The Agency

Born and raised in Phoenix, Marissa headed to Flagstaff to attend Northern Arizona University where she earned a degree in marketing. While at NAU, she discovered her affinity for digital marketing. With experience in social media management, Marissa has a passion for helping clients reach a wider audience through online platforms. She brings resourcefulness, a collaborative spirit, and a thirst for knowledge to the Bigfish team. Outside the office, you can find Marissa at the concerts of her favorite boy bands or petting every dog.

Born and raised in sunny Arizona, Candace Choi is an ASU alumni and Visual Communication graduate. With a specialty in visual design, more specifically digital and web design, she creates an intentional, clear, and seamless user experience for clients through expertise and collaboration. A virtual jack of all trades, Candace brings a product design focus into web projects, elevating the digital experience and focusing on attention to detail through motion design. Indulging in her creative side, she loves reading, photography, and hiking in her free time, and is constantly keeping up to date on the latest design, UX, and UI trends and tools.

Mike’s strength as a writer and strategist lies in his ability to boil messaging down to easily digestible, yet compelling installments. In more than a decade of creating awareness, and shifting perceptions, Mike has worked with brands in verticals such as healthcare, technology, education, property development and construction, non-profits, and state services amongst others.

Amber bundles a decade of industry experience in development, graphic design and SEO into a sizable punch. She develops and maintains both static websites and WordPress themes along with coding and implementing campaign assets such as landing pages and emails.

Chris has years of professional project management experience in the technology, web publishing and digital marketing industries. Her high energy drives her excellent communication and interpersonal skills, enabling her to foster great working relationships with clients and her fellow team members, which means the work gets done quickly and efficiently. Chris’ positive attitude and dedication to team success makes her stand out.

Melissa combines her expert design skills, leadership and boundless creativity to craft campaigns that stand out among the pack. Print, web, video and beyond—this Bigfish veteran’s resume features over twelve years of experience crafting inspiring, purposeful visual solutions for all kinds of brands.

Alyssa received her Bachelor’s degree in Design | Media Arts from UCLA. She originally came to Bigfish as a developer, but has now happily settled down as part of the design team, where she uses her coding background to specialize in digital and web design. She is also passionate about creating strong visual identities for brands. When she’s not in front of the computer screen, she loves photography, hiking, and traveling.

Joe is an expert in aligning world-class creative vision with top-line focused business strategy to deliver results. He rolls with the punches, outthinks and outhustles the whole industry, looks out for the team he’s responsible for, and still loves every minute of it. Joe carries over two decades of executive experience in the advertising and marketing world and is a proud graduate of Arizona State University.

Joleen locks down the big picture, then sweats the details, including the creative parts. A great listener, tactician, enforcer, and cheerleader, she makes sure that whatever happens, happens for a reason. As Director of Marketing & Operations, Joleen plays a key role working with our clients at the beginning of an engagement to confirm goals and strategies and then oversees execution of that effort across the various agency teams.

Although born and raised in Arizona, Katie moved to Seattle where she studied marketing before moving back home to pursue her career in marketing and branding. Katie brings an innovative spirit and passion for creating imaginative brands to the team, as well as whole lot of customer service experience. When she’s not in the office, she’s traveling, hiking, running, and exploring the Valley’s newest foodie spots.

Sebastian is tuned into everything digital, from audacious tech start-ups to trending apps and gadgets and the latest in design philosophy. He collaborates with the rest of the creative team to craft visually stunning work that seamlessly augments and integrates with client marketing strategies.

A skilled and well-rounded web developer, Ron brings both large and small-scale web application experience to the Bigfish team. With a background in both Computer Science and Programming, Ron has worked in graphic design, UI/UX, JavaScript development, and CMS development, focusing on open source application and front-end JavaScript. When he’s not building high performance websites, he’s spending time with his 4-year-old and finding spare time to enjoy his favorite hobbies like golf, snowboarding, and bowling.

As resident “jack-of-all-trades”, Jackson works with accounts, design and the development team in a variety of tasks including SEO, audio production and copywriting. He graduated from the Barrett Honors College of ASU with a Bachelors in U.S. History along with a Business Minor. While a student, Jackson worked for three years on the recruitment team for Teach for America, where he helped to turn ASU into one of the top 5 recruiting schools in the nation for the program.

A seasoned PR vet with an impressive arsenal of verticals under his belt, Ray plays an invaluable role in Bigfish’s client relations. After nearly 14 years of owning and managing Artigue Advisors, racking up several awards and co-authoring a popular college textbook, Ray joins our team with a propensity for persuasive PR and the experience to back it up. When he’s not in the office, you might find him writing songs, poetry or short stories.

Continually keyed in to the comings and goings of the Bigfish office. Empathically attuned to the waxing and waning of the Bigfish team’s astrological calendar. Kiahna helps ensure that the office is running smoothly while making sure our inner zodiac signs are being satisfied. Socially speaking, she’d prefer quiet time alone with cinematic horror, a visit to an art gallery or museum, or perhaps an outdoor setting featuring flora and fauna.

Ryan’s experience crafting exceptionally communicative and thoughtful designs for clients comprises two decades. At Bigfish, he plays a leading role in collaborating with the design team to create concepts, layouts and final proofs for clients. Ryan brings an incredibly fine-tuned instinct for design and marketing to each and every piece of work he presents.

Certified in both Google Analytics and Hubspot Inbound Marketing, Alex brings a passion and enthusiasm to internal agency marketing efforts. Highly organized and highly energized, Alex has years of experience managing social media, staying up to date on marketing trends, enhancing business to customer relationships, planning events and managing operations.

A California native raised in the Valley of the Sun, Sam’s back for her second round in the desert after spending six years doing post-production for commercials in L.A. Her passion for the hustle and grind of advertising makes her a powerhouse account manager who goes above and beyond to make our clients’ visions come to life. When she’s not in the office, you can probably find her sipping fancy wine, trying a new restaurant or going for a bike ride.

A native to sunny Phoenix, Megan studied marketing at the University of Arizona. Megan joins Bigfish with experience in media planning and sales, as well as being Analytics, AdWords, Tag Manager and DoubleClick certified. She also has experience buying and planning both traditional and digital media. When she’s not in the office, Megan enjoys spending time with friends and family, enjoying local concerts and the occasional Netflix binge. As a retired swimmer, Megan loves to stay active by running on the canals or attending Pilates classes.

Jenna’s background as a writer, editor and project coordinator play in to the excellent communication and organizational skills she uses on a day-to-day basis at Bigfish, composing statements of work, maintaining production timelines and ensuring deadlines are met in a timely manner with the utmost degree of quality.

Turning data into straightforward storytelling is the daily grind for Erin. Assisting with the creation, upkeep, and reporting of digital media campaigns, she uses performance metrics to make informed suggestions and changes that align with the client’s goals. Data tops her love list, second only to playing music and petting dogs.

Over the course of his 17 years in public relations, Brian O’Malley has honed his craft as a communicator, event planner and community connector in places and situations most can only dream of. His strategic thinking meets ‘get it done’ attitude has allowed past clients to meet and exceed their communications goals, all while having a little fun in the process. He has lead communications strategy and media relations efforts for some of Arizona’s most notable brands in Arizona Public Service, Delta Dental of Arizona, Shea Homes Arizona, Arizona Science Center and many others. He is an avid traveler having visited many countries, but has conducted much of his travel following his favorite band, Phish, seeing them more than 60 times in eight states. In addition to his role on St. Vincent de Paul’s advisory council, Brian also dedicates time to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in support of his friends child with type 1. He is a proud Arizona Wildcat even in the midst of a Sun Devil heavy environment at Bigfish.

With his unparalleled inventiveness, Kevin is the creative heart of Bigfish, guiding our campaigns with a skillful hand and expert vision. His experience in directing creative and design encompasses almost two decades, and while he would knock it out of the park in a big city agency—don’t get any ideas, New York, Chicago, or L.A.—he’s not going anywhere.

Jamie is the true puppet master behind the scenes at Bigfish. She keeps the train on the rails when it comes to budgeting, despite a concerted effort from the rest of Bigfish and clients at continuous derailment. Balance sheets, keeping the office stocked and supplied and handling the integration of new business is her daily grind. Also, she cuts the paychecks.

When it comes to writing, Celina is somewhat of a renaissance woman. She’s dabbled in a little bit of everything, from breaking news journalism to short stories to corporate copywriting to poetry. Wherever there’s a great story to be told, she wants to be there. Armed with an extra toolkit of SEO knowledge, journalistic skills and digital marketing expertise, she loves collaborating with her Bigfish team to get to the heart of a client’s story and share it in fun, innovative ways. When she’s not playing around with words, she likes practicing yoga, trying new foods, dancing or hanging out by the pool.

Kathryn’s expertise in account management and brand strategy is rooted in her work for Bigfish overseeing multiple integrated marketing campaigns, hands-on resource management, fueling new business growth and developing tactical branding strategies for clients. A true collaborator, Kathryn brings an infectious positivity and enthusiasm to every project she oversees.

Kelly was born and raised on Kodiak Island, Alaska. She found haven and a bit of sunshine when she moved to Sacramento, California to attend Sacramento State. Kelly knows what it takes to get your message in front of the right audience from her vast experience in marketing for the Food & Beverage industry as well as her past work in experiential marketing. When she’s not occupied leading Bigfish clients to success, she’s probably hiking with her fiancé and Miniature Australian Shepherd, Millie, or enjoying live music, wherever she can find it.