SimpScar is continuing its exponential growth - we've welcomed five new colleagues so far in May! We're so excited that they have joined our team and already see the positive impact they will have on our agency. Read on for a bit of background on each person, and reach out to congratulate everyone on their new roles.
Anna-grace Blackburn (she/her) joins us as our new Graphic Designer in our Creative & Digital division. She will use her graphic design chops and eye for detail to produce informed creative for our clients across both digital and print executions — from digital media campaigns to brand templates and collateral. She’ll also play a major role in the visual aspects of our agency’s own reports, internal marketing, and presentation assets. She studied Advertising and Graphic Design at the Columbus College of Art and Design, where she began as a painting major but quickly fell in love with digital design.
Anna-grace loves to read, cook, and mentor students in high school and college bible study outside of work. She also loves live music and has lost count of how many concerts she's been to! She lives in Columbus, OH, with her husband Peter and two cats, Bibby and Chocy Milk.
Dana Rierson (she/her) is our new Digital Project Manager and will organize and guide timelines, ensuring exceptional communication and quality of digital projects. Before joining SimpScar, Dana worked in the marketing agency space with clients ranging from non-profits and start-ups to enterprise-level technology companies. She holds a BS in Business Administration & Marketing from North Carolina State University, and says that college gave her the chance to meet many new people - including her husband and best friends.
When she's not at work, Dana loves to visit US national parks (she has a goal to see them all and is about a third of the way through) and is also a SCUBA certified instructor. She resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Jae Ahn (he/him) is SimpScar's new Video Director. He will conceptualize, pitch, and execute plans for video production, pushing the boundaries of creative videos for higher education audiences. He is a Korean immigrant educated in Canada and Florida, and trained in Los Angeles. Before joining SimpScar, Jae freelanced for boutique agencies and international clients with a focus on music videos and commercials. He is excited to join the SimpScar team and produce video projects with a positive impact.
Outside of work, Jae can be found on the basketball court where he plays to decompress from long days. He also loves puzzles and games, especially chess. Jae currently resides in Portland, OR.
Kenda Revis-Nixon (she/her) joins our Sales and Marketing team as Business Development Associate. As Business Development Associate, she will be assisting in identifying and developing new business opportunities and providing support to the sales team.
Kenda holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati and says that building authentic relationships with her professors was the most impactful experience in college. She has previously worked as an educator, holding several teaching positions domestically and abroad. Her love for higher education, paired with a desire to explore user research, brought her to SimpScar (and we are glad of that).
Kenda currently resides in Philadelphia, PA, and loves to travel - she's visited 17 countries so far!
Kristi Harrington (she/her) joins SimpScar as our new Account Executive. She will help our Account Directors manage market research, brand strategy, creative, digital, and media projects. For the past 16 years, Kristi has been juggling being a stay-at-home mom, an admissions reviewer for Northeastern University, and a marketing assistant for a small PR firm. She is excited to be with an agency that cares so deeply about its work and has a vision for helping colleges and universities become the best they can be.
Kristi holds a BA in Planned Studies (Educational Counseling) from Ithaca College. In her opinion, the best days on campus are freshman move-in day and graduation. She currently has a 114-week Peloton streak and will hopefully teach some of us her "early bird" tendencies.