Leadership Team

Grit, perseverance and determination are each attributes of a fearless leader, and Angela certainly has all three. When most people face a challenge, they run as fast as they can the other way, Scooby-Doo style. Angela races full speed toward it.

Angela started her career in digital media but quickly discovered her love for TV. (She’ll tell you she’s been fascinated with TV since appearing on the Howie Mandel Show in high school). Now she’s spent more than 15 years crafting TV campaign strategies designed to deliver ROI. Her in-depth TV marketing knowledge has not only overcome industry challenges, but also driven record-breaking profits. For Angela, it’s just another day.

Angela attributes her grit to her college basketball career. When paired with her unflinching focus and dogged desire to succeed, it’s easy to understand why she’s good at what she does.

And she’s definitely someone you want in your court. Today, she leads Marketing Architects in helping marketers launch and scale on TV to drive profitable growth for their businesses.

Angela’s spare time is spent with her family. She and her husband, Pete, have their hands full raising three girls with the same determination as their mom—something for which Angela is thankful. Most days, anyway.

How does a self-proclaimed introvert, who's more comfortable on a bass boat than at a podium, inspire an organization to run full steam toward what’s next to come?

Somehow, Chuck discovered the answer.

When it came to choosing a living, a younger Chuck Hengel was captivated by the renegade industry of performance marketing. With a brain for numbers, Chuck cut his teeth as a marketing statistician at one of the country’s largest performance marketing agencies. After jumping to the client side, he became a partner at the nation’s premier print agency, Novus Print Media.

But entrepreneurs hang shingles. So Chuck founded Marketing Architects. He drew the name out of a hat, but stuck with it because architects, like entrepreneurs, are all about building. And his little lemonade stand transformed into one of largest independent marketing agencies.

Today Marketing Architects serves brands looking to drive profitable growth and achieve category leadership. As Executive Chairman, Chuck leads new venture exploration, uncovering surprising ways to add agency value and drive long-term transformation.

Incredibly, Chuck still finds time for what’s truly important in life. His wife Cindy. His beautiful kids. And, of course, bass fishing.

Whitney’s bubbly personality belies a fierce and focused competitive spirit. As she often likes to say about sailboat racing (something she does every Thursday night), “I’m not having fun unless I’m winning.” Obviously, she does a lot of that at Marketing Architects, because it’s rare to see her without a big, broad smile on her face.

But let’s reverse course. Before working at Marketing Architects, Whitney taught high-risk 3rd graders in the Bronx, then English in South Korea. Teaching showed her what it takes to inspire, motivate and lead—skills that served her well when she next joined a particular TV agency.

After a few years helping brands reach major milestones, Whitney left to reach one of her own: pursuing her master’s. Degree in hand, Whitney took a job at an IT training company, where she led a sales team, doubling the company’s revenue in the process.

But Whitney missed the crew at Marketing Architects. She returned in 2016, getting back to exceeding the needs of clients, analyzing the effectiveness of each campaign, and leading with her signature passion and vision.

When Whitney’s not charting a course to success for clients, she is skipper to her son and twin stepdaughters, whom she affectionately refers to as her "bonus kids."

Brent’s no ordinary spreadsheet-thirsty numbers guy. He’s a strategic thought leader. And a charismatic one to boot.

It all began on a basketball court. His father said, "To be successful on the pine floor, you have to take things one week at a time and success will come. " Father knew best, because Brent went on to lead the University of St. Thomas to its first Final Four appearance and is one of only a handful of players inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.

And that was just the start of his winning streak. During his early career at Arthur Andersen, Pillsbury and Agiliti, he showed the same passion for the balance sheet as he did on the court. In 2002, Brent joined a little company on the rise called Marketing Architects. He was quickly instrumental in establishing vital financial systems during the company’s early years. But with Brent’s strategic vision and contagious attitude, he spends any given day influencing the organization’s direction and growth, and helping to pen the blueprint for what’s next at Marketing Architects.

How does Brent play so many roles, balancing work and a busy non-work schedule? He follows his dad’s timeless advice and takes it one week at a time.

Rob was an awkward kid. He did magic tricks and watched enough episodes of Knight Rider to earn him a trip to the family therapist. Enough said.

It was clear at an early age that Rob was destined for either a career super-sizing value meals or being a creative executive in advertising. During college, he received national recognition working as a copywriter for the Minnesota Daily. His next stop was the largest advertising agency in Minneapolis, Campbell Mithun. His work with iconic brands like General Mills, Hostess, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, and Hefty earned him the youngest vice presidency in the company’s history.

The big move. In 2004, Rob was approached to join a company called Marketing Architects. After informing the recruiter he wasn’t an architect, he discovered that this growing agency was looking to build a creative department. Rob accepted the challenge and went on to build an eclectic team of creatives who were equal parts artist and scientist.

At home, Rob enjoys performing card tricks for his wife and kids, and, of course, watching reruns of Knight Rider.

Matt blames his weird brain on his parents. Raised by a CPA and a piano teacher, he grew up in a home where the languages of math and music merged at their common denominator: patterns.

From algorithms to musical rhythms, Matt delights in finding the order behind the chaos. He loves playing with patterns as a pianist and electronic dance music composer. He loved establishing patterns in his college basketball career (specifically patterns of winning). And he loves identifying patterns in numbers as an analyst. It’s what made him one of the industry’s leading experts on attribution.

Matt’s friends make fun of him for his Rubik’s Cube obsession, but it’s all that practice at solving challenges faster and faster that prepared him to lead Marketing Architects’ analytics team to the cutting edge of technology and innovation. It also prepared him for a role as a key architect behind the results program that drives Marketing Architects’ Emotive Solutions Platform.

When he’s not pursuing his life goal of memorizing all 60 algorithms for solving any possible Rubik’s Cube, Matt spends his time going to concerts, playing basketball and establishing a pattern of beating his dad at golf.

Having been born on an Air Force base, moving feels like breathing for Catrina. She grew up stepping foot on every continent on Earth, where she learned to walk in other people’s shoes. So, when she got a call on a dreary London afternoon about a job in San Francisco at the height of the dot-com boom, she was on a plane the same week.

Catrina brought a unique skill set to the United States, the likes of which we had never seen. She was awarded an H1 visa, normally reserved for rocket scientists and brain surgeons, because she was part of the team that brought over account planning as we know it today.

While traditional agencies were trying to tell customers what to believe, Catrina was involved in cutting-edge research that put customers in charge. She was walking in their shoes. Literally.

Dr. Scholl’s had been a tired brand for old feet until Catrina and her team walked in their customers’ shoes. Now it’s a brand on the move, leading the charge against a sedentary lifestyle.

Catrina kept moving, most recently to Atlanta and Chicago with BBDO, until her husband and two daughters finally convinced her to settle down in Minnesota. Conditionally. She still travels anytime she’s inspired.

As Marketing Architects’ first marketing hire, Clark joined the agency before it truly was an “agency.” Most people would’ve been intimidated by the fast pace of an early-stage company with a love for change and an evolving business model. But not Clark. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves and applied the work ethic and problem-solving skills he learned growing up on his family’s North Dakota farm.

From scaling in radio to pivoting into TV advertising, Clark saw the agency through several major shifts. Along the way, he provided consistent operational support and strategic insights enabling Marketing Architects to stand out and gain new clients. All the while, he guided expanding sales and marketing teams.

But what Clark has always enjoyed most about his work is learning from marketers and business leaders across a variety of industries. And then, of course, identifying opportunities for brands to reach new levels of growth with TV advertising.

When he's not meeting with a prospective client, you can find Clark running, hiking, or spending time with his family. Or working his way through a history book. He’s read biographies for nearly every U.S. president!

For Dhiren, the most interesting challenges are both creative and analytical. After studying economics and contemplating a career in finance, he realized that despite enjoying the detail-oriented and fast-paced nature of the field, he was missing space for creativity. Enter advertising, the perfect blend of art and science, intuition and precision.

And so began an impressive career working at some of the biggest ad agencies in the country, with global clients in technology, financial services, travel, and entertainment. Dhiren enjoyed meticulously studying multiple industries while dreaming up creative business ideas—with much success. His ability to build strong partnerships while truly understanding clients’ businesses led to growing a single project with a multi-national client into an agency of record relationship with 13 brands.

But Dhiren also appreciates an entrepreneurial spirit. And when he learned about Marketing Architects’ disruptive model, he was intrigued. Now he’s leveraging his brand building experience and applying it to the precise nature of performance advertising and our own Marketing Architects clients.

When Dhiren’s not leveraging his advertising expertise, he’s spending time with his wife and three kids. In rare spare moments, he can be found experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, searching his native New York for street art to photograph, or cheering on the Oregon Ducks.

Nicole always knew she was destined for a career in advertising. She loved the industry’s creativity and its never-ending challenges and opportunities. She also appreciated working with fellow problem-solvers who were bright, determined and dynamic.

Nicole began her career working on big branding initiatives that ranged from helping Dyson make its debut in the U.S. to launching Target’s very first website, and so many things in-between. She enjoyed building just the right message for clients’ brand-driven campaigns, especially initiatives that drove impact. This passion for accountability pushed her to explore performance marketing and hone the ability to drive definitive, ROI-boosting results.

When she learned about Marketing Architects’ mission to merge brand and performance into stunning results for clients, Nicole was intrigued. Now she’s building brands and bottom-lines, leveraging her marketing experience across the funnel to achieve business-transforming outcomes.

And while championing big ideas for bold brands is no small role, Nicole puts her spare moments to good use. She’s often testing new recipes in the kitchen for her three children to critique, cheering them on at sporting events, planning family trips or enjoying a perfectly brewed cup of tea.

As a Cape Code native, Faye grew up knowing the ins and outs of the hospitality industry. Her hometown’s seasonal tourism allowed her to build stellar customer service skills—including creative problem-solving and clear communication. And while these skills helped Faye excel in service roles, they also set her up for success in the advertising world.

Faye’s experience spans a range of large and boutique agencies. Over the years she’s designed omnichannel campaigns for brands like Bank of America, Tyson Foods, and Panasonic. On the client side, she’s guided marketing strategy at a top national construction firm. But regardless of her role, Faye skillfully organizes teams to develop campaigns that drive results.

This love of creating work that makes a meaningful difference eventually led Faye to Marketing Architects. And since TV is (understandably) her favorite marketing channel, partnering with clients to develop performance-driven TV campaigns was a perfect fit.

In spare moments, Faye can be found shuttling her sons to hockey practice, starting her next home-improvement project, or guest-speaking at a local university. And she never turns down an opportunity to enjoy the New England outdoors, whether that means skiing or shellfishing.

Devan has always loved advertising, from the creativity that goes into making a great ad, to the way it facilitates a memorable shared experience. The way it both shapes and is shaped by pop culture.

So when given an opportunity to generate game-changing business results through advertising, Devan jumped at the chance. And so began his journey at Marketing Architects. He brought along skills he’d developed coaching youth basketball—clear communication, adaptability, knowing when to pivot and when to hold his ground. Turns out all these skills translate to both managing a team and successfully partnering with clients.

Plus, Devan’s favorite parts of coaching are the same things he loves about driving client results. Working together as a team. Using creative problem solving to tackle new challenges. The excitement after a big win. And after nearly a decade at Marketing Architects, Devan’s seen a lot of wins.

When not looking for ways to level up clients’ campaigns, Devan can be found working on his latest DIY home improvement project or on the ice, practicing with his curling team for their next bonspiel.

People often comment about Joel’s ability to get in “The Zone”—the zone where challenges are opportunities, there’s constant room for improvement, and a stunning amount of work gets done. But those who know Joel recognize...he lives in “The Zone.”

After launching a career in ecommerce and marketing, Joel discovered a love for conversion optimization. To Joel, conversion is the perfect intersection of consumer psychology, marketing, and technology, all tied nicely together with measurable results. He’s worked with businesses big and small across almost every online industry including retail, hospitality, non-profit, SaaS, and mass customization. If there’s an action to be taken online, Joel can optimize for it.

So when Marketing Architects decided it was time to expand their suite of conversion offerings, Joel’s passion for continuous improvement and innovation was exactly what was needed to drive meaningful business results while forging an exciting new path for the platform.

And it turns out that living in “The Zone” isn’t just a daytime trait. When he’s not working with clients to improve conversion rates, Joel’s writing his next novel, practicing the Filipino martial art of Modern Arnis, or working on launching his next product idea.

When Rita does something, she does it right. The details aren't just important. They're everything.

Rita doesn't just cook her own Chinese food. She scours the internet for rare seeds to grow her own Facing Heaven peppers to make Szechuan delicacies. She doesn't just garden. She learns the Latin name and optimal soil PH level for every plant in her perennial garden. And she doesn't just read. She studies multiple translations of the classics. (Caroline Alexander’s is her favorite translation of Homer’s Iliad – if you were wondering.)

Not surprisingly, Rita’s thorough approach to excellence has accelerated her professional career as well. She quickly made a name for herself at one of New York’s most prestigious law firms. Then, she moved to Minneapolis to help big brands protect their trademarks as an advisor and litigator, even going out with federal marshals on a raid to confiscate counterfeit luxury watches.

Here at Marketing Architects, Rita is constantly digging into the latest legal developments in marketing, advertising, intellectual property, and information technology. She assesses how they impact the agency and our advertisers in every category.

When Rita isn’t poring over TV scripts and legal documents or perfecting Szechuan classics, she (thoroughly) enjoys spending quality time sailing with her husband and daughter.

Tom has always loved creating new things and reinventing old things. Developing unconventional ideas and redefining what’s possible.

Which is why a deep curiosity and imagination are clear throughout Tom's career. After helping Leo Burnett build global brands and grow new offices in Tokyo and New York City, Tom moved client side and launched efforts to successfully turnaround General Motors/Buick and expand the brand into China. Tom then took on leadership positions at global agencies Hill Holiday and Mullen/Lowe.

Next, Tom's passion for innovation brought him into venture capital. There, he advised and scaled startups like Drizly and Ideapaint. He also led the development of a global innovation hub to create new products and growth for companies like EJ Gallo, Allstate, Esurance, and P&G.

And when Tom learned about Marketing Architects, he saw the agency’s entrepreneurial culture, history of reinvention, and unique model as the perfect opportunity for his next adventure.

Outside of work, you can find Tom running, golfing, or tinkering at the family cabin with his beagle, Rosie. Otherwise, he's probably scoping out dates for Bruce Springsteen’s next tour. He’s attended more than 30 concerts so far!

As a child, Ryan discovered his dad’s vintage copies of National Geographic. It sparked a curiosity for exotic cultures. To fan the flames, his parents wallpapered his room with maps from around the world. It wasn’t long before they found him planning imaginary expeditions across his walls.

As he got older, he fed that curiosity by studying in Germany, joining the Peace Corps in Armenia, and connecting with locals in places like Transylvania, Bogota, Haiti, and Istanbul. Along the way, he discovered two passions: making genuine connections with people wherever he went and developing captivating stories to share the experiences.

From nomad to creating ads. Turns out that being a good storyteller, with a world-class photographer’s eye, comes in handy when you’re crafting disruptive creative. That’s how Ryan found a voice that resonates for virtually every product category, and helped develop the creative team at Marketing Architects.

When he isn’t in the office, Ryan and his wife can be found somewhere on planet Earth. Whether they’re backpacking the remote Icelandic Westfjords or exploring slot canyons in Utah, you can count on him for a good story.

To describe Eric without using the word “creative” would be like singing a song without the melody. The son of a popular jazz musician, it was natural for Eric to start his eclectic career as a music producer at Sound80, a Minneapolis-based audio studio that produced the first digital recording... ever.

An artist and entrepreneur. From there, he opened his own business, penning original music and sound scores. After working with brands like Audi, Lee Jeans and Coke throughout the 1990s, Eric decided it was time to channel his creativity into another form. That’s when his art studio, Pilhoferwerks, was born. For the last two decades, he’s been crafting inspiring ceramic sculptures.

Then he brought his artful eye to Marketing Architects. He’s molded his role into something that highlights the very best of his skills. First, he built the bones of a revolutionary audio department. Then he did the same for TV production.

Nowadays, you’ll find Eric steering the production of every TV commercial we produce. And you can bet it doesn’t leave his office until it absolutely sings. When he leaves the office, you’ll probably see Eric pedaling around Minnetonka, peacefully contemplating the Next Big Thing.

Everything Ben needed to know, he learned riding a motorcycle. Having nothing between you and asphalt but two wheels and a roaring engine changes your world view. Whether he’s dragging knees around the race track or carving canyons amid bad drivers and semi trucks, Ben finds clarity, peace and hyper focus.

Turns out that this clutter-cutting concentration is also the key to crafting world-class creative. Ben turned a tired potato chip campaign into a 40-million-dollar new business win, taking him from a small ad office in Chicago to the big leagues at BBDO NY.

Ben’s love for the open road has taken him to every corner of the country. He’s held key leadership positions at Campbell Mithun and Cuneo in Minneapolis and at Civilian in San Diego. Riding through big cities and small towns in every state has helped him find his voice – one that’s able to connect with the wide range of consumers across the US.

The opportunity at Marketing Architects, and the quality of life in the Midwest, reminded Ben why Minnesota is a great place to call home. But despite the cold, he’s never giving up his motorcycles. Because despite the occasional chaos, you never see a motorcycle parked in front of a therapist’s office.

Marketer. Creative director. Award-winning filmmaker. Deb’s worn many hats throughout her career—from creative directing at some of the industry’s most prestigious agencies, to spear-heading omnichannel brand campaigns for Walmart, to directing the feature-length film College.

Despite the variety of her work, Deb is quick to find similarities across projects. Problem-solving. Visual storytelling. Exploring ideas that drive sales and get people talking. What also remains consistent is Deb’s obvious focus on excellence. Her creative work has won just about every international award possible, including Cannes Lions and Effies, plus countless media accolades. In fact, both People Magazine and TV Guide covered her projects in their “Top Five of the Year.”

Deb attributes her success to finding the balance between trusting the creative process and pushing for the next big idea—a skill she now uses to find new and surprising ways Marketing Architects’ clients can engage with consumers.

When Deb’s not solving creative challenges, she’s taxiing her kids between soccer fields and equestrian barns. Her happy place is being with her family near the water—fishing, boating, or kayaking. And if she had a desert-island food, it’d be a BLT on gluten-free bread. Do they serve those there?

When Catherine was five years old, her parents strapped a pair of wooden water skis to her feet and fired up the family’s old Sea Ray. She’s been addicted to adrenaline and adventure ever since.

After trick skiing, racing around in speed boats, rappelling off cliffs, and trekking across glaciers, Catherine discovered a new kind of adventure that resulted in far fewer broken bones: media buying. A young star at LAKANA, she earned her stripes managing campaigns on NBCOlympics.com during the Athens and Torino games, thriving on the thrill of steering multimillion-dollar accounts like Coke, Kleenex, AT&T, Sony, GM, Volkswagen, and Visa.

Record success. It’s no surprise that when Catherine took the helm of Marketing Architects’ Media Buying Services team, she steered it to its most successful year in TV. She says it’s the thrill of launching new clients; trying out new shows, programs and networks; and finding big breakthroughs that gets her adrenaline pumping now.

When Catherine isn't navigating the seas of media buying, she can be found on the old family boat with her puppies, crashing through the waves of the Minnesota lake where it all began.

When six-year-old Ron got his first allowance, he didn't rush to 7-Eleven for candy. He made a pros and cons list of every candy to identify the very best option (apparently, it's Fun Dip). When his friends were buying their first cars based on color, Ron created a spreadsheet to analyze every make, model and dealership for the best interest rate, reliability and fuel economy. You see, Ron is what you’d call a maximizer.

Fast forward a few decades, and Ron has used that same passion to cement his reputation for maximizing media. His secret?

Know every detail about every offer on every table. With that philosophy, he’s created huge wins for clients. Like the time he saved Walmart $20 million through strategic media partnerships. Or the countless times he's negotiated his client’s way into coveted media events like the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the World Cup, and the NCAA Championship. For Ron, a fun day centers on relentlessly securing the best options.

When Ron isn't maximizing transformative media deals, you can find him enjoying family time. That is, until his son and daughter start negotiating for a later bedtime. They are their father’s kids after all.

As a kid, Dan wasn’t quite the athletic superstar he wanted to be. Then his soccer coach gave him some advice: "You won't beat anyone doing the same thing they are. Find ways to do things differently than everyone else."

So, Dan got really good at coming up with different – and better – ways to do things. Beyond sports, his coach's advice freed him from the constraints of the status quo and sparked his desire to explore uncharted territory. He served in the Army. He launched Fortune 500 companies’ loyalty programs. He also built analytics departments from the ground up – using an unconventional approach, of course. While everyone else focused on either performance metrics or brand building, Dan did both. He created an analytics department where analysts worked right alongside anthropologists.

These days, Dan's passion for finding different and better ways is enhancing Marketing Architects' robust Analytics DNA ^SM platform, melding brand building and performance metrics to deliver unparalleled insights.

The old coach's advice put him on a path to play competitively in college. But more importantly, learning the value of continually looking for ways to improve has guided his 30 years as a husband and father.

What do you call a guy who’s accepted into college at age 15, graduates with a double major and was an expert in web design before the world knew the web existed? We call him Aaron Lange, but to say he’s just an overachieving techno guru is selling him short.

Let’s take a step back. His childhood was steeped in entrepreneurial spirit. His grandfather started a successful taxi company. His dad started a photo lab. An uncle ran an electronics store. In short, his family was a startup incubator decades before Silicon Valley was a thing. And that childhood gave Aaron more business savvy by age 12 than many adults have at 42.

So what happens when an aptitude for technology meets a sixth sense for opportunity? You get a hacker who propels companies forward by breaking and retooling technology to meet their ever-changing needs. And that’s why Aaron is a perfect fit as the head of technology at Marketing Architects.

When he’s not bending software to his will, you’ll find him engrossed in the latest board game with his family or on the court, playing competitive volleyball.

Oh, and don’t even get him started on the time he reconfigured a calculator into a keypad lock for his bedroom door as a teenager. Mom was not amused.