Chryssa I. Zizos,
Founder and President
Chryssa Zizos is the president and founder of Live Wire Media Relations, LLC, a public relations firm ranked among Washington, D.C.’s top 25 for revenue growth. Founded in 1998, Live Wire grew to approximately $2 million by 2001 and today serves diverse business organizations, Fortune 100 executives and elected officials.

Zizos’ business acumen reaches beyond public relations and into client board rooms, where she facilitates and participates in strategic planning with clients ranging from technology startups to global leaders including The Carlyle Group, Raytheon, Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Bechtel Corporation. Additionally, Zizos’ expertise in branding and business development is the foundation on which Live Wire’s successful coaching programs in media, persuasive selling, presentation skills and leadership communications are built.

Before the age of 25, Zizos served two congressional appointments under the direction of U.S. Congressman Louis Stokes (D-OH) as a Congressional Page with the U.S. House of Representatives and then with the Bureau of International Relations for the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea. Her NCAA career as a student athlete paved the way for her early journalism career, in which she wrote for Sports Illustrated, Shape Magazine, and Women’s Sports & Fitness.

Her career in strategic media relations was encouraged by Arnold Schwarzenegger, after Zizos worked for the then-Chairman of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. During that stint, Zizos helped Schwarzenegger usher in one of the most productive eras for public/private collaboration on physical fitness programs and initiatives. She then joined industry powerhouses Ketchum and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.

Throughout her career, Zizos has been at the epicenter of some of the country’s most recognizable public affairs campaigns, including: the merger of MCI-WorldCom; Girl Power, the national award-winning public education campaign established to raise young girls’ self-esteem; and the launch of the influential Princeton Project on National Security led by today’s Director of Policy Planning under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter. Zizos has also provided strategic counsel to such titans of industry as the executive leadership team at The Carlyle Group, and has earned the confidence of the Dean of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

More recently, in the wake of Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, Zizos provided guidance and counsel to the president of Bechtel Corporation’s nuclear power division in preparation for briefings with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the White House.

Based on her unique drive, passion, business savvy and contributions to the greater Washington business community, Zizos has been identified by the Washington Business Journal as a “40 Under 40” honoree, as well as a “Woman Who Means Business.”

Zizos is a member of the advisory board for Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Business and Technology and funds two scholarship endowments for students pursuing degrees and careers in journalism. She was also selected as EKU’s 2004 Distinguished Alumna. Zizos is an adjunct professor at American University as well as George Mason University, where she also served as the chairperson of the advisory board for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Zizos earned a master’s degree in public communication with an emphasis in crisis management from American University and holds a B.A. in journalism and business communications management from the Eastern Kentucky University.