Special effects makeup and PR aren’t all that different. They’re about transformation. About telling the right story in the right light. About making people believe.

A master artist is so skilled and committed behind the scenes that you never notice the brushstrokes. Every project is its own perfect blend of beauty and truth.

So what makes up our kickass new Enemy of Average, Abbey? How did this masterpiece of a Media Relations Account Executive go from a theatre artist working in haunted houses, to a Public Relations artist working with some of the world’s coolest clients?

We start with a palette of her favorite color combo: rose-gold & wine. In her kit you’ll find plenty of liquid latex, silicone molds, and photo references of her favorite animals, hedgehogs, owls, llamas, sea otters (any creature that’s both adorable AND smart).

Get in the mind of the character.

You trained for this at Carthage. You honed your craft devising raw theatre in Milwaukee, innovating independent film, overhauling the Chicago Fringe Festival’s marketing, creating fright and delight at Six Flags’ Fright Fest. Your supervisor eventually handed you a PR team application. You pushed past the fear because you had a gut feeling you’d be good at that, too. You did your first TV interview making the drop on a rollercoaster and trying not to swear on live TV. You nailed it.

Get out your brushes. Begin with a dash of freelance graphic design, poetry-slamming, hands-on creative. Blend in some organic and earned media, live remotes, some media relationships. The character is a total badass #girlboss. Now highlight the #girlpower around you. Good. Talent always sticks together. Doesn’t even need time to dry.

Your FX is like a “fridge magnet pitch”: if you have two words on a fridge that don’t seem like they’d make sense together, and you can move ‘em together in a cool way, you’ve got a pitch. It’s like The Flash Speed Dating on a rollercoaster. Make crazy fun things happen. Warm people’s hearts.

You killed it. Now hold it to the light and judge your work by the artist Abbey’s rules to live by:

1. Have a lot of hustle. You have to know how to pivot at the drop of the hat to change message and be effective. Hop on it.
2. Be really good at tapdancing: when a crisis happens you have to juggle through constantly changing circumstance and not be flustered.
3. PR is about telling stories. About what people connect to and wanna hear. It’s not about you. It’s about them.

Perfect. It’s ready. The world’s been waiting.

Lights. Camera. #EnemyOfAverage.

There’s been much written about Sashwatha Sridhar:

Her advertising professor said of her: “Some people write like sandpaper. Some like frosting. Some like air. Sash writes like suede. Velvety and lush while also being strong and durable.

In a world of Hemingways, the Bernbach wannabees, jargon masters, the edgy, the self-hip, the self-absorbed, and the real deals, Sash is real as the Volkswagen ‘Lemon’ ad.”

But instead, Sash lives by these words: “You think writing is easy? Try writing perfection.”

With a Masters in Advertising & PR from DePaul and an avid love of words, Sash’s combustive craft is rooted in lived experiences and international perspective. Sash attains, absorbs, analyzes, as much information as she can, then she incinerates the project with killer copy composed from holistic, human connection.

When it’s time to kick back, she refuels her fascination with articles from the Wall Street Journal, podcasts like This American Life and Stuff You Missed in History Class, children’s books, and her perpetual quest for the best veggie burger in Chicago.

And when the day is said and done. Sash stares at the sunset. She’s always looked at the sky. The day coming to a close so gracefully, the twilight transition to darkness. She documents sunsets from different perspectives on her Instagram account (@sashwatha) Because no two sunsets look the same.

“I’m not in this because it’s easy. I’m in this because I care about communicating. I care about words. There’s nothing that brings me more joy than reading a perfectly crafted sentence.”

She needs look no further than herself: with the alliterative punch of a protagonist in her own novel, even Sashwatha Sridhar’s name is a brilliant bit of copy. It means “forever.” Sure enough, a writer of her caliber comes but once in a lifetime.

Steph began developing her passion for photography when she was just 10. That’s when someone handed her a plastic Walgreens camera. “It was very, very purple,” Steph recalls. The soon-to-be artist discovered that, with the snap of a shutter, you can capture any moment and keep it forever. Sort of like magic.

Since then, Steph has accomplished an incredible feat: She turned her passion into a profession. She graduated from the journalism program at North Central College in 2015 and picked up her Master’s in Professional Leadership Studies a couple years later. As editor-in-chief of the college’s newspaper, Steph spent many late nights in the journalism office – more of a bunker than an office, really – learning to take jumbled messes of words, images and graphics and carefully weave them into stories. She learned to assemble many different forms of media into cohesive narratives, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Multimedia storytelling, she discovered, is also a form of magic.

Today, Steph is a Content Creator & Account Manager at MACLYN’s Des Moines office. In other words, she is a unicorn. Steph uses her full suite of storytelling skills – photography, videography, writing, editing, social, strategy, and other forms of creative magic – to lead our clients to victory. Outside work, Steph continues to hone her craft, collaborating with local artists and exploring the cafes and thrift shops of Des Moines, camera in hand (and probably a vanilla latté, too).

You can read more about Steph’s recent DSM adventures here.

Amanda went to college to be a teacher, but she soon found her passion for communication could change the world in other ways. For her, everything’s about connections, drawing them forward, backward, zigzag and beyond to foster the bigger picture.

“Anyone can write a pitch. But can you handle anything coming your way?”

From London to Stockholm to New York, she specializes in engaging audiences so that the right message gets heard by the right people at the right time. After years of creating disruptive awesome for Monster Jam, Amanda’s gone from monster truck donuts to actual donuts. As MACLYN’s Media Relations Account Executive, the flexible innovator and her electrifying ideas keep the energy flowing on America’s favorite coffee account.

Amanda’s creativity extends beyond the high-octane world of PR: she has an Etsy shop where she sells her original calligraphy, and she’s quickly becoming a Pinterest icon. Her favorite movie is The Little Rascals. She’s a caring cat mom, and she’s a diehard Chicago sports fan.

As the words Amanda lives by say (and once hand-lettered): “Your past is always practice.” So with her pulse on the now, this hyper-skilled pro gives MACLYN a shockingly unique look inside the future.

Carly is a cool case study in contradictions.

“I’m just a loving caring emo kid. I’m an aggressive hippy. I’m an assertive sweetheart. I’m a paradox, I’m both sides of the room”.

Seth Rogen is her Patronus. She met Robin Williams on a Barnes & Noble escalator. She loves the lake life and she’s seen Disturbed 9 times. So of course, such an interesting person is right at home here at MACLYN.

As a MACLYN Account Executive, Carly utilizes these interests as fuel to make the magic happen. Coming to us from brands like Journeys, the master organizer weaves together schedules, finds answers, executes deadlines, and Excels in general keep-us-on-trackitude.

A former band manager, audio engineer, and marketing consultant for screamo and experiential rock bands, Carly always finds the right mix that lets the Creative Warriors rock out. But more than just keeping our internal and external workflows on schedule, Carly yearns to do more: “I want to make sure that people feel connected to MACLYN – that we’re a part of their company, too.”

After graduating from Michigan State University, Danielle hopped a 747 to pursue a career in big agencies and big brands, an adventure that took her across the country and around the world. She traveled to San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Sydney, where she worked for agencies like Ogilvy, McCann, Publicis and Hal Riney.

Skilled at relationship-building, brand-building and getting-the-project-done-by-the-deadline-no-matter-what-ing, Danielle has worked with some of the world’s most prestigious brands: Huggies, Kodak, HP and Nikon, among others. Now, as MACLYN’s Account Director, she’s determined to help our clients achieve their brand objectives through creativity.

As you probably figured out, Danielle is a traveler at heart. For her, there is nothing more exciting than stepping off a plane in a place she’s never been.

When she isn’t globe-trotting or grabbing a martini with a client, Danielle spends time with her kids, who drive her crazy (in a good way); fights to protect animals; and quietly nurtures her passion for all things Hello Kitty. (You do you, no judgement here.)

Jose is a visual storyteller who captures moments colored with meaning and style: a proposal on a city street, a tropical island wedding, a cherry cliff-diving into an iced coffee in glorious slow-motion.

When a small scene has the potential for big emotion, Jose is at his best.

And while he loves capturing the little things in life, the filmmaker/photographer can do booming, dramatic scenes, too. With his drone humming overhead and a Sony in his hands, Jose has skirted the crystal blue waters of the Bahamas, narrowly dodged the blades of a giant Midwestern wind turbine, rolled down Lakeshore Drive in a supped-up Mercedes, and photographed lightning crashes over a concrete jungle.

Today, as MACLYN’s resident Content Creator, Jose channels his passion for visual storytelling into each client’s brand. With nothing but a camera and an eye for emotion, he takes us to places we’ve never been – and gives us a new way of seeing the things we think we know.

Kira is a Game of Thrones fanatic that was fairly disappointed with the finale. Ok she hated it. She is also self-described “dog mom” of a beautiful golden retriever and something called a Catahoula Leopard Dog (We know… no dire wolves?).

Oh and did we mention she’s a model in her spare time? NBD.

As MACLYN’s Jr. Strategic Planner, Kira assembles marketing strategies and works closely with our creative team to execute each plan with the endgame of crushing Average at every turn.

MACLYN just added a trio of badasses to our account and creative teams: an Account Director, a Jr. Strategic Planner, and a Content Creator. Here’s the lineup:

Danielle Ethier: An Account Director who is serious about her clients and also Hello Kitty

After graduating from Michigan State University, Danielle hopped a 747 to pursue a career in big agencies and big brands, an adventure that took her across the country and around the world. She traveled to San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Sydney, where she worked for agencies like Ogilvy, McCann, Publicis and Hal Riney. Skilled at relationship-building and getting-the-project-done-by-the-deadline-no-matter-what-ing, Danielle worked with some of the world’s most prestigious brands: Huggies, Kodak, HP and Nikon, among others. Now, as MACLYN’s Account Director, she’s determined to help our clients achieve their brand objectives through creativity.

As you may have guessed, Danielle is a traveler at heart. For her, there is nothing more exciting than stepping off a plane in a place she’s never been. When she isn’t globe-trotting or grabbing a martini with a client, Danielle spends time with her kids, who drive her crazy (in a good way); fights to protect animals; and quietly nurtures her passion for all things Hello Kitty. (You do you, no judgement here.)

Kira Ryan: A Jr. Strategic Planner who is a mother of two wonderful dogs and a GOT expert and also a model, NBD

Armed with a Marketing degree from NIU and the tech savvy of a young millennial, Kira began her career in the digital marketing world, where she honed her skills in all things Google and social. Along the way, she discovered her personal superpower: the ability to organize chaos and juggle multiple projects with ease.

That superpower is coming in handy. Today, as MACLYN’s Jr. Strategic Planner, Kira assembles marketing strategies and works closely with our creative team to execute each plan. She keeps our campaigns organized, fresh and fast-moving, leveraging her knowledge of the digital world to make us more effective than ever. And she’s not afraid to break the status quo. Already, Kira has begun to revolutionize our own internal processes to deliver the best results possible. No doubt: She’s an Enemy of Average.

Outside the office, Kira is a self-described “dog mom” of a beautiful golden retriever and something called a Catahoula Leopard Dog (worth a quick Google). She enjoys watching Game of Thrones with her pups, modelling in her spare time, and hate-hate-hating on T Swift.

“Swifties (and Kevin) won’t like me for this,” she says. “But I have a strong dislike of Taylor Swift, so I make a very conscious effort to never hear her music.”

Jose Torres: A Content Creator who loves his family, his car, and (of course) his trusty drone

For most of his career, Jose Torres has operated as a lone wolf, traveling the US and Caribbean as a one-man filmmaker-photographer. There’s one thing he loves more than anything in the world: family (with muscle cars as a close second). Since he first picked up a camera, this passion for human relationships has defined his work. 

Jose specializes in capturing small but significant moments: a proposal, an island wedding, a cherry dropping into an iced coffee in slow-motion. But he can do sweeping, dramatic scenes, too. With his drone humming overhead and a Sony in his hands, he’s skirted the crystal blue waters of the Bahamas, narrowly missed the blades of a giant Midwestern wind turbine, rolled down Lakeshore Drive in a supped-up Mercedes, and captured lightning crashes over a concrete jungle.

Today, as MACLYN’s resident Content Creator, Jose channels his passion for visual storytelling and human relationships into our client’s brands, creating images and videos that take us to places we’ve never been – and give us a new way of seeing the things we think we know.

Our Design Intern, Naomi, is a Creative Liger

Meet Naomi. She’s a student, a barista, a painter, a vegan, an artist, and a Design Intern at our Des Moines office, where she helps our creative team develop award-winning campaigns.

Naomi specializes in clean, simple design, with a sharp attention to detail and plenty of character. BUT WAIT – THERE’S A TWIST! While her specialty is design and illustration, Naomi also has a knack for UI/UX development, which makes her a rare hybrid in the advertising world. Sort of like a liger, a pizzly bear, or a wholphin, but different.

Today, Naomi is a student at the Des Moines Area Community College, where she studies graphic design and web development. Swing by our Des Moines bunker to say hi to our many-talented intern and maybe even have your likeness immortalized in acrylic.