AOR - Key Persons
Alex is the magic behind the curtain for the AOR team and acts as a bridge between client services and the creative team. She helps keep projects on track and coordinates internal resources, doing her darndest to make all her people happy.
A proud Nebraskan, Red Rocks lover, and world-class hugger, Alex graduated from Colorado State University with a BS in Business Administration and soon after started her career at AOR. Her specialties include Workamajig magic, time and budget management, and dog sitting for all the AORian pups.
Job Titles:
- Director of Creative & Digital, Partner
Hailing from the great state of Iowa, Alyssa leads our team of creatives, strategists, and developers. With 10+ years of experience in marketing and advertising, her passion lies in building brands from the ground up and bringing them to life by pairing smart creative with innovative, long term marketing strategies. Over the years Alyssa has worn a lot of hats, from front-end developer to designer to digital strategist, but started her career studying both Design and Business at the University of Iowa and loves that her role is a mix between the two.
She's addicted to podcasts, runs off insane amounts of coffee, and finds nothing more thrilling than seeing the world and learning about its places and its people. When not at work, Alyssa strives to strike the right balance of mountain and city life with her husband, two kids and two dogs.
Job Titles:
- Digital Marketing Specialist
Ana is in charge of the placement, strategy, and tracking of digital advertising efforts for our clients. After years specializing in data analytics and website management, Ana has honed in on her passion for data reporting and for communicating nitty-gritty details into takeaways that clients can easily understand.
Originally from Mexico, Ana has a can-do spirit to try new things and discover new places. Outside of work, you can find Ana coaching toddler sports, playing tennis and volleyball, or doing anything to stay outside to enjoy the Colorado weather with her family!
Ansley started her career journey as a Tourism Management major at the University of South Carolina. After several internship opportunities revolving around conference planning and in-house marketing, she took her skills and made the big move from Charlotte, NC to Colorado. She grew in her love for account and project management after having worked for a full-service agency in Colorado Springs. Clients will benefit from her experience working with several different industries such as tourism/hospitality, utilities, municipalities, and B2B. As an Account Coordinator with AOR, she has a desire to do great work and a drive to make her clients as happy as possible.
When she isn't managing the accounts and projects of multiple clients, you will find her out at a concert or the movies, taking leisure hikes in the Colorado mountains, road-tripping, enjoying the sun at cook-outs, playing the guitar, or enjoying happy hours with friends.
Blake keeps projects running smoothly between the client and AOR's internal team. From the start of a project through launching deliverables, he will keep you on a tight timeline and help identify additional marketing needs.
A native of Nebraska with 10 years of both agency side and internal marketing experience, Blake has worked on numerous accounts ranging from the hospitality industry to higher education. He holds a Bachelors of Journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Outside of office hours, Blake loves skiing, urban exploring, Star Wars, a solid cheese board, Sunday afternoons, and finding the perfect spot for his hammock or reorganizing the Container Store.
With over 4 years of web and software experience, Cameron develops functional and innovative sites for our clients. After earning his bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from California State University-San Marcos, he went on to graduate with a certificate from a Full-Stack Technical Bootcamp.
Hailing from the nonprofit world, Chelsea lived and worked abroad and in a variety of different fields before finding her love for HR and people operations at AOR. Her array of experiences, deep love of people, knack for logistics, and love of juggling make her great at what she does. She works to keep the agency and its most valuable asset - its employees - healthy, safe, inclusive, and equitable; ultimately working to weave AOR's core values into every aspect of agency life and create a thriving culture.
When not at work you can find Chelsea momming, attempting to organize everything (though rarely succeeding), boogieing to some live music, soaking up the mountain air, or exploring Denver on bike or foot. She is always on the hunt for a patio in the sun!
For the last twenty years, Cristina has been working directly with our clients and vendor teams to create stunning print production projects and slay timelines. Using her incredible skills in all kinds of print platforms - and her Art degree form Colorado State University - Cristina specializes in Prepress design, touch-ups, and ad layouts, Adobe Creative Suite, and making people look at pics of kids, grandchild and dogs, to which we happily oblige.
As a staple in our print department and agency, Cristina is known for sharing her infectious positivity, love for all animals, and helping all AOR employees and clients navigate the printing process with ease.
Dan is our go-to guy for all things websites and everything related to coding - from perfecting our in-house website development workflow to coding and launching client projects. Plus he's really good at developing in PHP, Javascript, SCSS, and WordPress, as well as launching websites, domain management, server administration, IT, and workflow.
Dan also has vast experience in freelance, startup, and agency web design and development and holds a B.S. in Business Information Technology from Virginia Tech. He loves playing guitar and tennis, watching college football and MLB, playing video games, and exploring the food/music scene in Austin, where he lives.
Danyel may be our Principal, but she wears so many other hats you'd be hard pressed to define her role on a business card. She ensures the success of the entire agency, in part by acting as the crux of the Creative Department. She also carries out the modest task of making the strategic and cultural decisions that propel the agency forward.
Danyel's client-focused, entrepreneurial spirit has spanned almost twenty years. She started working on the client-side at AOR over 10 years ago, and now focuses on innovation and business strategy. She studied Design at the University of Evansville and Harlaxton College in Grantham, England, as well as Interior Design at the Colorado Institute of Art. Outside of the AOR walls, Danyel can be found off-roading through the high country on anything with a motor and 2+ wheels, traveling to distant lands, hanging out with her 3 dogs, 5 chickens, and 2 kids, and being a damn fine cook and mixologist.
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance and Operations
- Partner
Dave, our Master of Coin, is in charge of all things financial at AOR. He also manages our payroll and client billing process. So we are all very, very nice to him.
Dave has over 11 years of Finance and Operations experience in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. He holds a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Operations Management from Ohio State University. His love for number crunching is only rivaled by his passion for playing music. As a music producer and boss record spinner, Dave moonlights as a professional party starter all over Denver. Rock on!
Job Titles:
- Society - past Board Member
Derek is the "O Captain! My Captain!" aboard the AOR vessel. In addition to applying his signature to a staggering sheaf of documents, Derek steers the vision, resources, and daily management of AOR. He's also the main point of contact between our investors and executives.
Derek is an entrepreneur with years of financial and operational experience. He holds an MBA from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.
When he's not at work, you can find him working at home, fly fishing at his cabin, decorating his bunker and taking wilderness survival classes.
As a Project Manager, Dylan prioritizes creating carefully thought-out project timelines and bringing them through execution, all while staying on budget. She has a knack for keeping everything (and everyone) organized in all phases of the project lifecycle and providing exceptional risk management along the way. With a digital project management background, Dylan is well immersed in website development for lead generation and eCommerce web builds. She also has experience in account management working with B2B, B2C, technology solutions, real estate, and many other industries.
Like many current Colorado residents, Dylan hails from different shores and comes to our sunny state by way of California. She spent her whole life living everywhere from her Northern CA hometown Rocklin, the beaches of Orange County, the breezy Bay, and beyond. Now as a Denverite, Dylan loves how the liveliness of our city makes everyday feel like Saturday, and is happy to call the Mile High City her new home.
Job Titles:
- Director of Client Services
- Partner
- Leader of the Client Services Department
As the fearless leader of the Client Services department at AOR, Elena works closely with both our new business and account teams to establish relationships and onboard our clients effectively into the agency and stays involved every step of the way to ensure needs are being met and smiles are put on faces.
Lucky for us, Elena is one of our long-standing employees and has been on the AOR team since 2009 and has continually led the way in building brand and marketing campaign strategies for our clients. She holds a B.A. in Advertising and Graphic Communications from Florida State University, which is where her love for spending time in the sun flourished. Thankfully, Denver's 360 days of sunshine rivals Tallahassee and Elena can continue to enjoy her favorite outdoor activities, like socializing with friends and family, hanging out with her son, and working on house projects.
Job Titles:
- Young Alumni Committee Founding Member & past Co - Chair
Jeannie is a longtime Denverite who is passionate about creating client relationships and helping clients achieve business goals through beautiful work. With over a decade of experience on both the client and agency side, Jeannie has worked with many organizations in industries such as hospitality and tourism, nonprofits, neighborhood advocacy, construction development, and high-tech B2B industries.
Jeannie holds a B.S. in Public Relations from Syracuse University and an AOR-appointed certification in top Denver trivia knowledge. She also loves momming, skiing, yoga-ing, reading, camping, traveling, cooking, entertaining, and gardening.
Kellie is what you call a practical dreamer. She balances her love of bold, exciting visuals with a sensible, strategic approach. With over 10 years of marketing and advertising experience, she knows how to think ahead of the problem that's in front of her to solve for the bigger picture. Her optimism and love of all things clever means each project that passes her way is impactful, memorable and well-crafted.
Outside of work, Kellie is always in search of a good time - something she credits back to her Louisiana roots. Whether that's booking a fun trip, checking out a new dinner spot, having board game nights with friends, attending a live show or hot gluing a costume together… she's always looking for an excuse to have fun!
Job Titles:
- Digital Director
- Member of Our Digital Team
Kelsey is an experienced member of our digital team and an integral leader of strategy for our clients. She is skilled in all aspects of digital and puts the human experience at the center of everything she does.
Kelsey specializes in UX, strategic planning, spreadsheets, and as a native of Baltimore, sarcasm. She is responsible for developing and overseeing data driven strategies to ensure creative solutions that satisfy both our clients and their users.
Like most AORians, Kelsey's favorite things include her dogs, Kota and Pickles, as well as, rosé, rooftop brunches, soft-shell crab, and cliché outdoor activities. Unlike some of us, she also loves spreadsheets.
Matt is the face of AOR. Which means we have a face that's equal parts thoughtful and joyful - if those things do indeed have a look. Our clients love Matt for his vast experience and contagious energy. But we love Matt for his ability to throw fuel on the flames of passion, win new business, and delight our current client partners, all while wearing the finest footwear in the business. And because Matt is adept at cracking whips, he is able to lead us to our cultural and financial goals with a firm awareness of our market and competitive landscape.
Prior to his 25+ years of agency, sales, marketing, and client satisfaction experience, Matt received a B.A. in Economics and French from Lake Forest College. When he's not guiding the AOR ship to agency success, he makes time for his favorite things: travel, music, ballroom dancing, and the perfect martini.
Michael has a passion for developing WordPress websites in new, creative ways, while focusing on efficient workflows and bringing websites to life through animation.
Originally from Buffalo, NY, Michael has a lifelong interest in technology. He's gained his knowledge from freelance work, agency experience, and his time at a fully immersive web development program in Boulder. He brings back- and front-end knowledge, as well as problem-solving skills to help tackle new problems every day. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration, an A.S. in Information Technology, and a certificate from a Full-Stack Technical Bootcamp.
Along with exploring Colorado's National Parks with his dogs Louie and Knox, Michael is an exercise enthusiast and lover of all games involving a paddle, including ping pong, tennis, pickleball, and kayaking.
With over 30 years experience in the printing industry, Mike has the capability to oversee any print project from start to completion with caution, attentiveness, and perfection. Our clients know him for his worry-free strategy. We know him for his incredible ability to organize, control, and monitor the flow of printed material in AOR's own in-house printing facility.
Mike received his B.S. in Business Administration from Colorado State University with a specialization in Accounting. When he isn't busy running all models and sizes of offset and digital Printing Presses or displaying his skills with bindery and finishing equipment, Mike enjoys playing in a rock band, spending time with his rescue dog, and riding his motorcycle.
Savanna is always in search of a good story. Her desire to tell the tales of the world led her to pursue a degree in Film Studies from The University of North Carolina Wilmington. There, she learned how to use words and other mediums of visual storytelling to move people. She drew inspiration from her favorite screenwriters and directors as she embarked on a career in marketing and content creation. Her experience as a writer, videographer, and photographer, for new home builders, non-profits, and financial services companies, has equipped her with the tools necessary to help tell your story.
As a Philadelphia native, leaving the East Coast was hard, but her dream was always to live in the beautiful state of Colorado. When she isn't writing, you will most likely find Savanna in the middle of the woods backpacking, on the slopes with her board, or adventuring with her dogs, Moony and Kyra. Her other favorite things include her cat Weasley, all things Australia, watching and talking about movies, hiking, exploring national parks, rugby, board games, scuba diving, sailing, and listening to vinyl.
For more than 18 years Canadian born Steve John has created and written authentic stories which have turned into award winning work for Wal-Mart, John Deere, The Climate Corporation, Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL), 12 Foot Beard Whiskey, AT&T and others. A graduate of the Creative Circus ad school in Atlanta, Steve started as a copywriter working on Hershey's and since then has worked on everything from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups.
As a Creative Director, Steve has proven experience developing a diverse creative culture which empowers and motivates teams while striving to build strong and lasting client relationships. Steve seeks to create a culture that encourages creatives to ask the all-important question of "why" while not being afraid to fail in search of the answer. Steve also created, produced and hosted the 12 Foot Beardcast, a podcast that was tied to the spirits brand he created, "12 Foot Beard Whiskey". This podcast ran for 12 episodes and highlighted guests of integrity and character from all walks of life - he even hosted a live episode at the Monocle Bar in Saint Louis.
When Steve isn't at the office he's working feverishly as the owner, writer and artist on his own publishing company: Ichabod Oldbuck Press.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Creative Director
Tom is what happens when an artist, writer, and musician battle it out in a mental steel cage match for vocational supremacy. After vacillating between majors in art and English-and scratching his musical itch playing in bands along the shore of his native New Jersey-Tom discovered advertising and design and immediately knew he'd found his calling. He has since been making brands and campaigns memorable and meaningful for far longer than he cares to think about.
Job Titles:
- Senior Designer / Design Operations
Zach is the go-to AORian for any and all things related to typography. He firmly believes that great design is all about communication; and clear, well thought-out typography lies at the center of that. His passion for design, detail, and organization lends itself to not only solving problems for clients, but also helping the rest of the agency find new ways to work smarter, not harder.
A native of Chicago (and Pittsburgh at heart), Zach has over eight years of professional design experience, with the past seven of those here in Denver. He holds a BFA in Communication Design from Washington University in St. Louis. As a sports lover and dog dad to Charlie and Gunner, outside of work Zach enjoys watching and cheering on his favorite Pittsburgh teams, traveling, hiking, and perfecting his volleyball swing with the AOR rec team.