Kruse driven to build successful ad agency

Stephanie Kruse's e-mails are legendary

at KPS/3, the Reno advertising

and public relations firm she started. It's

not the content, though, that makes

them special; it's the time they were sent.

"Hey, how many e-mails did you get

at 4:30?" one employee will ask another.

That's 4:30 a.m.

Kruse has seemingly endless energy

and a supersonic drive that has helped

her build one of the strongest agencies in

town. She has won a host of awards,

including "Communicator of the Year"

by the Northern Nevada Chapter of the

International Business Communicators

and "Ad Woman of the Year" by Reno

Women in Advertising.

The KPS/3 offices vibrate with creative

vigor. The interior's industrial-funk

design features a bright purple, red,

orange and blue color scheme and huge

photographic murals. Kruse is a handson

partner, pitching in wherever necessary,

whether it's helping move furniture,

throwing out ideas in a brainstorming

session or writing a crisis communications

plan for a client. "I am an adrenaline

junkie, and I love a crisis."

Kruse always has been driven. In high

school in Iowa, she ran track, led her

class as president, performed in school

plays and excelled in the classroom. She

then got a degree in nursing. "My mom

was a nurse, and it meant a lot to her,"

she says.

She quickly realized, though, that

nursing wasn't her calling. Ten days after

college graduation, she enrolled in journalism

school.

Yet nursing still made a

big impact on Kruse. She

worked nights and weekends

in a nursing home while she

studied journalism, and, she

says, she would never trade

that experience. Nursing

deepened her compassion,

reminding her that tender

human beings dwell under

even the toughest exteriors,

an awareness she strives to

keep top of mind today.

"Working with very ill

people, you get exposed to the

full variety of humanness. It

touched my heart, and it

touched my soul."

Kruse's nursing background

also helped her

land a public relations

internship at a hospital.

She then moved west to a

job at Saint Mary's

Health Network in Reno,

where she worked in marketing,

sales and contracting,

public relations and

communications. At the

end of her nine-year

tenure in 1991, she had

finished her MBA and

was director of marketing.

By then, she had a solid

reputation in the community

and was ready to

strike out on her own.

Even as a kid, Kruse

had known that someday

she would run her own

business, yet she still suffered

from sleepless

nights at first.

"I really am a perfectionist,"

she says. "It's

hard dealing with the

unknown when you want

everything to be perfect."

But the workload and

client list grew quickly.

Kruse added employees

and brought on partners,

enabling the firm to offer a

full array of public relations

and advertising services.

Clients include companies

from a variety of industries,

especially the arts and health

and human sciences.

Kruse sees the firm's primary

role as proactive, strate-

gic advisor. "We don't just say,

'Let's go out and create a pretty

campaign,' when you don't

need an ad campaign.We

think like marketing people.

We're diagnosticians."

Business partner Misty

Young says Kruse has a keen

ability to

grasp

complex

issues and

create

sharp

strategies.

"She is

one of the

most

amazingly

smart and talented women I've

ever had the opportunity to

work with," she says. "She

understands very complex

issues topics that sometimes

just boggle my mind so

that I have to ask her to

explain it one or two or even

three times, and she always

very patiently does."

As the business took off,

one of the biggest challenges

was learning all the systems to

running the whole show.

Another challenge was balancing

high expectations and

patience a dilemma faced

by any humanistic manager. "I

have exceedingly high expectations

of myself and exceedingly

high expectations of people

who work for me." On the

other hand, she says, good

managers have to understand

that everyone makes mistakes

from time to time.

Young

says Kruse

has been a

great mentor

and role

model.

"And I

think she

does that

for other

women and

business people in the community,

too."

Kruse serves on the boards

of directors for Special

Olympics Nevada, the Las

Vegas Chamber Board of

Advisors, Forum for a

Common Agenda, the Nevada

Women's Fund and the

University of Nevada College

of Business.

Outside of work, she enjoys

running, hiking, dancing, skiing

and the arts and treasures

time with friends.

She continues to start her

workday at 4:30 a.m. "My

body pretty much kicks me out

of bed then" but given the

good-natured ribbing from

employees, Kruse admits she

has slowed down. "I don't even

leave 3 a.m. voice mails anymore,"

she says with a laugh.