Dusti Reimer, ‘05
Although Dusti Reimer is Iowa born and raised, she said Colorado has always felt more like home.
Reimer arrived in Colorado over 15 years ago when she followed Nicholas, her high school sweetheart and husband to be, to the Rocky Mountains. She attended Colorado Mountain College for two years before transferring to Mesa where she pursued a mass communication degree and earned a spot on the Cross Country Team.
It was at CMU that she discovered her passion for public relations (PR) and nonprofit work through her practicum and internship. The knowledge she gleaned from those experiences, in addition to her education, helped Reimer seamlessly transition into the workforce.
Reimer said she’s always had a heart for nonprofit work, which steered her toward working for a number of nonprofits, including the American Cancer Society, after she graduated.
“I took some time off with my first two kids, but when they got older, I got a position at Powderhorn Mountain Resort and I loved it,” she said. “Things were going really well, then I found out I was pregnant with my third.”
After careful consideration, Reimer left Powderhorn and took on some contract business that led her to start her own company — Elevate PR and Marketing.
“It’s allowed me to be more flexible and be really involved in the community,” she said.
Last year, Reimer founded a nonprofit of her own — Experience Education Foundation. Through her nonprofit she strives to provide professional development on the West Slope including Initiate, a two-day marketing and communications conference held last February.
“It was really cool because a lot of the speakers were people we were already connected to the community, and some of them are alums from CMU who have gone on to do some great things in their careers,” said Reimer.
Reimer said plans are underway for Initiate 2020.
“Putting on an event of that size and organizing and pulling together speakers, working with a team and a committee has been my greatest achievement at this point,” she said. “It may be top of mind but I think that it’s because everything else I’ve done has always been for another organization. This is something I started and I walked from start to finish. •