Meet our Inkandescent Team

Hope Katz Gibbs is the founder of Inkandescent® Inc. — a PR + Publishing Co., which she launched in 2008. Hope and her team have represented hundreds of entrepreneurs, mostly women, using the 8 Steps to PR Success™ model she explained in her 2014 book, PR Rules: The Playbook – The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Supersize your Small Business.

From creating a stunning website (with the help of designer Michael Glenwood Gibbs and website developer Max Kukoy, who you will meet below), the Inkandescent team also creates powerful podcasts for InkandescentRadio.com (thanks to the dedication of producer Brandi Wilsker who removes every hiccup from the audio track), and educational videos published on Inkandescent.tv (with the skill of producer Nelson Benavides, founder of Beloved-Visuals.com).

The company also publishes two monthly magazines: InkandescentWomen.com and BeInkandescent.com, a health and wellness magazine that shines a light on the business of Mind, Body, Spirit, Soul, and Heart. Click here to learn more about Hope’s work as a journalist for The Washington Post, USA Today, Costco, the National Press Club, and more. Contact Hope by email.

Nelson Benavides has been the video producer of Inkandescent.tv since 2014. Born and raised in Springfield, VA, he is a graduate of the kinetic imaging program at Virginia Commonwealth University, the #1 public arts school in the country. Based in Richmond, VA, Nelson has produced hundreds of videos for Inkandescent™ Inc., ranging from a series of Kids’ Cooking Classes that has more than 80,000 views, to a show about Alexander Hamilton with nearly 35,000 views, and a ditty called Happy Feet featuring Irish dancers from the 60-city tour Rockin’ Road to Dublin. Nelson also creates videos for the company’s monthly shows: Truly Amazing Women TV and BeInkandescent Health & Wellness TV. Click here to watch his Sizzle Reel!

Max Kukoy is Inkandescent’s web guru. A Washington, D.C.-based freelance developer/designer since 2000, Max earned his master’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Oklahoma in 1993. He then started working in public health and environmental policy at nonprofits in Washington, DC. After a few years of policy work, he started working on his organization’s website, and that led to many more websites, many more clients, and a specialization that continues to grow every year. Max has been the chief website developer on InkandescentPR.com since first working with Hope Katz Gibbs in 2006 to launch her first website, www.HopeGibbs.com. He is an avid swimmer and faithful uncle. Click here to learn more about Max.

Michael Glenwood Gibbs is the art director of Inkandescent Inc. He designs the company’s websites and promotional materials and also creates illustrations for our business magazine, BeInkandescent.com. A freelance illustrator and designer since attending Pratt Institute as a photography and illustration major in the mid-70s, his award-winning artwork has appeared in Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Worth Magazine, Consumer Reports, Harvard Business Review, and publications for United Airlines, Verizon, IBM, Sears, American Airlines, CitiGroup, and Oracle. Check out Michael’s award-winning illustration here.

Anna Paige Gibbs has been a professional photographer and videographer since graudating from VCUarts in 2017. She says, “I’m a photographer & videographer based on the East Coast — but that won’t stop me from traveling to wherever you are, especially if you’re somewhere I’ve never been. I specialize in weddings, events and all kinds of portraiture, but there’s usually a camera glued to me regardless.”

Her love for photography began at age 9 when I received my first camera: a tiny Coolpix point-and-shoot which I adorned in stickers and used to catalog my entire world.

“This erupted into a passion for finding interesting ways to document the world around me, and led me to study art at the Corcoran College of Art + Design and earn a BFA in Photography and Film from VCUarts. I think of my practice as if I’m documenting the white between the brick; the in-between moments that make a story whole. My aim is to create imagery that reminds people how they felt in a particular moment, and how beautiful it was – imperfections and all. My approach to client sessions is intuitive, collaborative, and (I think!) fun – I love connecting with people through this work and never take it for granted. I use the best equipment available to me, and hold pre-shoot consultations with clients to get a better understanding of their vision and preferences.” Learn more about Anna and her work: AnnaGibbs.com