactly who we’re here to support.
The Latest from Carnes Agency
Let’s create something remarkable.
Whether you're launching a brand, leading a legacy, or wanting to step up your game, we’re here to help you show up at your best.
After nearly a decade working alongside America’s hotel owners and the businesses that power hospitality, longtime industry executive Heather Carnes is launching Carnes Agency, a boutique consultancy offering marketing, PR, and branding services for hospitality’s most ambitious leaders and companies.