Meet the amazing individuals that make up Wpromote! Like The Beatles, we’re at our best as a group: we leverage our unique combination of skills, experience, wit, and charm to provide the very best service to our partners and clients.
We Make Mondays Suck Less
We’re all about making life a little better, eight days a week. We think it’s crucial to make a real connection with our clients and get invested in their goals and excited about their results. When you love what you do and who you work with, Mondays take care of themselves. From kombucha on tap to awesome healthcare coverage, we’re proud of the environment and culture we’ve built at Wpromote– and hope you’ll get to know us better.
4xWinner Of Ad Age’s Best Places To Work In The U.S.
68FOUR-LEGGED CO-WORKERS (PLUS THOUSANDS OF TAIL WAGS)
81Charitable Organizations Wprovide Has Donated To
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
Michael Mothner
Founder & CEO
Michael Mothner is one of the pioneering thought leaders in the digital marketing community. In 2001, Michael founded Wpromote out of his dorm room at Dartmouth College. The company is now one of the fastest-growing and widely recognized online marketing firms in the country, and he has served as CEO since its inception. He is a columnist for Inc. Magazine and recipient of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, as well as a regular speaker at industry events. When he can (occasionally) be pried away from his laptop, Michael can be found screaming at the Lakers, eating epic sandwiches, and spending time with his family.
My biggest challenger learning
If you are at a challenging, fork-in-the-road moment, ultimately you have two choices: figure it out, or don’t figure it out. Be the person who chooses “figure it out.”
Paul joined the Wpromote team as CFO in 2018 and became President in January 2019. He brings extensive financial and operational experience to the company. Paul was previously Chief Operating Officer and Head of Entertainment, Media & Gaming with successful digital agencies Level Studios and Rosetta, and has held senior roles with industry leaders Disney and Activision. He lives in Palos Verdes with his wife, dog Ripley, and two amazing, exhausting sons.
Something you may not know about me
I’m a doodler. I worked as a graphic artist in high school and college, and I still draw (badly) on any available paper if a pen is handy.
One of the original members of the Wpromote team, Michael is responsible for the execution of all client services and manages the overall operations of the company. With extensive online marketing experience, he also supervises strategy and planning for our largest clients. Michael is considered Wpromote's foremost expert not only on paid search, but also on single malt Scotch and paleontology. There isn't a question about whisky or dinosaurs that he can't answer, which is a great comfort to the other employees.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.”
With almost two decades of digital marketing experience, Michael is responsible for the health and success of Wpromote’s clients and strategic relationships. He adheres to the principle that there's no difference between "performance marketing" and "brand marketing" because all marketing should perform--and helps businesses internalize and implement that rule to drive profitable growth.
As part of the leadership team that has grown Wpromote from "3 Mike's" to 500 employees, Michael has been fortunate to work with fantastic client partner teams that embrace the Challenger Mindset and push their organizations to get creative and succeed across channels. He primarily focuses on working with executive groups across Fortune 100 organizations and fast-moving startups to ensure best-in-class execution and profitable customer acquisition through digital marketing. With 3 amazing kids, and 2 semi-well behaved dogs, when not working you can find him stepping barefoot on Lego's and planning family adventures.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”
Paul joined the Wpromote team as CTO in 2019. He has extensive experience as an executive, systems architect, and inventor across a variety of technology ventures. Paul was previously CTO at CAKE by Accelerize Inc. and VP of Product Development at Scalable Network Technologies, and has held executive roles at a number of technology companies, both public and private. When not writing code, he loves to go scuba diving with his partner Michelle.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”
As the leader of Wpromote's national sales team, Eric is responsible for guiding the company to accelerated performance for our clients and boosting client win rates in their respective markets. Drawing on 15 years of experience in developing sales and customer success teams in the digital and search marketing spaces, Eric has helped brands of all shapes and sizes redefine what getting found means. Eric spends his time away from the office with his wife and three kids.
The Best Challenger Advice I’ve RECEIVED
When you are proud of the work you have done, regardless of the outcome, no one can take that away from you.
Jamie joined Wpromote in 2008 and launched the internal marketing division from the ground up. Now as SVP, she manages Wpromote's extensive marketing endeavors, including major website redesigns, sales materials, events, demand gen, thought leadership, press, and more. A background in event marketing, Jamie cares deeply about creating a great experience, and her excellent design aesthetic helps shape the entire Wpromote brand.
The Best Challenger Advice I’ve RECEIVED
Don’t get crippled with anxiety. Take control. Check off that first box on your to-do list, try something that scares you, and the rest will fall into place.
A native New Yorker born and raised in Queens, Jeff graduated from New York University's Stern School of Business before moving on to the world of digital marketing. Prior to Wpromote Jeff directed strategy for, and held digital marketing roles with, brands like LG Electronics, American Express, Sports Illustrated and CNN, accruing over twenty years of digital marketing experience. When not developing insights-based strategies for our clients, Jeff can be found spending time with his family or working on his fantasy football roster.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“People don’t want quarter-inch drill bits. They want quarter-inch holes.”
As the SVP, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Jenny oversees various verticals across private equity, VC, and entertainment, focusing on helping companies achieve growth and profitability. She provides an additional layer of strategy and support for board members and executives across portfolio companies and Wpromote's roster of clients. Jenny has over a decade of in-house experience driving digital transformation, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to operations at a private equity firm.
As SVP of Client Service at Wpromote, Jon oversees all client relationships and development while working hand-in-hand with clients who are onboarding and transitioning into the Wpromote family. He brings a wide range of experience in digital marketing from both the in-house and agency side of the industry, specializing in cross-channel integration for large international companies. Before joining Wpromote in January 2020, Jon worked at Dentsu Aegis/iProspect as a Managing Director and Head of Corporate Development. Prior to iProspect, Jon worked with a variety of smaller agencies specializing in digital marketing, web-based training, and instructional design. Key managed clients include Sony, Procter & Gamble, Williams Sonoma, Microsoft, HP, Chase, and the Department of the Navy.
My Favorite Challenger Moment
Getting to travel the world onboarding a global SEO client and being able to stitch all the disparate teams together into a truly positive outcome.
A self-proclaimed agency girl, Andrea has been crushing it at digital agencies for over 20 years. She joined Wpromote after launching award-winning digital marketing work for Fortune 100 brands at agencies including Ogilvy, Digitas, and Arnold. As Wpromote’s Managing Director, Northeast, Andrea heads our New York team and excels at building client partnerships and over-delivering on results. Andrea's most important role, however, is as a supermom of four, and she can be frequently found at cheerleading competitions and baseball fields.
Marissa Allen joined Wpromote in 2008; as an ecommerce expert and paid media guru, she challenged Wpromote clients to succeed. After spending several years on accelerated account development, Marissa stepped up to establish Wpromote's Strategy team, where she drives omnichannel strategic growth through a strong belief in the full-funnel approach. As a business and relationship activator, Marissa loves cultivating lifelong client relationships and building brand advocacy as an outsourced CMO and C-suite consultant for clients.
My Favorite Challenger Moment
Co-founding RISE – Wpromote’s community that focuses on empowering women.
Soso is the startup whisperer. He cut his teeth working with fast-paced, high-growth startups in Silicon Valley after graduating from UC Berkeley. He founded Growth Pilots in 2014 to help venture-backed companies grow faster by scaling their paid marketing channels more intelligently. Growth Pilots was acquired by Wpromote in 2019. As Vice President of Growth and Innovation, Soso oversees high-growth client relationships and ensures Wpromote is doing everything possible to ensure they all have growth charts that resemble hockey sticks. He lives his life a quarter (mile) at a time and embodies Ricky Bobby’s sage wisdom that "if you ain’t first, you’re last".
Something You May Not Know About Me
I worked on a cattle farm in northern Minnesota once upon a time before moving to the Bay Area.
Anna has nearly 20 years of digital marketing experience in client services, specializing in web development as well as performance and content marketing. She has managed digital and integrated campaigns for Fortune 500 companies such as American Express, Sony, and Purina. Her experience also includes work for Farmers Insurance, William Grant & Sons Distillers, Oracle, and Neutrogena. Born and raised in Sweden, she now lives in Halesite, NY, with her husband and two children.
Something You May Not Know About Me
I was born in Sweden and moved to the US on my own when I was just 19.
Claire provides strategic leadership to Wpromote’s enterprise clients like Whirlpool and Transunion, helping them to drive growth. While Claire started her career practicing law in London, she moved to L.A. and found her ultimate passion was digital marketing, particularly structuring campaigns around key business goals and full-funnel thinking. Despite living in the U.S. since 2011, Claire still has a strong English accent and enjoys confusing her American colleagues with quirky U.K. phrases.
My Favorite Challenger Moment
Moving from England to U.S., leaving law behind and starting a whole new career.
Christine is a digital marketing leader with nearly 15 years of account management agency experience. Christine and her team are focused on building strong client partnerships by driving results and sharing new strategic ideas to help clients solve their biggest marketing challenges. When not pushing clients to improve, Christine enjoys being with family and friends, traveling, and being outside as much as possible, especially skiing with her husband and three sons.
The Best Challenger Advice I’ve Received
“The kids don’t notice the weeds.” As a full time working mom of three young boys, I try to remind my type-A self to remember this piece of very valuable personal advice time and time again.
Kimberlee joined the Wpromote team over six years ago and has managed almost every digital channel. She's an avid reader of any business books she can get her hands on, and relishes the opportunity to develop innovative strategies and campaigns for her book of industry-leading brands.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
Kevin started doing Facebook ads in his apartment in 2012. From there, he founded Metric Digital, one of the top Facebook agencies in the world. When Wpromote acquired Metric Digital in 2020, he joined Wpromote as the VP of Social. He loves figuring out how to help businesses hit their goals through Facebook and Instagram advertising.
Something You May Not Know About Me
I’ve performed stand up at Gotham Comedy Club in NYC.
As Vice President of Earned Media, Rachel oversees division-wide growth, profitability, innovation, and team development across Wpromote’s SEO, Content Marketing, Influencer, Affiliate, and Content Development departments. An English major at heart, Rachel challenges her teams to build stories that engage organically, earn trust, and drive more profitable, sustainable performance.
The Best Challenger Advice I’ve Received
“You can’t teach someone to care.” Enthusiasm, dedication, and feeling personally invested in your client’s success are intrinsic and invaluable.
Simon leads the digital intelligence team at Wpromote, working to make data more accessible and useful to drive business decisions. He oversees the Analytics Development, Data Analysis, and Data Science teams, as well as the data strategists who work directly with clients to uncover their big business questions and develop data-based solutions to find the answers. Simon is also a nationally-recognized speaker on attribution and analytics, and has spoken at SMX Advanced and the Utah DMC. He frequently contributes to major industry publications including Search Engine Land and Moz.
My Hidden Talent
I have architected, constructed and developed a model train world, known as “Poultown”.
Tom got to know Wpromote well while partnering with them on profit-driven marketing as a Googler. After spending six years building partnerships and sales revenue in Silicon Valley, he returned to his native SoCal to lead Wpromote's Paid Media teams. Tom is responsible for delivering fully-integrated, profit-driven advertising services across paid channels to accelerate bottom-line growth for clients. When he's not geeking out about customer lifetime value modeling, you'll find him posted up with a cup of coffee shooting the breeze with family and friends.
Something You May Not Know About Me
I’ve been on a quest for 10 years to make the perfect cup of coffee. I imagine I’ll be chasing this for the rest of my life.
With over twelve years experience in DRTV and eight years in performance creative, Andelko Jurin is an award-winning creative leader who partners with brands to adapt their creative strategy for optimal performance across paid media channels. He's also an innovator in streamlining creative production, lowering the barrier for small brands, mid-sized businesses, and Fortune 500 corporations to deploy creative efficiently. From Microsoft to Dollar Shave Club to Ipsy, his knowledge, expertise, and skills span all areas of performance creative.
David joined Wpromote in September 2019 as Head of Paid Search with the goal of helping Wpromote upend the client/agency dynamic. David’s experience in paid search and digital media dates back to 2006, leading media teams at Mindshare, Media Assembly, MediaVest, and Blue Fountain Media. His experience spans all aspects of digital media, implementing campaigns across channels for clients like Honda/Acura, Fox, E*Trade, General Mills, Tyson, IBM, Allergan, Facebook, and many others. In addition to his passion for media, David enjoys golfing, obsessing over Formula 1, frequenting comedy clubs, and spending time with his wife and newborn son.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“Rules are for the obedience of fools, and the interpretation of smart men.”
Dexter joined the Wpromote team as an account manager after graduating from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Business Marketing. He brings an energetic and goal-driven approach to department-wide profitability and resource management through sales and operational initiatives. He specializes in P&L management, budgeting & finance, operations, and sales & marketing, with professional experience in the health, automotive, hospitality, real estate, and ecommerce verticals. When he's not in the office you are almost guaranteed to find him on a tennis court taking down the local competition or outdoors doing anything active like swimming or soccer.
Justin is fully dedicated to his team and their clients. He focuses on innovation and thought leadership in order to maximize SEO strategy and growth for the SEO team. Justin graduated from USC with a degree in International Relations with a focus on Global Marketing and uses what he learned regularly in his day-to-day work. When he's not strategizing around the complex world of search engines, Justin enjoys traveling, reading a great book, and spending time with his dog, Teddy.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“The most important step a person can take is always the next one.”
Sam was one of the first employees at Wpromote's Chicago office. As Head of Content Marketing, you can find her regularly nerding out about content and the digital marketing strategies that help Wpromote clients dominate their industries. She is in complete denial about her thick Chicago accent, although she won't deny her love for Chicago sports. When she has free time, she's often found checking out new restaurants and bars and looking for different ways to stay active.
Darren joined Wpromote in 2013 as an entry-level account manager on the SMB team. Over the past seven years, he's been on the incredibly rewarding journey to his current role as Group Director of the Social Media team. In past lives, Darren existed as a bartender, a journalist, and a digital content producer for a TV network. In his current role, he finds extreme joy in helping to shape our team, our clients' brands, and the way we all share our stories online. Darren is fueled by live music, inspiring conversations, and delicious craft beer.
A SoCal native from Redondo Beach, Jonathan graduated from Chico State with a double degree in Public Relations and Spanish. He helps clients leverage programmatic to engage advertisers and brands with their respective audiences. Over the past eight years, he's built experience across retail, ecommerce, financial, CPG, travel, and business verticals, familiar with both the supply and demand sides of programmatic media buying. When not developing programmatic strategies, he can be found at the beach playing volleyball or taking long hikes with his German Shepherd.
The Best Challenger Advice I’ve Received
Being open to changes to improve workflow, process, and structure. Optimizing for efficiency and adapting to the changes rather than resisting.
With a decade in digital marketing and two decades in web development, Peter serves as Wpromote's Senior Director of Web Services. He started his career as a mainframe COBOL developer, and as such has seen and gained experience with a whole spectrum of technologies. He's helped build websites for clients like Silicon Valley Bank, Salient Partners, and HealthPlus. His all-time favorite project was creating a live online bidding platform for Christie's, which is still in use today. Peter relaxes by playing, and also watching, soccer.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
Steve has been involved in creative advertising since his idol Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the 90s. After graduating from St. John's University, he went on to lead the in-house creative department at Nikon USA before venturing into agency life, where he worked on brands such as Brother International, Travelers Insurance, Sterlilng Optical, and Silicon Valley Bank. When he's not glued to any one of his six Apple devices, he likes to watch Star Wars, complete any toy collection, and test the 'ultimate driving machine' slogan.
David grew up in Manhattan Beach but has Chicago roots. He came to Wpromote to lead the Amazon team and help brands grow on the Ecommerce giant. He has a deep background in client service and extensive knowledge of the Amazon marketplace. His previous experience helping build out 2 Amazon teams positions him well for understanding the needs of clients and the complexities of the marketplace. His competitive nature likely stems from being a Division I collegiate runner, however these days he spends less time on the track and more time on the beach.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
Jessica started with Wpromote in 2007 as a Paid Search Manager and quickly took over leadership of the flourishing paid media department. Jessica's role eventually morphed into SVP of Client Services where she established our integration framework, led our delivery departments, and scaled and launched new offerings. After years of supporting clients and taking channel execution to the next level, Jessica stepped up to meet the needs of our rapidly growing organization and established our Central Operations department. Jessica is responsible for improving operational efficiencies, institutionalizing systems and automating tools, and developing scalable solutions companywide. Jessica fills the rest of her time enjoying life with her husband, daughter, and son.
Something You May Not Know About Me
Prior to entering the world of digital marketing, I studied psychology and spent several years providing therapy to children with autism.
Born and raised in Chicago, Megan struck out west to attend University of Colorado, Boulder. Immediately after graduating, she leapt across the Atlantic to live and work in London, where she discovered a true passion for recruiting. With over a decade of experience in People Operations leadership, Megan ably helps to lead Wpromote as the VP of People & Culture and is responsible for Wpromote’s people strategy, including learning and development offerings to develop future leaders of Wpromote, talent acquisition, compensation & benefits, and programs to support employee happiness and engagement.
The Best Challenger Advice I’ve Received
Imperfect action is better than perfect action. Just start.
Rob leads Wpromote’s day-to-day operations for the Dallas office while also spearheading process development initiatives across the organization. Additionally, as Head of Industry for Hospitality and Real Estate, he works t build strong client relationships for the agency’s key accounts within those verticals. Rob was co-founder and President of Standing Dog Interactive for 11 years prior to its acquisition by Wpromote in July 2016. A self-declared foodie who loves culinary adventures, Rob often travels to off-the-beaten-path places with his partner in search of new dishes to bring back to his home kitchen.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Theresa grew up in Southern California, and, after graduating from Duke University, she began her career in strategic analysis at CarMax. Ultimately, she discovered her love for finance and began working on her MBA at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, eventually accruing over ten years of finance experience. After working for a variety of public and private companies, such as Boingo Wireless, Oakwood Worldwide, Loot Crate, and Katch, Theresa joined the Wpromote family as Vice President of Finance. An avid college basketball fan and Excel aficionado, you can find Theresa cheering on the Duke University basketball team and happily making spreadsheets for anything in her free time.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
I love to travel and am trying to visit every continent–I only have Antarctica remaining.
One of the earliest members of the Wpromote family, Ryan joined fresh out of USC in 2006, where he studied Computer Science and 3D Animation. Acting as a sort of utility player for Wpromote, Ryan's role has shifted over the years to adapt to the changing needs of the company. Starting in the Performance Marketing division, he was able to focus on the growing need for in-house software development, helping build many of the management tools we use today. Outside of the office, Ryan spends most of his free time slaying dragons, shredding the California coast, and dancing from one music festival to another.
Steve draws on years of experience in IT management, business analysis, project management, and enterprise solutions to keep things running smoothly at Wpromote as Director of IT. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame, then got his MBA at UCLA, merging the worlds of IT and business. A big movie-goer and college football fan, Steve loves using his downtime to travel to countries like the UK, Mexico, and, soon enough, New Zealand and parts of Europe.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.”
A Southern California native, Annemarie studied business administration at the University of San Diego. She gravitated to the digital media and advertising world and has continued on that track for the last 15 years. At Wpromote, Annemarie leads the accounting team, ensuring all the day-to-day operations run smoothly while providing the best service possible. When not in the office, you can find her riding her horse, traveling, cooking, and spending lots of family time with her husband, son, and daughter.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE
“I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.”
Bob Schwartz has created over $1 billion of shareholder value in commerce and technology companies, including building Magento to 30%+ global marketshare (acquired by eBay), serving as the "Founder & GM" of Nordstrom.com ($2.5B in 2015), and selling an online auction company to Amazon. Bob serves as Vice Chairman of Wpromote, providing strategic advice, partnerships, talent, experience, and mentorship to drive growth and value to Wpromote and its clients, including the establishment of Wpromote's Commerce Advisory Group. Bob is currently CEO of the company building firm 47B Street, and is a thought leader in retail/technology, speaking globally on those topics.
Stephen Royer
Partner | Shamrock Capital Advisors
Steve is a Shamrock Capital Advisors Partner. Since 1998, Steve has managed Shamrock’s private equity investment activities. He currently serves as a director of Wpromote, Branded Cities, Maple Media, and Mobilitie. Previously, he served on the boards of INgrooves Music Group, Screenvision Media, Consilio, Learfield Communications, Media Storm, RealD, TeleGuam Holdings, Modern Luxury, Triad Broadcasting Company, PortalPlayer, PRN, and NETGEAR before Shamrock exited these investments. Steve serves on the Board of Trustees of Marymount High School, Los Angeles and is also a board member and former President of the St. James Inn. Prior to joining Shamrock in 1991, Steve worked as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers.
Steve graduated from Stanford University and earned an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management as a Venture Fellow.
Laura Held
Partner | Shamrock Capital Advisors
Laura is a Partner of Shamrock Capital Advisors. She currently serves as a director of Wpromote and Mobilitie. Previously, Laura served on the boards of Questex, RBmedia and as a board observer of Wazee Digital. Prior to joining Shamrock in 2012, Laura was an Associate in the Corporate Strategy group at The Walt Disney Company. She also previously worked as an Associate at The Carlyle Group and as an investment banking analyst at Credit Suisse.
Laura graduated cum laude from Georgetown University and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Brian Barnum
Operating Partner | Shamrock Capital Advisors
Brian Barnum is an Operating Partner with Shamrock Capital Advisors and works with Shamrock’s portfolio companies to improve operations and increase value. Prior to joining Shamrock in 2017, Mr. Barnum held a number of senior executive roles for privately held media, communications and technology companies including COO of Brighter, Inc., COO/CFO of The Rubicon Project, the COO/CFO of Business.com and later the President of Dex Media’s Digital businesses after it acquired Business.com, the CFO of Rent.com through its acquisition by eBay, and the CFO of Transaction Network Services, which he guided through an IPO. Prior to his roles as an operating executive, Mr. Barnum worked in investment banking to media companies at Bankers Trust Company and to technology and communications companies at Alex. Brown & Sons. Mr. Barnum has an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and has a BA in Economics from Stanford University.
Partners
GOOGLE, FACEBOOK (TO SHAMELESSLY NAME DROP).
Diversity, Inclusion & Community Initiatives
When we’re not working with clients and winning awards, our employees are always challenging Wpromote to get even better by taking on exciting and charitable side projects. We’re proud of all of the time, hard work, and resources dedicated to these internal initiatives that make us stronger as a community.
Promoting women through community building and professional development
Advocating inclusiveness and equality for the LGBTQ+ community
Pledging 1% of our time to charitable organizations and activities
“The entire company works together to best serve our clients. We share strategies across departments and join forces to get results. We’re always looking for new ways to drive success, from tactics to technologies. That’s what pumps us up!”
Cynthia Levens Director, Content Development
Los Angeles
“I help manage some of our largest and most complex clients. As a company, we’re working with more exciting challenger brands and constantly diversifying the industries we work in—I'm thrilled about the opportunity to work in new verticals as we expand.”
Kimberlee Raymond Group Account Director, Client Services
Los Angeles
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