Stacy Ames has been in charge of Kitsap Mall marketing for four years, and has been in the industry for a decade. She moved to Kitsap with a company transfer after working in Reno, and loves the flexibility and the variety her job affords her. Ames “fell into marketing” after changing majors a few times in college, and recently became a certified marketing director thought the International Council of Shopping Centers, after an intense year-long course of studies and tests.

Ames has an unusual public relations position — she has 110 retailers to market and come up with programs and promotions that benefit the wide variety of merchants as well as cater to different public interests. Girls’ night out, kids birthday club, mall walkers, a Harley Davidson show — these are the types of events Ames organizes to attract people of different tastes and ages to the mall. “My job is different every day,” said Ames, who was selected Member of the Year in 2002 by the Silverdale Chamber of Commerce.

Marie Campanale moved to the Kitsap area nine years ago from California and immediately proceeded to fill a need she saw: producing an area dining guide. Now in its 10th year, Dining Plus is the bible of local dining used by newcomers and old timers alike. Produced once a year, the guide is only one aspect of Campanale Design & Advertising — a firm that caters to various small businesses with services in graphic design and advertising. Campanale worked for advertising agencies and publications for 25 years, but enjoys the one-on-one contact, creative process and decision making as an independent designer.

“I like coming up with the creative message and selling a company’s services, ” she said. To sell those services, she has to develop a marketing strategy and build an identity that is best for each company. “It’s fun to watch a small business take off,” she said. As a small business owner herself, Campanale knows the challenges first hand, and has built her success on getting to know her own clients — which is why she keeps her customer base local.

Bonnie McDade, marketing director at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino since October, has been involved with all aspects of public relations. A published author of several books; former publisher, public relations agency owner, sales agent, and newspaper editor, McDade says ink runs in her blood. “Once you get ink in your veins, you can’t get away from it,” she said. She has also shared her expertise and passion by teaching high school and at University of Washington.

Born in Bremerton, she returned to her old stomping grounds to work with the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council, and has served on a variety of local boards. “What I really enjoy is having a project come together and be a success,” she said. The latest success recently brought the first major headliner to Clearwater: ‘50s teen idol Frankie Avalon. “It was a wonderful experience,” she said. “And we all helped put it together.” The seasoned pro says marketing is only a small aspect of promoting a company, with public relations and customer service being just as important.

Patricia Graf-Hoke of Graf-Hoke, Inc. has owned a marketing and communications firm for 25 years. Owning her first business at age 18, Graf-Hoke had never seized being an entrepreneur. After publishing a newspaper in Pioneer Square, at age she 26 set out to open her own advertising agency.

Prior to moving her offices to Kitsap County, she was CEO of Graf-Hoke/Medical Marketing, Inc., in Seattle, a 15-person strategic marketing company providing services to the health care industry. But after commuting from their 20-acre farm to Seattle, she and husband Bill, also a creative type, decided to work closer to home.

Graf-Hoke’s list of clients includes Sound Publishing, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, City of Bremerton, Kitsap Emergency Management, Kitsap Regional Library, Encore Communities and other heavyweights. She likes to have control of her creative projects — so she writes, designs and photographs.

Although she became a graphic designer long before computers were around, Graf-Hoke was never intimidated by new technology and the need to learn and keep up: She has boldly ventured into the world of Web design as well. “I’ve taught myself to do everything,” she said. “That gives me control of my work, and I like clients who give me the creative freedom.”

Shannon Childs, marketing director at Kitsap Bank since December, found a different route to the industry. After retiring as a 20-year investment broker in the ’90s, she got an offer she couldn’t resist: help Congressman Rick White open up an office in Seattle and help with his campaign. Of course, it did involve coming out of retirement — and Childs has been unretired ever since. That’s because after four years of being in the public affairs arena, she couldn’t resist a new challenge — marketing for a technology company.

Although at Kitsap Bank she is closer to the financial field she knew so well, what enticed her to the job was yet a new challenge. As the Kitsap Bank gets ready to celebrate its centennial in 2008, Childs embraced what she calls the “opportunity of a lifetime.”

“Here is a 95-year-old institution, founded in Port Orchard, coming up to a centennial, and the opportunity to work with a company with such rich heritage — how often can you get to do that?” she said.

As a former “happy retiree,” she thinks about it occasionally, but is probably too busy to ponder it for too long: When not working, she is involved in other activities, currently as the chair of the 23rd legislative district’s re-election campaign for President Bush. Childs did manage to get one thing before returning to work — a “retirement home” she and her husband built on Bainbridge Island.