Maurisa Potts’ award shelf is getting crowded.
Earlier this month, the founder and CEO of the Old Town-based Spotted MP marketing firm was named to the 2026 Virginia Black Leaders list by Virginia Business magazine. The award is the latest in a string of honors for Potts, who last fall was named to the PR Net 100 2025, a recognition for the top-performing firms in the world of public relations and well as MarComms Most Influential by the same outlet.
“It was very special to be recognized by the editors of Virginia Business,” Potts said. “It’s in my home state, and it took a lot of hard work, a lot of relationship building.”
Potts’ list of clientele is extensive, and she wants to continue growing it.
She and a team of two employees work with dozens of organizations, nonprofits, and community groups from their office space at ALX Community on the Old Town waterfront. Their local clients include the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, the Carlyle Council, the Del Ray Business Association, the Eisenhower Partnership, the Old Town Business Association, the Campagna Center, the Old Town Boutique District and the Old Town Festival of Speed & Style.
Getting started
Potts, the youngest of six siblings, grew up in Vienna and attended James Madison High School. She wanted to take the fashion world by storm, later earning a degree in liberal arts with a focus on marketing communications from Virginia Tech.
In the mid-1990s, she and her mother moved to Alexandria.
Incidentally, Potts worked at Nordstrom in Tysons Corner Center as a personal shopper from high school through her college years.
“I grew up in that mall and know it inside and out,” Potts said. “It’s a nice full-circle moment. I grew up in that mall, and now I represent it.”
After college, Potts spent more than a decade working for marketing firms. She was the senior marketing communications director for the Crystal City Business Improvement District — experience that she is currently using to write the Ballston BID’s strategic plan.
Alexandria business owners have repeatedly rejected BID proposals over the years. Potts thinks several neighborhoods, including Old Town, could benefit from the additional marketing that a BID provides.
“I do see strong potential for BID futures in other parts of Alexandria, particularly in the West End and Eisenhower,” Potts said. “As those areas continue to evolve into more defined community and commercial districts, the framework and appetite for a BID may become more attainable and strategically aligned. The key is timing, alignment and a shared vision for what the district wants.”
Potts left behind a job with Crystal City BID, just before the Great Recession. She said she went on maternity leave to give birth to her son, and never returned.
“When you’re in corporate, there comes sometimes a point in time where you feel like you’re just maintaining,” she said. “I decided to do a life change, to go out on my own in a very, very challenging time when folks told me this was the craziest thing to do.”
Potts landed her first client four days after starting her own business and was soon inundated with freelance work. She initially opted to save money instead of employing a full-on communications team.
Today, Potts said much of her work is in strategic marketing, as well as crisis communications, and that a personal touch sets her apart. Her dream gig is to do PR for the Washington Commanders.
“My success comes down to reputation and relationships,” she said. “I have amazing relationships with journalists, and if we need to have tough conversations, we will. We mutually respect each other. Relationships are really currency, because you need to get the word out. You need someone to understand your client’s position.”
Expanding operations
Potts hopes to continue expanding her reach out beyond the D.C. area.
“I have been very intentional about expanding outside the DMV,” Potts said. “I made that goal almost two years ago.”
So far, the expansion has led to contracts with New York City-based restaurant La Grande Boucherie and Los Angeles-based nonprofit In a Perfect World. With the latter, Potts recently did PR for the organization’s 20-year anniversary gala that honored Academy Award-winning actor Samuel L. Jackson.
Potts has some advice for aspiring marketing professionals.
“Identify the industries that give you fire in your belly,” Potts said. “Then, identify the companies that speak to your personal values. You also have to bet on yourself, and never let anyone dim your sparkle, girls.”
She also recommends writing personal notes.
“You’d be amazed at how I’ve built relationships and new business by just writing a simple thank-you note,” she said. “There have been several times, because of a handwritten thank-you note, that I’ve gotten a significant piece of business. On the journalist side, there are journalists that I have amazing relationships with, because I wrote them a handwritten thank-you note.”
Potts really does have an award shelf in her home office.
“My awards have all come kind of on top of each other,” she said. “It’s wild. You know, I’ve been here a while. I guess people are now finally waking up, and it feels good to be out front.”
