Kelly brings creative strategy, sales insight and outdoor-industry experience together to elevate AdventureSmith’s small-ship expedition brand. As a Marketing Manager, she leads campaigns, storytelling and multi-channel initiatives that connect travelers with the right ships, seasons and destinations. Her work translates the nuances of expedition cruising into clear, compelling guidance—expanding AdventureSmith’s visibility while building an informed and engaged community of travelers.
Hi, I’m Kelly
I help small ships make a big impression.
Kelly joined AdventureSmith in 2018 as an Adventure Coordinator, supporting advisors with client reservations, logistics, trip planners and documentation. After completing full advisor training and earning partner certifications with leading operators including UnCruise Adventures, National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions and Quark Expeditions, she developed a deep understanding of how expedition travel is positioned and delivered.
That foundation now shapes her leadership in marketing. Kelly’s unique dual background bridges advisor insight and brand strategy, ensuring every campaign reflects a traveler-first perspective and firsthand experience, resulting in guidance you can trust.
Highlights of her work include:
- Email marketing: Newsletters, automation systems and alumni outreach, CRM platforms
- Advertising & PR: Digital and print campaigns, co-op partnerships and press placement (including a Yahoo News–syndicated Denali feature)
- Award & Recognitions: Leading promotion, messaging and submissions for Sunset Magazine Travel Awards, Condé Nast Top Travel Specialists, Expedition Cruise Network Awards and Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work
- Creative design: Brand design, brochures, infographics and campaign assets
- Video & Social storytelling: Destination films, platform strategy and oversight of freelance and in-house editors
Content, Marketing & Travel Experience
- Bachelor of Science in Business with a Minor in Marketing, California State University, Long Beach
- Marketing & events roles for Southern California ski resorts
- Website publishing roles for an online snowboard magazine
- Human Resources leadership at a Lake Tahoe ski resort
- AdventureSmith Explorations: Adventure Coordinator → Marketing & Content Coordinator → Marketing Manager
- Technical expertise in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Premiere Pro), CRM and email platforms, analytics and SEO strategy
- Firsthand expedition travel sailing Alaska, Norway, the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica
- Personal photography selected in Tahoe Quarterly’s “Best of Tahoe” photo contest and featured in the viral “We Rate Dogs” twitter calendar
- Personal video reel viewed 33M+ times, sparking a global viral dance trend
- Official aeronaut, formally inducted after a sunrise hot air balloon flight and traditional champagne toast
Personal Roots & Hobbies
Kelly grew up in the Bay Area, where family camping and fishing trips sparked an early love of the outdoors. Now based in Tahoe, she continues to spend as much time outside as possible, on the water, on the snow, or on the trail or planning her next trip.
Her travels have taken her fishing in Costa Rica, Baja, Hawaii and Belize, and scuba diving in Thailand and Bali. When she’s not exploring, she’s often behind the lens photographing and filming special moments for friends’ weddings/elopements, or refining her own photo and video projects. For Kelly, creativity and adventure go hand in hand, both in her work and in her everyday life.
Travel Expertise Straight From the Field
Field experience shapes how Kelly builds campaigns at AdventureSmith. Time spent aboard expedition ships and in remote destinations informs the messaging, visuals and educational tools she develops for travelers and advisors alike. Those firsthand insights strengthen every newsletter, launch and destination guide she produces:
