Backbone Expands Client Roster & Bolsters PR Team

Backbone Media is pleased to welcome a new director and an additional five hires to its rapidly growing public relations team. The new team members join as the agency welcomes a slate of new clients in the lifestyle and wellness, cycling, motorsports and tourism categories.

In recent months, Backbone has been selected as the public relations agency of record for a variety of brands, including SoloStove, Pinarello, CAKE, Wheel Pros, TAXA Outdoors, Miraflora CBD, Big Sky Resort and the Lionsback development in Moab. 

“Our growth as an agency follows many of the national trends we’ve seen during the pandemic,” said Ian Anderson, Vice President of PR at Backbone Media. “Consumers have prioritized their spending on products that help them enjoy the outdoors like fire pits, bikes and RV’s. Likewise, regional adventure travel destinations like Big Sky and Moab have seen an increase in visitation through the pandemic and it’s a trend that’s likely to continue.” 

To support its new business development, Backbone has recently added six new members to its PR team, starting with Matt Aboussie as a new PR Director. Aboussie spent five years at Backbone from 2014 to 2019, before moving to another media agency for the past two years. Returning to Backbone, Aboussie will support the agency’s growing roster of motorsports, fishing and hunting brands. 

Martina Corona joins Backbone’s Denver office as a Senior PR Account Manager. Corona has over five years of PR agency experience serving clients across the food and beverage, consumer health, and lifestyle spaces working with brands like CVS Pharmacy, FootJoy, La Brea Bakery and more. 

Backbone also recently added Jessie Vandenhouten as a Senior PR Account Manager. Most recently the Communications Manager at Beaver Creek Resort, Vandenhouten brings over nine years of PR experience in travel, hospitality, and the ski industry to Backbone. 

A third new Senior PR Account Manager, Karen Jarchow, comes to Backbone with wide-ranging marketing background in the cycling industry. Most recently she worked as the Assistant Marketing Director for North America at Ergon Bike. She also races gravel and mountain bikes professionally for Team Topeak-Ergon and runs a youth mountain bike camp that sees over 200 participants each summer. 

Another professional cyclist, Bobby Lea, joins the Backbone team as a PR Account Manager. Lea’s cycling career includes three trips to the Olympics to race as a track cyclist for Team USA in Beijing, London and Rio. After stepping down from professional racing, Lea moved into journalism as a Test Editor with the Enthusiast Group. 

Brent Jacoby has also joined Backbone as a PR Account Coordinator. Jacoby is a recent Colorado College graduate who has a background in film and photography. A passionate mountain biker, skier and off-roader, he has interned for DPS Skis and most recently relocated from the East Coast to work in Backbone’s Carbondale office.