MICHELLE LEHMANN
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Michelle is the Founder and President of MLC. With 20 years of experience, Michelle has been a leading PR and marketing executive, developing and executing the marketing strategies for numerous nationally and internationally known companies. Prior to starting her own firm in 2011, she was the PR and Marketing Director for restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group for nearly a decade; the Director of Publicity for Zagat from 2000-2003; Senior Publicist for the American Museum of Natural History in 1999; Associate Vice President at Rubenstein Associates from 1996-1999; and also worked at Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners and The Rowland Company. Michelle is a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communications, and lives in NYC with her husband and two children.
KATY FOLEY
VICE PRESIDENT
Katy joined MLC as Account Director in December 2011. She previously worked with Michelle as Senior Account Manager at Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. Katy knew she wanted to work in the culinary industry after spending two years abroad–one year teaching English in France’s Loire Valley on a Fulbright grant (spending the weekends eating her way around Europe), and one year in Sydney, Australia where she fell in love with the local restaurant scene. Katy has worked in several areas of new media: assisting the Chairman/CEO of global production company, Radical Media; managing talent relations at Tribeca Film Festival; and assisting the CEO of boutique publishing house, Callaway Arts & Entertainment, where she worked on Madonna’s children’s book series and David Kirk’s hugely popular Miss Spider multimedia series. Katy earned a BA in English and Creative Writing from Colgate University, and attended the Columbia Publishing Course. She volunteers for Share Our Strength as co-chair of Taste of the Nation NYC, the city’s premiere tasting benefit dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America. A native of Seattle, Katy resides in Manhattan with her husband and son.
ALLISON LANK
Account Executive
Alli joined the MLC team as an account executive in May 2017. Prior to joining MLC, Alli worked in public relations at Nadine Johnson & Associates in NYC, where she worked with international architecture, design and lifestyle clients. A native Marylander and graduate of University of Virginia, she now resides in Alphabet City, a good base for her to explore the city's restaurant scene. Her passion for adventurous eating began early when she learned to pick Chesapeake blue crab as a child and she hasn't looked back since.
Marissa Paiano
ASSISTANT ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Marissa joined the MLC team as an Account Coordinator in July 2017. A recent graduate of the University of Maryland where she majored in journalism, Marissa brings extensive internship experience with a boutique fashion public relations firm in NYC, in the U.S. House of Representatives and Connecticut State Government, and with several media companies including ESPN, DC Magazine, and WTOP News Radio in Washington D.C. Growing up in an Italian family, Marissa learned to make homemade pasta at a young age but doubts she’ll ever master the secret of making a red sauce equal to her mother's. Now living in Midtown Manhattan, when she is not tasting her way through the city, she is an avid runner and fitness enthusiast.
