Cathy Taylor, Founder and President
cathy@cathytaylorpr.com

Before opening Cathy Taylor Public Relations in March, 2007, Cathy was Vice President of The Silverman Group, where she worked with numerous clients, including Steppenwolf Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Northlight Theatre, Writers’ Theatre, Pegasus Players, Zella Brown and the Joyce Awards, among many others.

Cathy spent over five years at Steppenwolf Theatre Company as Publicist and, ultimately, Publicity and Communications Director. While at Steppenwolf, she directed all major company communications and promoted all productions, auxiliary programming, special initiatives, and staff/ensemble accomplishments. She directed a significant national public relations campaign for the company’s 25th Anniversary, resulting in local coverage in broadcast and print, including major features in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Variety, The Wall Street Journal and cover stories in American Theatre, Where Chicago, and Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine. Several press conference/media events were planned and executed by Cathy during her tenure at Steppenwolf resulting in significant television and print coverage.

Prior to moving to Chicago, Cathy worked at Indiana University, Bloomington, from where she earned an MA in Arts Administration. At IU, she was named Director of Audience Development for the Department of Theatre and Drama and was responsible for all marketing, public relations and communications activities for the department’s three theaters, academic programs, alumni relations, and groundbreaking activities for the department’s $24 million facility.

She also spent time at Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Education Department where she worked with Education Director Laura Johnson and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis to inaugurate the first-ever Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition.

Cathy is a board member and cultural committee co-chair of the Chicago Chapter of the Indiana University Alumni Association and a founding board member of the IU Outdoor Adventure Alumni Association.


Schoenly Hixson, Vice President
schoenly@cathytaylorpr.com

Schoenly Hixson, the first addition to Cathy Taylor Public Relations, Inc., joined the company in September 2007. Formerly of The Silverman Group, Schoenly worked as Assistant Account Executive on several accounts with Cathy, including Pegasus Players, Northlight Theatre and Writer’s Theatre. In addition, she had the pleasure of working with Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Navy Pier IMAX Theatre and The Chicago International Film Festival, among others.

In 2005, Schoenly left her for-profit life with Vanguard Fiduciary Trust behind to intern at The Field Museum. While there, she worked on the frontlines of two of the Museum’s largest exhibition openings, Evolving Planet and Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs. She has also interned at The Maine State Historical Society and Wadsworth-Longfellow House, and has done freelance writing and marketing for clients across the country.

Schoenly graduated from The University of Iowa in 2002, where she earned her BA in English Literature with a minor in Creative Writing. In her free time, she enjoys film, music, reading and writing.