Sarah Halle
Alias: Partner, Creative
Superpowers: Standout concepts, clever word play, improv
Backstory: Her deep creative, strategy, and PR experience make her a triple threat; her mixed metaphors will keep you on your toes. Married to a fellow agency vet and stepmom to two teen girls who keep her informed of burgeoning Gen Zisms.
Thaddeus Napp
Alias: Partner, Strategy
Superpowers: Brand purpose, productive tension, audience and client mind-melds
Backstory: Husband to a husband and father to a son, Thad grew up a country kid in Hygiene, CO and followed his passion for people and storytelling to a film degree and time in reality TV. In 2010, he got lucky with a freelance gig — and professional mentors — at Vermilion and couldn't get enough.
Paul Richard
Alias: Experience Design Director
Superpowers: Synthesizing, simplifying, structuring. Using words that begin with "S."
Backstory: Born and raised a Coloradan in every sense of the word, Paul’s DIY self reliance and inadvisably large list of interests make him a veritable Swiss Army knife of design. He’s also trapped in an exponentially-expanding balloon of hobbies. Help.
Kevin Bonner
Alias: Art Director
Superpowers: Creative concepts, attention to detail, design speed (not The Flash speed, but pretty quick for a mere mortal)
Backstory: Started his career working for small boutique agencies in San Francisco before calling Colorado home. Find him hiking, snowboarding, listening to live music, sipping a beer, hanging with his kids, or wrestling his dog (who’s a popular visitor at the Vermilion office).
Sam Peterson
Alias: Senior Digital Marketing Manager
Superpowers: Finding the story in the data, pushing pixels (different from Erin’s kind), baking lemon cream tartlets
Backstory: Known as “a golden retriever in human form,” Sam brings warm, buoyant energy to every project. Unlike a golden retriever, she nerds out over data and well-made dashboards. Despite being told that her Psychology/Communications double major would be unmarketable, she delights in applying both daily on behalf of brands doing good in the world.
Jake Marty
Alias: Art Director
Superpowers: Shutter sorcerer, computer clicker, nose flautist
Backstory: Likes things better when they look good so he’s just doing his part to make the world a more beautiful place. Loves running, biking, photography, skiing in the mountains and chasing his two little kiddos as they chase the dog.
Tracey Pulvermiller
Alias: Finance Director
Superpowers: Excel aficionado, Workamajig wizard, left-brain legend in a right-brain world
Backstory: Raised by parents who billed at the breakfast table, Tracey has a lifetime of experience in professional service and has spent 8+ years in the agency world. She manages all things money so designers can keep designing and developers can keep developing. New Yorker at heart; Coloradan by choice.
Joe Battenburg
Alias: Lead Developer
Superpowers: Reading the Matrix, hacking the planet, squashing bugs
Backstory: Raised by both humans and computers, Joe helps bridge the gap between the two. When he's not at home watching screens and listening to music, he’s out among his fellow humans doing the same at movies or concerts. Definitely not a robot.
Bob Morehouse
Alias: Founder/Big Fan
Superpowers: Humor, patience, listening, perspective
Backstory: Came to Boulder in the late 70s, founded Vermilion in 1980, guided the firm through four decades, now taking pride in Vermilion’s remarkable culture, sitting back and ‘being’ more than ‘doing’.
Erin Coldiron
Alias: Art Director
Superpowers: Logo appraisals, typographic treatments, pixel pushing
Backstory: Formed a critical eye for (her own) poor handwriting in childhood, which has since shaped her design acuity across all project types. Keeps herself entertained with dog snuggles, good books, and house projects.
Betsy Gill
Alias: Office Manager/Mom/Happiness Engineer
Superpowers: Adapting to life's curveballs, eagle-eye proofreading, nurturing the team’s bellies, hearts, and souls
Backstory: Betsy’s story has many chapters: artist, designer, environmentalist, fabric store owner, teacher, companion to handsome pup Disco, and the centralizing force who keeps things running smoothly at Vermilion. Whether you need an organic restaurant recommendation or comforting words during hard times, ask Betsy.
Kate Mason
Alias: Senior Account Manager
Superpowers: Solutions sorcery, connection-building, perfectly timed memes
Backstory: Former adventure filmmaker turned account aficionado, Kate is a passionate advocate for the outdoors, social justice, and businesses that give back. She spends unusual amounts of time contemplating THE WHY, biking down mountains, and collecting stamps in her “golden ticket” (passport).
Chris Ash
Alias: Web Developer
Superpowers: Listening to and understanding client needs, curiosity, empathy
Backstory: Approaches life through thoughtful observation, self-reflection and wonder. Big fan of finding clean, concise solutions to technical web challenges and pondering the interconnectivity of everything.
Craig Spalding
Alias: Business Development & Marketing Director
Superpowers: Demystifying client business challenges, breaking the ice, estimating budgets
Backstory: Craig knows purpose-driven organizations — after 10+ years of brand marketing for B Corps and CPG, he brought his client-side experience to the agency world. Loves exploring retail for fun (some call it research) and hiking Colorado’s mountains.
Susan Aust
Alias: Partner, CEO
Superpowers: Leading from the heart, building gritty teams, becoming friends with clients
Backstory: Honored and humbled to lead the agency’s vision, culture, business, and client and community relationships as CEO after being a Vermilionaire since 1992. Learned the art of client service from founder Bob Morehouse and went brand-side for a stint before happily boomeranging back to Vermilion to lead the account and digital marketing teams. Lives with the husband she’s known since second grade; relishes time with her East Coast sons; loves entertaining and playing epic games of Sorry!
Lindsay Christopher
Alias: Business Development Manager
Superpowers: Asking questions, adapting approaches, building relationships
Backstory: Homegrown Coloradan with deep experience in nonprofit fundraising and communications who brings a keen eye to social impact at Vermilion. Loves (winning at) game nights, crafting (with varying success), and helicopter parenting her dog and houseplants.
Jessica Hakanson
Alias: Account Director
Superpowers: Strategic thinking, budget managing, snake-plant-growing
Backstory: Brings a unique perspective to creative problem-solving, partly thanks to her Advertising and Philosophy degrees. Feels lucky to put her passion for doing good into practice working with inspiring brands at Vermilion and raising future changemakers (two young kiddos) at home.
Ellen O'Clover
Alias: Senior Copywriter
Superpowers: Manifestos, taglines, alluring alliteration
Backstory: Graduated from Johns Hopkins with a creative writing degree and has used it to write for big brands, small brands, and young adult novels. Shares her house with a rocket scientist and two bulldogs named Puffin and Lilly.
Mike DuFresne
Alias: Digital Director
Superpowers: Building and optimizing high-performing campaigns, conducting fermented food experiments
Backstory: Packs 15+ years of digital marketing experience across paid advertising, email, social, mobile, and more. Father to a three-year-old daughter; husband to a wife; frequent hiker, camper, and backpacker.
Our clients’ common thread? Purpose.
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