Carol Knight has been on the West Coast for 25 years, but she still considers herself a bit of an East Coast girl. She grew up in South Salem, NY, went to college at University of Miami and began her career in public relations in Boston where she was a spokesperson for TJ Maxx before leading the PR team for Parker Brothers/Hasbro.
She moved here by way of Seattle in 2003. “Born here, my husband always said San Diego was the best place to live. I was a quick convert when on the beach one January, my then 2-year-old and I watched whales breach! There is no place like San Diego and certainly no other community as special as Encinitas.”
She had a marketing communications firm that handled live events and trade shows, then covid hit, making her clients early casualties of the pandemic. After her son graduated from LCC she saw that the Encinitas Chamber was hiring and thought “what better way to get further ingrained in my community than to work at the Chamber & Visitors Center!”
Carol is very involved in the community – she is Vice President on the Olivenhain Town Council and is the Chamber’s Community Relations & Membership Director which means “I touch just about everything we do! From our big events and monthly networking groups to member relations, business & tourism initiatives — I even host our podcast, Chamber Chat Live!”
“We are a small but mighty team, here to support our businesses and connect them to the community with events like the upcoming Health & Wellness Expo. We also help build relationships through our monthly networking events. We are a nonprofit and depend on fundraisers and grants, and would love for you to get involved!”
“I love working for the Chamber because I get to know our members and residents – spending time with them brings me joy. I drop-in to say hi to businesses as often as I can – a quick hello, a handshake and a smile go a long way in strengthening our ties to the community.”
Coming up, the Chamber will have a Small Business Saturday initiative as well as a “Shop Local” holiday campaign. “Stop by our booth at the Encinitas Street Fair 11/19 – we would love to see you!”
Her perfect day in Encinitas?
“Begin the day with my husband hiking Spooks Canyon, hit the Cardiff Farmers Market and go to brunch at Union. Then we’d poke around the shops on 101 and grab a beer at Modern Times with friends. The evening would be chilling on our roof deck, watching the hot-air balloons float across Olivenhain.”
