Meet Our Team
Management Team
Pete Howmiller CEO
Pete has a proven history of success overseeing all aspects of day to day company operations, management and communications in various professional environments. As CEO, Pete provides leadership for the company and directs the operations of Orca with a focus on customer relations, staff management, contracts, budgeting and finance. Pete holds a Bachelor of Science degree…
Wendy Roberts Vice President & Managing Director, Public Relations
Wendy Roberts is a skilled marketing and public relations professional with a rich career background. Prior to her 11 years at Orca, Wendy was the Director of Marketing & Promotions at RAZOR, a national men’s lifestyle magazine , where she was in charge of leading the team responsible…
Cynthia Guiang Chief Marketing Officer
Cynthia Guiang has over 30 years in marketing and management experience with companies in a variety of industries as well as advertising and public relations agencies. In 1993 she co-founded a full service PR and advertising firm and grew it from two to 60 employees over a period of seven years. During the course of…
Julie Simon Senior Vice President
Julie Simon brings 10 plus years of experience in television news. For more than a decade she was on the front lines covering dangerous wildfires on the Nevada/California border, Hurricane Rita on the Texas coast, and rebuilding efforts for a new generation in Communist Vietnam. On a lighter…
Tana Siebold Creative Director
Orca’s Creative Director is one of our leading publicists in the food, beverage and personal health space. Tana has secured phenomenal national press for top brands such as Genesis Today, Blue Diamond Nut Thins, Blue Diamond Almond Breeze, Hero Nutritionals, San-J Asian marinades, Betty Lou’s all-natural snacks and many others. Her contacts and relationships in…
Valery Lodato Vice President
Valery Lodato brings 12 years of local and national news media experience to the Orca Team. An Emmy award-winning television producer, Valery joined Orca after working as the Senior Executive Producer at KPHO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Phoenix. There she supervised the daily news product and dozens of…
Publicity Team
Lacy Gambee Senior Publicist
Lacy Gambee joined Orca Communications after years of working in the television news industry. Most recently, she worked as an Investigative Producer for the NBC Affiliate in Tucson, Arizona. There she also served as the Special Projects Producer where she coordinated media coverage for various companies and organizations around the country. Lacy graduated from the…
Krista Loew Senior Publicist
Krista Loew is a former television news anchor and award-winning reporter who brings 15 years of broadcast experience to Orca Communications. She’s worked in television markets including in Knoxville, Tennessee, Phoenix, and Tucson, Arizona where she received countless awards for her weekly crime-stopper reports. The years she spent reporting the news, hosting programs, and building…
Staci Torgeson Publicist
Staci Torgeson’s career includes experience in media relations, marketing, promotions and event coordination. She thoroughly enjoys becoming a member of her clients’ team and finding the timely angles that will help their business shine with the media. Her qualifications include work in the hospitality, entertainment, non-profit, and business industries. Through the years, she has worked…
Michelle Molison Publicist
Michelle Molison brings more than a decade of television news experience to the Orca Team. Michelle joined Orca after working as an Anchor and Reporter in television markets including Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska. During her time in TV news, Michelle has covered presidential elections, wildfires, snow storms, high profile court cases, crime, and health stories….
Eva Bowen Publicist
Eva is a 20-year broadcast journalism veteran. Most recently she was the Executive Producer of the live internet radio talk show “Outreach Today” on the VoiceAmerica Channel. From 2005-2010 she was the Executive Producer at ‘Sonoran Living Live” on KNXV-TV. Prior to becoming EP, she was a senior…
Jennifer LaVoie-Trimble Publicist
Jennifer LaVoie-Trimble brings a combined experience in media relations, media monitoring and media sales. She has publicized a former Miss America, the Arizona Cardinals and Super Bowl XXX for the National Football League. As a published writer for athletic publications, she also championed public relations for a cheerleading organization in Columbus, Ohio through local, regional,…
Allyson McCormley Publicist
Allyson is a public relations specialist who is passionate about the way businesses and entrepreneurs benefit from exposure to the media through public relations outreach. Allyson has more than a decade of experience working in both television news and public relations and has formed many strong relationships with…
Martin Stein Publicist
Martin has over eight years of experience in public relations and social media marketing for a wide variety of clients, ranging from award-winning tech startups and cutting-edge digital currency groups to major Las Vegas nightclubs and even an international online dating corporation. He has placed clients’ stories in…
Tabitha Ziegmann Publicist
Tabitha Ziegmann is an alumna from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She has a diverse background in marketing, journalism, public relations and photography. In her spare time, she loves to read, create greeting cards and do nail art. She lives in Phoenix with her…
Vivian Wolf Publicist
Vivian Wolf is a long time journalist with a background in both TV and radio news. Over the past 20 years she has worked as a news anchor/reporter and producer across stations in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. After years of working in the news industry, she knows how…
Lora Reuther Social Media Manager
Lora is a creative marketing professional with ten years of experience in writing, social media, blogging and design. She was an early social media influencer with her vintage fashion blog in 2010. Lora shared products and stories for businesses like Mod Cloth and was featured in articles and magazines around Washington DC. She loves discovering…
Chelsea Pascoe Publicist
Chelsea Pascoe is a public relations and marketing professional with over seven years of experience working with a variety of clients; from small businesses to national brands. Some of the major brands and companies she has collaborated with include: Converse, Sonos, Clarks, Starbucks, The New York Giants, Watermelon Water, Budweiser and more. Chelsea graduated from…
Business Development
Kim Krigsten Account Executive
Kim Krigsten has made the move from television to public relations and brings a wealth of experience to the Orca Communications team! She is a former TV news reporter and anchor with more than 20 years of media experience. Kim graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism…
Lisa Kelly Account Executive
Lisa Leigh Kelly brings 20 years experience in television newsrooms around the globe. Her reporting has landed her on national news outlets including The Today Show, MSNBC, and Fox News Channel. Notable news stories include covering the events of 9/11 from Ground Zero in New York and Princess…
Amanda Green Account Executive
Amanda is a former TV producer with more than a decade of newsroom experience. Her hometown of Orlando, FL is one of the hottest news markets in the country. She’s produced everything from lifestyle shows to terror attacks, but her passion is with consumer news. She loves finding…
Administration
Laura McGeary HR/IT/Financial Assistant
Laura McGeary is self driven individual with a variety of talents in the business and finance arena. She has spent the last 8 years of her career managing 25 valley locations for a local mortgage company. Her primary job functions included overseeing day to day operations along with the corporate Human Resource, Accounting, and Branch…
Melissa Ireland Executive Client Coordinator
With an extensive careerbackground in Retail Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Client Coordinationand Public Relations, Melissa is well-equipped for her role as Orca’s ExecutiveClient Coordinator in which she prepares our new clients for their upcoming PRcampaigns. Melissa serves as a liaison between new clients and our publicistsproviding both with pertinent information prior to the campaign launch. …
Sean Corgan IT Specialist
Sean Corgan has a diverse background in Information Technology. He has worked for over ten years in the industry, and has been involved with Information Technology his entire life. His past experience involved being a master technician for a major computer retailer. He has a CompTIA A+ certification and is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer,…