At Purple, Crystal’s work is focused on developing communications strategies to enhance and protect reputation, influence policy debates and drive business growth. She’s led multiple client engagements that require both an immediate focus on issues management, along with the discovery and creation of paths to reputation renewal. Before joining Purple, Crystal was in the Washington, D.C., office of Weber Shandwick where she led global client engagements for Fortune 100 companies. She also served as Press Secretary to U.S. Senator John McCain on Capitol Hill, and as Deputy Communications Director to his 2008 presidential campaign, directing media relations and messaging in target markets across the country, in addition to serving as Press Secretary for the New Hampshire primary victory. Crystal also held a position at the USO, working closely with corporate partners, Department of Defense leaders and entertainers. A New Hampshire native, she graduated from Emerson College in Boston.

“We often engage with clients facing challenges they’ve never seen. Watching an expert in their field accept that the things that made them successful in the past might be the same things that stand in their way now takes courage and is something I deeply admire.”

“Uncovering a strategic way forward requires an understanding of the landscape and audience expectations, as well as a hard look at the actions and proof points we have and the ones we need to tell a better story. Words alone can’t get the job done, but building a persuasive story of change, opportunity or recovery is essential to growth.”

“I try, though not always successfully, to be mindful of a lesson from a passage in Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: ‘The impediment to actions advances actions. What stands in the way becomes the way.’”