How We Started
Our Origin Story
Media Minefield was founded in 2010 by Emmy Award-winning journalist Kristi Piehl. Drawing on her background in television news, she knew there was a better way for brands to share their stories and for PR pros to work with the media.
Our Founder’s Story
Kristi spent 12 years as a television news reporter, working across the midwest in Minnesota, South Dakota and Ohio. Faced with a layoff as her station cut back on its investigative journalism department, Kristi was at a crossroads. After some soul searching and a class at her church that helped uncover her strengths, Media Minefield was born with a mission to disrupt the PR industry.
Kristi is a visionary and forward-thinker, always innovating how we work to best amplify our clients’ stories. She is dedicated to creating a unique workplace culture with policies that value families, flexibility and health. Under Kristi’s leadership, Media Minefield has won numerous local and national awards for client work and culture.
Who We Are
Our Employees
Our Core Values
Who We Are
Our People
As we continue to grow, we strive to make Media Minefield the best place our employees will ever work. Miners are supported with a Dream Manager Program, leadership development and celebrated with a Cape to mark their first year, a 5-year experience and a 10-year anniversary sabbatical.
Our Core Values
Our core values guide who we are and how we work. We are all-in on the success of our clients and one another. We celebrate our Core Values with weekly nominations to shout out our coworkers and an annual Core Value Award, sending a Miner and their +1 on an all-expense paid trip.
Our Culture
Our Culture
Working in a 24/7 business, it’s no secret that agencies have high rates of burnout. This is one of the reasons why we are so intentional about our company culture.
Our 4-day workweek mindset (or 4M) empowers Miners to log off when their work is done, to shift the hours they work to best fit their needs or their families’ needs while also serving their clients’ needs.
Miners Serve gives each team member 24 hours of paid time off to serve in the community, positively impacting causes and organizations that are important to them.
Our Voices initiative focuses on equity and belonging, with key components including education, training and representation. We believe that a healthy Media Minefield is an inclusive and welcoming Media Minefield where everyone can show up and be their authentic selves in an environment where they can discover their capabilities and potential. Our goal is to exceed industry standards for diversity in the field of PR and expand awareness of the industry and profession among diverse communities.
Join Us in the Minefield
Our Clients
Through our innovative and trademarked processes, we are committed to ensuring our clients feel results from their marketing dollars. From startups to billion-dollar brands, we have worked with hundreds of businesses across North America.
Our roots are in media relations, as our first clients hired us to secure earned media interviews, and our first employees were former journalists. We trademarked our Newsability® process, which has a 100% success rate, meaning every earned media client we have ever worked with has received press.
In 2020, we received a trademark for our proven Positive Online Presence (POP®) process. As an industry leader in executive social media and thought leadership, we are on the cutting edge of creating strategies and authentic content to establish our clients as thought leaders and elevate their digital leadership.
Drawing on decades of experience, our team of PR strategists and trained journalists has a unique and effective approach to crisis management, coaching and training. We arm our clients with both proactive and reactive strategies to protect and elevate their reputations.
Awards
Media Minefield is proud to be certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). We have won numerous local and national awards for our client work and our culture, including Best Place to Work and Best Public Relations Firm. We have landed on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies three times and have been named an Inc. Power Partner and a PRNEWS Agency Elite Top 100 Honoree.
Kristi won the 2024 PRNEWS Top Women Award, the PRNEWS People of the Year Award in 2023 (Agency Innovators category) and in 2024 (Agency CEOs category) and has been named one of Minnesota’s 500 Most Powerful Business Leaders.
Let’s Work Together
Ready to amplify your brand’s story and stand out from the competition? Reach out today to partner with Media Minefield as your PR and social media agency. Let our expert team create customized strategies that deliver real results.