Maria Reitan
With 20 years communications experience, Maria Reitan ignites momentum for some of the nation’s biggest brands as principal at Minneapolis-based Carmichael Lynch Spong. While concentrating predominately in the consumer products industry, Maria has experience counseling clients in a wide-range of fields – corporate communications, healthcare, financial services, home and garden, hospitality and packaged goods. A former journalist who has managed television newsrooms across the country, Maria knows how reporters think. She media coaches the firm’s clients and advises them through a variety of crisis issues.
As the chair of Carmichael Lynch Spong’s Marketing to Women special service group, Maria has harnessed the agency’s 16-years of experience marketing to the country’s most coveted demographic – the 51 percent of the world who controls more than 80 percent of the household spending. She puts that knowledge to work for the agency’s current clients so they can drive their business goals by connecting with women in meaningful ways.
Among Maria’s current clients are household names such as Gerber; American Standard; Therma-Tru Doors; Aristokraft, Diamond and Thomasville Cabinetry. She remains a strategic counselor on clients such as Jack Links Beef Jerky and Pentair.
Maria is the recipient of the Silver Anvil, the highest national award for public relations projects granted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), New York, for community relations, special events and marketing consumer products work done on behalf of Select Comfort. Work for that same client garnered PR Week’s cause-related campaign of the year award. She’s won the Golden SABRE award for work done on behalf of MasterBrand Cabinets.
Prior to joining Carmichael Lynch Spong, Maria spent fifteen years in television news as an Emmy Award-winning news director, producer, reporter and writer. She was previously news director at WCCO-TV, the Twin Cities’ CBS station, and at WHAS-TV (ABC-affiliate) in Louisville, Kentucky. She was managing editor at WMAQ-TV (NBC station) in Chicago and senior executive producer at WSVN-TV (FOX-affiliate) in Miami. She has also worked at television stations in both Carolinas. Her work has garnered multiple news Emmy awards.
Maria earned her bachelor’s of arts degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America.
