Judi Wax

“Public relations is about building relationships. Just like personal relationships, when it comes to public relationships, everything you do or say matters.”

Prior to joining LGA in 2006, Judi Wax had more than two decades in public relations, primarily at Chicago agencies. Judi provides vision and leadership for LGA’s award-winning public relations department and has led successful brand-building programs for hundreds of clients. She also has broad experience in crisis communications, merger and acquisition communications and media training.

Before joining LGA, Judi was a senior vice president / deputy general manager in Chicago at Edelman, the world’s largest independent PR firm. She also held executive positions at several other leading agencies in the Midwest and is a former feature writer for the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald, the largest suburban daily in the Chicago area.

Judi has a special affinity for marketing to women and understands the value of building collaborative relationships between her clients and third-party advocates for her clients’ brands. At various agencies, Judi connected former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre with Snapper lawn mowers; linked country singer Amy Grant with Land O’Lakes Butter; put Girlfriends’ Guide author Vicki Iovine together with Kimberly-Clark Pull-Ups; helped Cajun Chef John Folse promote Delta Pride Catfish; facilitated a partnership between the National Headache Foundation and Pharmacia; and used renowned endocrinologist Nelson B. Watts, MD, to spread the word about osteoporosis for the American Association for Clinical Endocrinologists.

Judi is a 2009 Charlotte Business Journal Women in Business Achievement Award winner. She serves on the board for Hospice and Palliative Care Charlotte Region and is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). She has earned industry awards from PRSA, Publicity Club of Chicago, the International Association of Business Communicators and the Sales and Marketing Executives of Chicago. She also is a former Guest Editor for Mademoiselle magazine.

From 1993 to 1995 Judi and her chef-husband Saul owned a fine dining restaurant in the Chicago area where she fine-tuned her relationship-building skills by managing the front of the house.