Say hello to Kelly Standing, our new Chief Growth Officer! 

PR skills come naturally to Kelly. She authored two books, launched three companies and has worked at agencies in St. Louis and Chicago, producing award-winning campaigns in luxury hospitality, nonprofit management, healthcare, financial services and consumer-product marketing. 

Most recently, she served as Director of Innovation, Marketing & Membership at the Saint Louis Club, earning “Best Marketing Idea of the Year” honors in 2018 and 2022 from industry peers.

Kelly co-founded STANDING Partnership 33 years ago with her sister Cathy Standing Dunkin, then launched STANDING Ovations shortly thereafter to specialize for 15+ years in executive speechwriting, presentation training and motivational speaking. She competed in the World Championship of Public Speaking, ranking among the top nine speakers in the world out of 185,000 Toastmasters. The Chicago Tribune named Kelly one of its “2012 Remarkable Women.”  

As the Chief Growth Officer title suggests, she will help Chemistry grow, adding clients, building and encouraging our talented team, and expanding and promoting USPR, our international network of independently owned PR firms with whom we collaborate.

In her free time, Kelly loves to attend live theater performances, go for hikes or a scenic bike ride, as well as visiting interesting cultural places and memorable restaurants. Kelly has one daughter Libby, who runs a children’s theater company and an adorable 14-year-old rescue Westie named Lucky. 

One of her favorite childhood memories: Helping her traveling-salesman dad shine his shoes on Sunday nights for the week ahead. He would tell Kelly where those shoes would go and which customers he would see, so she felt like she was with him and wouldn’t miss him quite so much.

Kelly will bring a new light to Chemistry with her creative ideas, bubbly personality and dedication to helping others. We feel fortunate to have Kelly as part of our ever-growing team.