Joice Truban Curry

Joice Truban Curry is President and CEO of c3 Communications, Inc. (c3), the San Diego public relations and special events firm she founded on January 3, 2000. She grew c3 from a one-person shop into one of San Diego's most respected boutique agencies, built on a belief that hasn't changed since day one: public relations should be personal, passionate and impactful. Before launching c3, Joice served the California State Assembly as a field and press representative, then worked as the media relations director and national spokesperson for Children's Hospital and Health Center San Diego, now Rady Children's Health. She's a graduate of San Diego State University and brings 30 years of public relations and media relations experience to every client relationship.

Media Relations

Media relations is where it all started for Joice, it’s her passion. It's still where she spends most of her day. In San Diego, when someone needs a story picked up, colleagues and clients know Joice is the one to call and she is the go-to person for reporters too. She really practices the "relations" part of media relations. She picks up the phone, gets to know reporters and producers as people, and is a resource to them even when she doesn't have a client that's the right fit, pointing them toward someone or something else that might be. She makes things easy on the media side too, getting her clients ready before they sit down with a reporter or step in front of a camera, and giving the reporter or station everything they need ahead of any interview. That work has meant placing stories directly with outlets across Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC, from San Diego to markets nationwide, from Chevy Chase, MD through South Florida to Highlands Ranch, CO, on behalf of clients including Classic Residence by Hyatt, now Vi. Her media relations approach over the years has yielded placing stories in top US markets and on national programs.

Native American and Cultural Partnerships

Joice has represented Native American-owned brands and organizations, including N8iV Beauty, the first and only Native American beauty brand in the industry, Native Star, San Diego's first Native-owned business in the downtown San Diego Gaslamp, and EC Gallery, owned by Native American entrepreneur Ruth-Ann Thorn. She also helped launched Rincon Reservation Road Brewery, the first Native American beer made on a Native reservation, in Southern California.

Joice has worked with Ruth-Ann for more than 20 years, helping build her into a brand in her own right. This kind of work calls for more than good pitching. It calls for genuine cultural awareness and respect and making sure a client's heritage and story come through accurately rather than just packaged for media attention. She understands how to work with tribes.

Entertainment and Touring Productions

Joice has spent years working in entertainment and live event promotions, one of the three cornerstones c3 Communications, Inc. was built on when she founded it in 2000. It's the piece of the business she built through her own media relations work, and over more than 30 years she's turned it into what she's most known for. That work spans national touring productions like Cirque du Soleil, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live, Disney on Ice®, Ringling Bros.®, The Miami International Boat Show as well as festivals, expositions and regional/local community theatre. She knows how to build a media strategy around selling tickets and turns touring shows into news that media covers. She draws her passion for working on entertainment and touring productions from being a professional performer herself - getting her Actors Equity Card® at the age of 17. For Joice, it always comes back to two simple measures: butts in seats and bringing joy to an audience.

Crisis Communications

As media relations director and national spokesperson for Children's Hospital and Health Center San Diego (one of the Top 10 Hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report), Joice was put in front of national media on sensitive, high-stakes stories almost daily, and she spent years handling the kind of fast-moving, high-pressure situations that come with a nationally renowned hospital in the public eye. She's led companies through natural disasters (outages, floods & fires), corporate scandals, reputation and stakeholder disgraces, health scares, closings, layoffs, and recessions. Her experience shapes how she handles a crisis head-on: get ahead of the story, tell the truth clearly, and protect the trust already built with stakeholders, media and community before a hard moment ever arrives. Crisis Communication is an area Joice really enjoys and thrives on helping organizations mitigate regardless of the tough situation that is presented.

Franchise and Multi-Unit Brand Communications

Joice brings franchise experience from both sides of the business. She led the media launch of Massage Envy's entry into the San Diego market and has represented franchise brands including European Wax Center, Amazing Lash and ScentHound, among others. She has also owned and operated two franchise locations herself, giving her a firsthand understanding of what franchise operators navigate with their corporate headquarters and what they actually need from a PR partner.

Nonprofit and Community Organizations

Joice has represented nonprofit organizations across San Diego for more than 30 years, including the San Diego Police Foundation, San Diego Fire & Rescue Foundation, YMCA of San Diego County, San Diego Council on Literacy and Meals-on-Wheels Greater San Diego, along with causes like the YWCA's domestic violence awareness week. Her reach goes beyond San Diego too. She's the direct point of contact for the San Diego Seniors Community Foundation, whose elder fraud prevention work, she helped grow, has expanded across Southern California and soon, nation-wide. She helped bring Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom's work restoring music education in fire-affected Los Angeles schools. Many of these organizations, and others, have stayed with c3 as their PR agency for years, but the clearest sign of how Joice feels about non-profit work is the one she doesn't bill for. Since day one, c3 has always taken on one non-profit a year and donates PR services and strategic counsel.

Credentials and Recognition

Joice's work has earned more than 25 Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) awards, including three national Silver Anvils, the highest honor in the field. She is a two-time past president of PRSA San Diego and past chair of the national PRSA Honors and Awards Committee. She was named Public Relations Professional of the Year and was recently recognized among San Diego Metro Magazine's Women of Influence and Top Marketing Executives, and as a Visionary in Philanthropy by the Salvation Army.

Beyond the Agency

Outside of c3, Joice gives her time to causes she believes in, including The Salvation Army and the Alzheimer's Association in honor of her parents. She got her start in musical theatre at a young age, before moving into public relations, and she still performs in productions today.