40 Under 40 Alumni: Holly Silvestri and Kurt Ouchida

Holly Silvestri, a partner at the The Ferraro Group, Public Relations & Public Affairs company, poses Thursday July 12, 2018.

Holly Silvestri

Partner, the Ferraro Group, Public Relations & Public Affairs

Where were you when you received your 40 Under 40 award? I was owner of the Las Vegas-based PR firm Impress Communications, and received the honor in 2007.

Where are you now? I merged my former PR firm with the Ferraro Group almost 10 years ago, allowing us to have a statewide PR and public affairs agency. We also opened a Phoenix office. Our PR clients include the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, WGU Nevada, Smith’s Food & Drug, Nevada State Contractors Board and Nathan Adelson Hospice, and our public affairs clients include Nevada Resort Association, NV Energy, Cox Communications and Apple.

What has been your biggest accomplishment since you were awarded? The merger with the Ferraro Group was a marked moment in my life. It allowed our combined companies to have a larger presence in Nevada and expand our expertise and service areas for clients. And I’m lucky to have such a great business partner in Greg Ferraro.

What do you want to accomplish? To be honored on a Top 50 Under 50 list someday!

What have you learned the hard way? Several years ago I learned—along with thousands of others—about the death grip of a recession. It forced many businesses, including mine, to reinvent themselves. I’ve always been a hard worker and possess a strong work ethic, but these tough times forced us all to work even harder and be more creative to keep our heads above water.

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Kurt Ouchida, managing partner, BRAINTRUST

Kurt Ouchida

Managing Partner, BRAINTRUST

Where were you when you received your 40 Under 40 award? I received the award in 2003 when I was leading the communications department at the Venetian/Las Vegas Sands, Inc.

Where are you now? I am managing partner at BRAINTRUST, an integrated, full-service branding and digital marketing agency-—a title I’ve held for the past 12 years with my business partner, Michael Coldwell.

Biggest accomplishment since you were awarded? Starting BRAINTRUST with Michael Coldwell in 2006. Together, we’ve turned the ideas, drive, and competitive nature of two corporate marketing executives into a thriving digital marketing and rebranding agency with clients from coast to coast, institutional knowledge of numerous business sectors, 42 team members and offices in Las Vegas and New York City.

What do you want to accomplish? I’d like to continue to develop innovative and measurable ways to help clients exceed their financial goals and growth objectives, all while balancing my role as a father, husband, son, den leader, obstacle course racer, and aspiring World War II historian.

If you ran Las Vegas, what’s the first thing you would do? By collaborating with health care providers, insurers and web-based systems, I would issue wearable, health monitoring technologies to our residents to keep them actively moving and exercising, gauging their sleep patterns and ensuring proper intake of food and water.This approach to a healthy lifestyle would elevate Southern Nevada as a leader in active wellness through physical and mental fitness and empower our residents to earn credits that could be redeemed for healthy cuisine, programs, health care/medical cost reductions...and hopefully, longevity.

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This story originally appeared in the Las Vegas Weekly.

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