People

Catalyst is made up of a mix of permanent residents and on-call counselors.  When needed, we tap into a network of experienced communications counselors and marketing practitioners built over years of working in the industry in the St. Louis region.  Here are some of the more familiar faces.

Julia Bishop-Cross, Team Leader & Crisis Counselor

Julia is a media relations specialist with more than 25 years of experience both as a journalist and as a PR team leader, working in fields as varied as the airline industry, entertainment, hospitality, food, technology and television news.  Julia specializes in relating complex business issues to mass media and in crisis communications.  She served as spokesperson for TWA and American Airlines during those companies’ most tumultuous years: the final years of TWA, through the AA acquisition, and through the attacks and aftermath of 9/11.  After the airline industry and as a team leader for another agency Julia led a team that developed and executed integrated marketing campaigns, grand openings, promotions and product launches for The Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, The Container Store, Build-A-Bear Workshop, The Crescent in Clayton, Gilded Age Real Estate Development, St. Louis Science Center, Saint Louis Zoo, and many others.

Julia launched Catalyst Communications in 2007 and has since led PR efforts on behalf of clients such as Wexford Science + Technology, Vatterott Educational Centers, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Dot Foods, Harrah’s St. Louis, Hollywood Casino St. Louis, and others.

Julia graduated from the University of Missouri – Columbia’s School of Journalism in 1991 and spent nearly a decade in television news as a reporter and producer.

Chris Cross, Director of Photography

Chris joined Catalyst in 2014 as our Director of Photography after more than 20 years as a videographer for television stations in Illinois and St. Louis.  Chris is an amazing visual storyteller and the winner of multiple National Press Photographer Association Awards.  Chris also brings still photography to Catalyst – you can check out his photo efforts on Flickr and see our recent video work on Vimeo.

Wendy Erikson, Producer and Broadcast Media Trainer

Experienced news anchor Wendy Erikson is our broadcast performance trainer and a producer on our video team.  Wendy has spent more than two decades in front of the camera, most recently as host of the magazine program Show Me St. Louis on St. Louis’ NBC affiliate, KSDK-TV.  Wendy helps our clients who are doing broadcast TV segments to promote their companies and products with one-on-one prep sessions, working on on-air performance, wardrobe and make-up.

Sheri Chorlins, Senior Publicist

Sheri brings more than 15 years of experience building and executing effective strategies to the table for her clients.  Sheri was Director of Marketing for Pace Properties, a leading commercial real estate and services firm.  Before Pace Sheri was a senior account executive with a global public relations firm where she managed national consumer public relations campaigns for clients including Solutia and Scott’s Lawn Care, and landing national placements with NBC Nightly News, CBS This Morning and The Discovery Channel.  She’s earned numerous awards including the prestigious PRSA Silver Anvil.

Sheri holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Missouri – Columbia and a Master’s in Business Administration from Fontbonne University.

Ashley Singh, Publicist and Associate Producer

Ashley started with Catalyst as an intern and has quickly grown indispensable to both our PR and video production teams.  She draws on skills learned at Canada’s Sun News Network to develop attention-grabbing pitches and press releases for Catalyst clients.  Ashley graduated from Queens University in Ontario and has further studied public relations and journalism at Ontario’s George Brown College and the University of Virginia.

Sarah Bowman, Designer

Bowman Design is Catalyst Communications’ design partner.  Sarah Bowman creates unique and compelling corporate identities and results-driven marketing pieces for start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.  In addition to completing her B.F.A. in Graphic Design with honors, Sarah has received her Master’s Degree in Organizational Communication.