Serving the Neighbors of South Reno | December 2013

Cover photo by Paige Wickum, photoWickum

Treasured Gifts of the Season Dolan Auto Group’s Third Annual Class Project Giveaway

The Gift of Learning: Adventures in Writing Camp at Hunsberger Elementary SchoolApplying to College? Helpful Advice from Sage Ridge Senior

The Gift of Health: Understanding HPV and CancerThe Reno Bighorns Reaching Out to the Community

Fun Holiday Gift Giving Ideas — All From Local Retailers

Also:December Community Calendar of Events

and more!

Abbi & Ty Whitaker The Powerhouse Partnership Behind Public Relations Firm, The Abbi Agency Powered by Boost

4 December 2013

Learning Valuable Lessons and Living Life Fully: The Whitaker’s Personal Journey

By: Anh Gray

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FEATURE STORy

The invitations have already been sent. The guests are trickling in and the hosts are

poised to make the occasion memorable. Abbi and Patrick “Ty” Whitaker are notable for

their work at the public relations firm, The Abbi Agency Powered by Boost.* Promoting people and places, launching products and ideas, de-veloping multi-media strategies and campaigns, managing crisis and special events are among their areas of expertise.

On a windy Sunday afternoon in late October, there’s an impending storm in the forecast, but Abbi and Ty are undaunted by the weather — they have an important shindig to pull off. They’re hosting a costume-themed bash for their daugh-ter, Eden, who is turning four. Eden is donning a red wig and a mermaid costume; she’s giddy in the company of mini fairytale and superhe-ro-dressed guests.

Their ranch-style home in South Reno is redo-lent of the unique and rustic charm of Northern Nevada. They have a chicken coop in their back-yard and just over the wire fence, the neighbor’s small herd of sheep grazes serenely. Yet, up a nearby road sit a few gated communities and less than a quarter mile away lies a main intersection.

The Whitakers retreat home to unwind, and literally, unplug. By day, Abbi and Ty collaborate with the movers and shakers of commerce. But by evening, Eden and Ever, their 6-year-old son,

are the VIPs they’re eager to spend time with. Be-tween the hours of 5 to 9 p.m., they implement a “no technology” rule and Ever confiscates their cell phones. (Abbi confesses she falters from time to time, but says they’re mainly good about it.)

A Thriving Partnership at Home and Work

Abbi and Ty are the co-owners of The Abbi Agency and work together as a team: she is Presi-dent and Ty is the Chief Operations Officer. Mar-ried for seven years, they have been in each other’s lives for over 20.

Born in Stratford, England, a 12-year-old Abbi relocated from across the Atlantic to a military base in Fallon with her siblings and mom, who remarried an American. Ty has deep roots in the state and considers himself a proud fifth-generation Nevadan. Ty grew up in Fallon and his grandparents were cattle and sheep ranchers in Elko. Abbi describes some of his fam-ily as “authentic cowboys —the real deal.” Abbi and Ty first crossed paths in high school. Abbi recalls Ty being “very popular” and nice to every-

one at school. While they were friendly with each other, romance didn’t blossom until much later.

They reconnected and developed a close friendship when both were attending the Uni-versity of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Abbi was study-ing journalism and Ty was in the environmental science program. Abbi recalls sitting across the kitchen table from Ty one evening, sharing wine, conversation, and being in love, “We just knew each other so well; I was talking to my best friend. Our relationship grew and we love each other ev-eryday,” Abbi says.

Abbi and Ty continued to date after graduating from college. Abbi shares that Ty has a truly romantic side. Both born in March, they have an annual tradition of taking a birthday trip togeth-er to celebrate. In 2006, they went on a trip to Big Sur. They were at the beach and Abbi was digging in the tide pool. “When she wasn’t paying

attention, I hid a diamond ring in the sand and asked her to keep digging,” Ty says. Marriage was just the beginning of their partnership.

Ty’s career began as a water quality scientist; he analyzed and evaluated groundwater quality across Northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe. Abbi

She worried that she wouldn’t witness Eden get married or Ever go to the prom. She admits to thinking,

“What if I don’t make it?”

The Good Life | South Reno 5

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worked in public relations. In 2008, she was offered a partnership with Lyman Public Relations, headquartered in San Francisco. While she loved her work with the company, she had a yearning to go out on her own. Abbi, emboldened with Ty’s encouragement, pursued her dream. The Abbi Agency signed its first clients in 2008 with Abbi at the cre-ative helm. Ty realized the analytical and organizational skills he possessed as a scientist and project manager would serve the agency well. He joined two years later in 2010.

Abbi is personable, media savvy, and a strategic thinker. “I’m very much a public re-lations person, but Ty is more business-minded — he’s the operational brains of the company.” Their complementary skill sets proved to be a golden combination. The Abbi Agency is one of the most respected PR firms in town. “The best part is I get to see Ty ev-eryday,” Abbi adds. Ty admires the creative energy and passion that Abbi brings to work.

“We work with an incredible team. I think of them as family and would do anything for them,” Abbi says of her employees. “I want to create the kind of work environment that people read about.” She’s serious about creating a supportive corporate culture that fosters respect among colleagues. “We love coming to work; we have fun everyday.”

Abbi revels in the opportunities PR work offers for collaborating with a variety of clients in industries ranging from medical, finance, technology and government to tour-ism, and food and beverage services. “I have to learn about each industry; it keeps me sharp and I enjoy utilizing various PR platforms.”

They lead busy lives with spirited young children they adore and an expanding busi-ness they love. But, then their lives were upended.

In the summer of 2011, Abbi felt that something wasn’t quite right. She listened to her body and visited the doctor. Tests confirmed that she had anal cancer. Ever was four and Eden was just 18-months-old at the time. “One day we were debating about what types of trees to plant in the backyard, and all of sudden those things didn’t matter anymore,” Abbi says. “In that moment, all that truly mattered most was our family: me, Abbi and the kids,” Ty recalls.

Abbi says that she rarely ever took sick leave from work — but this time was different — after the diagnosis, she took three months off to aggressively treat the cancer. With the same zeal she has for living, Abbi had the same for fighting —she chose to undergo

6 December 2013

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both radiation and chemotherapy simultaneous-ly.

Abbi confesses that in her darkest moments, she would find herself on the floor crying and overcome with waves of fear for her family. She worried that she wouldn’t witness Eden get mar-ried or Ever go to the prom. She admits to think-ing, “What if I don’t make it? What if the cancer comes back?” She explains that those doubtful moments wouldn’t last long as Ty would refuse to allow negative thinking. Abbi asserts that Ty was a source of strength and hope. He left her inspira-tional notes and gifts daily throughout her cancer treatment.

Ty tried to stay resilient throughout the pro-cess, but there were difficult moments. “The hard-est for me was to see her struggling through the illness while she was with the kids.” Abbi’s blood cell count was extremely low at one point during the treatment. She had to be hospitalized and iso-lated for a time from everyone as a precaution to prevent infection. She wasn’t even able to interact with Ty or the children.

During the fight of Abbi’s life, the Whitakers experienced an outpouring of love and support from the Reno community and from Mountain View Montessori. Although the duo are accus-tomed to dealing with public announcements, they deliberated sharing this personal informa-tion. On the same day they informed the school, Ever’s teacher and the Head of School brought dinner to the family’s home and offered abiding support.

Ty felt enormously grateful for the emotional support and contributions of meals provided by families from the school. “Community is so pow-erful, I was blown away!” “The Reno community was wonderful to us. The flowers, cards and care packages we received were incredible. It meant so much to have people rally around us,” Abbi adds. A great source of love also came from Abbi’s dad, Geoffrey Holtom, who was residing in his home country of England. He moved to Reno to sup-port Abbi and to help with the children.

After a hard-fought battle, Abbi is free of can-cer. She is healthy and happy with renewed vitali-ty for family, community, work — for living more fully. She credits incredibly caring doctors and

loved ones for helping her through her illness. “Ty and I live life so much more spontaneously

now. If we think of something fun we want to do with the kids, we just do it! We try to integrate business trips with family getaways whenever we can.” The Whitakers cherish spending time out-doors. “We take the kids camping, fishing, skiing, and a favorite of ours is going to hot springs. We also have fun accounts at work — such as North Lake Tahoe — we’ll take the kids with us and make a weekend out of it,” Abbi says. This desire to act and not just ruminate on ideas motivated Abbi to lead the charge for The Biggest Little City movement.A Campaign to Unify the Voices of

The Biggest Little City Abbi was upset over disparaging national me-

dia coverage about Reno and Ty overheard her criticizing the inaccurate image thrust on the city. “Stop complaining and do something about it is what Ty said to me,” Abbi recalls with a laugh. That comment spurred on Abbi to do what she does best — she started a dialogue.

Abbi called up the the editors of the Reno Gazette-Journal and convened a meeting of the minds. In June 2013, a group of thought leaders

from varying professions — small business own-ers, public service employees, media experts — traded ideas about how to rebrand Reno. These brainstorming sessions launched the The Biggest Little City movement. The campaign is designed to empower Reno to express a unified voice and lets those who know the city best share their sto-ries with the world. All residents are encouraged to tell their stories at www.biggeslittlecity.org.

Speaking of sharing stories, the Whitakers have a few new developments of their own. They’re excited to announce that Ty will be running for public office to serve as Washoe County Com-missioner of District 2. Ty currently advocates for local citizens as board member of the South Truckee Meadows Washoe County Citizen Advi-sory Board.

Abbi and Ty are committed to the city that has provided them so much. “It’s about giving back, taking action, and making positive changes,” Ty says.

Both UNR graduates, the Whitakers recently established the Abbi Agency Strategic Commu-nication Annual Scholarship at the Reynolds School of Journalism at UNR. “It’s important to us to support our alma mater,” Abbi says. The

Photo By: Photo Wickum

The Good Life | South Reno 7

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• Finalist for Product Launch Award from Ragan PR Daily

• Reno Gazette-Journal Entrepreneur of the Year

• Reno Gazette-Journal/Young Professionals Network 20 Under 40 Award

• Reno News & Review Best Public Relations Agency 2012 & 2013

• 2013 Business of the Year Award from The Chamber of Commerce

• Silver Addy Award for the Susan G. Komen Public Service Campaign 2012 from AAF Reno

• Three Silver Spike Awards for Media Relations from PRSA Sierra Nevada

• American Marketing Association Ace Awards: Influencer of the Year 2013, Best Social Media Campaign & Best Public Relations Campaign 2012

fund aids non-traditional students who are un-able to attend school full-time.

Abbi also donates time to various business and charitable organizations. She’s co-chair of the Economic Vitality Committee, Regional Alliance for Downtown and will serve on the Chamber of Commerce board at the start of the new year. She supports the Obesity Prevention Foundation, Entrepreneurs’ Organization at Reno Tahoe, and Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Tech-nology.

She’s especially devoted to making an impact in the overall fight against cancer and previous-ly served on the board for Susan G. Komen of Northern Nevada. “I think it’s imperative we edu-cate people about Human Papilloma virus (HPV) and the relationship to cancer. I want to raise awareness about prevention and the importance of early detection.”

It’s a life-saving message worth spreading. If her track-record is any indication, when Abbi starts a conversation, people pay close attention.

* In September 2013, The Abbi Agency merged with Boost Creative Services. The merger integrated the marketing and design expertise of each respec-tive business. The firm is currently known as The Abbi Agency Powered by Boost. With exception to the first reference,“The Abbi Agency” is used to refer to the company throughout the article.

And the award goes to…

The Abbi Agency has received numerous awards in recognition of their outstanding professional contributions.

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