I’ve been fortunate to have worked in some great agencies and with some amazing talents over the past 25 years. But the lion's share of my personal growth occurred at The Martin Agency and Cramer-Krasselt.

At The Martin Agency, I was taught the importance of craft. I also discovered the real truth about doing great work - it’s hard. But with great mentors pushing me, I was able to win gold medals at The One Show and Cannes. Ultimately, I was chosen to be the co-creative director in charge of leading two massive brands - UPS and Walmart.

In 2008, I joined Cramer-Krasselt in Milwaukee as Executive Creative Director. The job was to recruit, motivate, and do whatever was needed to elevate the work and reputation of the office. The real success in that effort came when individual talents started to trust each other. Once that happened, the wins really started to kick in. Wins in new business, as well as wins in the industry’s toughest award shows. In fact, our office won One Show medals in both Design and Digital, a Webby Award for Best Government Website, Creativity Ad Critic #1 ranking, five “Best in Show” winners at the Milwaukee Award Show, over ten CA winners, a Guinness World Record, and six Effie awards (including the award for Most Effective Independent Agency in North America).

In 2019, I decided that I wanted to launch my own creative agency. Or at least I wanted to give it a try. So, I found some incredibly talented friends from across the country who wanted to join me in launching Strange Animal (strangeanimal.co), our own virtual creative agency. Now I’m enjoying what I have always loved most in this crazy business – being part of a creative team that loves to chase great work.

chris@strangeanimal.co