To say that Kassi Belz is driven might be an understatement.
Belz was born in Gainesville, Fla. Her mother just 17 when she was born, and both parents were just scraping by to provide food and shelter. New clothes were out of the question; Belz wore hand-me-downs, mostly threadbare with a few holes by the time she received them. Belz reflects, “I think that my career in PR started at age 5 when my parents divorced, trying to keep the peace between the two of them and organizing who would pick me up or take me someplace and planning events around their schedules.”
In school, Belz was a member of the student government and other extracurricular organizations, but it was her planning and organizational skills that set her apart from the crowd.
She attended the University of Florida — the first person in her family to attend college — and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a minor in journalism.
“I was always surrounded by strong women including my mother, aunts, and cousins who encouraged me and told me that I could be anything that I wanted.”
After college, Belz met her husband-to-be, a chef by trade, and after marriage realized that employment and growth opportunities in Gainesville weren’t great.
Hearing about the economic boom in Las Vegas, the two made a four-day trip to search and interview for jobs. That was 10 years ago and the two of them have never looked back.
Belz began her career with MassMedia as an account executive in 2005 and worked her way up the agency ranks to the director of client services and vice president of corporate communications. Recognizing her accomplishments within the industry, the Las Vegas chapter of the Public Relations Society of America named Belz “Public Relations Practitioner of the Year” in 2013.
“One of the things that I am most proud of is the success of MassMedia, not just about the growth and profits, but the quality of work as well,” Belz said. “In 2008, the firm was heavy with real estate development clients and that was the Industry hardest hit by the recession. I had already begun work to diversify our clientele into the health care industry, and it was because we were able to continue to build that client segment that we were able to survive as a business.” Under Belz’s leadership, the staff at MassMedia grew from eight to 32 employees and revenue grew from $2.7 million in 2009 to $6.4 million in 2014. In 2015, Belz was made a partner in the firm and named as its president.
Belz and her husband both believe in quality family time. He’s now a stay-at-home dad after working at Caesars; she describes herself as the quintessential soccer mom. When asked what drives her, Belz replied, “The desire to make my clients’ successful and to give my children a better start than I had growing up.”
— By Craig A. Ruark
