Next Gen 2010: Hollywood's Young Guns

“I was taught to not bring my clients into the trenches with me,” Kolstad says. With this approach to PR, it’s easy to see why heavyweights put their trust in Kolstad, the daughter of a wedding planner and a country club manager who says she fell in love with her craft as an intern. The wow factor was enough to sell her on a life in the industry, and in 2000, shortly after graduating from Pepperdine, she landed an internship at WKT PR, where she has worked her way up from receptionist to assistant to junior publicist, supporting Lisa Kasteler on clients like William Hurt. Since 2008, the Los Gatos, Calif., native has been vp at the Los Angeles-based firm, ushering Oscar-nominated actors including Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan through awards season. “I have an extraordinary life,” says the single-but-dating Kolstad, who in the past year has tried her hand at the trapeze, visited the tombs of ancient Egyptian royalty and enjoyed dinner with her favorite author, Michael Ondaatje. “If only my college self knew!”