KYLE SCHMITZ
President & Chief Creative Officer
A native of Northern Virginia, media maven Kyle Schmitz made her way back to the DC area in 2010 after spending almost 10 years living and gaining invaluable experience working in New York City – the culinary capital of the world and number one media market in the country.
A Cum Laude graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, she earned a BA in Communications with concentrations in public relations, advertising, television production, and journalism. Kyle began her career in media working as a producer in some of the country’s most respected newsrooms including Lester Holt Live at MSNBC and Good Day New York at Fox 5 WNYW-TV. She transitioned into public relations after accepting a position with one of the most prestigious public relations agency’s in New York City, Rubenstein Associates, where she worked with some of the nations most powerful brands and personalities including: NYC & Co., Tribeca Film Festival, BMW of North America, Autism Speaks, David Blaine, XM Satellite Radio, Amazon.com, and Maxwell House to name a few. She further developed her experience at two notable boutique agencies in Manhattan representing celebrated chefs and prestigious hotels on both a national and international level. Notable hospitality clients included: Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (Spa Toccare, Bobby Flay Steak, SeaBlue, Forneletto, Izakaya, Wolfgang Puck American Grille, Old Homestead, MIXX, Mur. Mur., The Water Club at Borgata (Chef Geoffrey Zakarian, Immersion Spa), Savor Borgata, The NY Chocolate Show, Jackson Hole Media Marketplace, Cooperstown, NY, Chef Pichet Ong, Chef Jehangir Mehta of Graffiti Food + Wine Bar, Chef Anita Lo of Annisa, The Central Park Boathouse, Tour De France Restaurant Group, Kittichai, Chef Roy Yamaguchi, and Chef Ralf Kuettel of Trestle on Tenth, amongst others.
Following her move back to the DC area in spring 2010, Kyle signed on with an established boutique hospitality agency and worked with local DMV powerhouse clients such as Bryan Voltaggio of VOLT, BLT Steak, Trummer’s on Main, Co Co. Sala, Eola, Occidental Grill & Seafood, and Taste of the Nation Washington DC/ Share Our Strength, to name a few.
A seasoned award-winning media relations professional, Kyle is the proud owner and founder of KONNECTED Media Group, and has continued to consistently secure high-profile media exposure on behalf of her clients in top-tier local, regional, national, and international media outlets such as The New York Times, New York Magazine, Tasting Table, Serious Eats, Forbes, Popular Mechanics, National Geographic Traveler, Food Republic, Thrillist, The New Yorker, Food Network Magazine, GQ, Town & Country, NBC’s Today Show, Food & Wine. Saveur, Bon Appetit, CNN Eatocracy, The Guardian, Fox 5 Good Day DC, NBC Washington, CNN.com, The Washington Post, Rachael Ray, Bloomberg, Wine & Spirits, Wine Enthusiast, Men’s Journal, Esquire, Washington City Paper, Huffington Post, Condé Nast Traveler, CBS Sunday Morning, Fox & Friends, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC, Edible (DC & Manhattan), NPR, WTOP, The Kojo Show, Garden & Gun, PBS, The Telegraph, Huffington Post, The Food Network, Cooking Channel, Associated Press, Washingtonian Magazine, Southern Living, Travel + Leisure, Northern Virginia Magazine, and Arlington Magazine, amongst many others. Highly creative, innovative, and strategic, Kyle specializes in local, regional, and national, print, online and broadcast media exposure and has also made a name for herself in both NYC and DC as a pro-active force in social media. Kyle currently resides in Washington DC and is an avid gourmand with wanderlust. She believes in her community and doing everything in her power to encourage her clients to connect and contribute to powerful causes and personally volunteer for those causes herself. Kyle is currently an active member of Smithsonian often contributing ideas for original content for high-profile culinary-driven events, a proud supporter of DC Central Kitchen and Martha’s Table, and newly inducted member of Les Dames d’Escoffier Washington, D.C.
Twitter & IG: @KyleKONNECTED
HOLLY BARZYK
Senior Account Executive
Born in Seoul, Korea, Holly has lived all over the world, and spent much of her life on both the East(Baltimore) and West Coast(San Francisco). In her formative years, she weeded gardens on the family farm and went crabbing on her grandfather’s pier, thus cultivating a love for food and the powerful way that it connects and engages people. With over 16 years of experience in the hospitality industry, she has been a writer, worker bee, assistant sommelier, an obsessive food photographer, while also toiling briefly in the kitchens of the culinary world. She moved to Washington, DC to pursue her dream of working in the arts and food culture.
Holly started working in restaurants at fifteen years old, working her way through high school and college. She worked most notably for the Foreman-Wolf Group in Baltimore, MD in all positions at the front of the house, at Petit Louis Bistro, Pazo, Bin 604 Wine, and Cinghiale as an assistant sommelier while obtaining degrees from John Hopkins University and Towson University. She studied Noh Theatre in Tokyo, Japan at Musachino Art University; it was there that she developed a love for Japanese food and culture.
She moved to The District in 2010, after pursuing work in theatre at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts in fundraising. Yearning to return to the fast paced but rewarding environment of restaurants, she started working for Think Food Group at Café Atlantico. It was there that she found a home and worked for the company for three years, opening the new incarnation of MiniBar and the original popup America Eats Tavern. She opened Daikaya Izakaya and Ramen shop and Rogue 24, and then decided to explore another faction of the restaurant business.
In 2014, she was the Wholesale Specialist for Dolcezza Gelato, where she fell in love even more with the beauty of local produce and artisanal products in the DC Metro area.
Holly began work as the Social Media and Events Guru at The industree Group in 2015; managed their social media page, as well as their website photo galleries, planned events which included notable chefs, restaurateurs, and mixologists in DC, NYC, and Philadelphia. She was responsible for logistics such as deciding on panelists, contacting vendors, and communication with clients. During this time, she also was the PR and Marketing Director for The Tabard Inn and Restaurant, DC’s beloved nearly 100 year old gem in Dupont Circle. Responsibilities included overseeing all of the creative content in house, social media pages, communication with local and national media outlets, designing and creating content for bi-monthly newsletters, coordinating The Tabard’s participation in fundraising events such as RAMW’s Grand Tasting, Taste of the Nation, Sips and Suppers, and The Capital Food Fight. She also played a key role in managing the hotel’s philanthropic side, organizing donations to charities and schools as well as advertising in local theatres such as The Studio Theatre, Theater J, Mosaic Theatre Company, and Scena Theatre.
Currently, she is also a freelance Social Media Specialist as well as a Co-Founder of Redeye Menus along with Chantal Tseng and Carlie Steiner, a social supper club featuring sherry wine and Asian food. She is excited as well as humbled to be a part of the DC food community-to help it grow, prosper, and be a force in not only America’s but also the world’s dining platform. Holly is thrilled to watch the DC metro area grow, and play a role in helping it rise.