From the frenzy of garage start-ups to the boardrooms of billion-dollar companies, Bolder & Co. Creative Studios is a results-driven, full-service marketing agency that help clients reach ambitious revenue and customer engagement goals by producing the highest caliber brand development and design combined with data-smart marketing.
We are an award-winning think tank: a collection of brilliant minds, inspired souls, and sizzling creativity.
In this chaotic and cluttered world of relentless change, it takes a tremendous amount of effort and insight for a brand to clearly articulate a meaningful message. As seasoned branding consultants, we strategically think, freely imagine, and precisely execute using the latest and greatest marketing techniques.
Mark Bloemhard, PhD, MBA, MA
CEO, Founder
Mark is a seasoned leader and strategist with a PhD in branding and decades of experience guiding giants like Ferrari, Maserati, and McDonald's. He combines his unmatched expertise with a passion for building brands that exceed shareholder’s expectation.
A father of five children, he and his “better 3/4” (AKA wife, Bethany) now dream of circumnavigating the globe on a sailboat.
Most unique hobby: Sailing!!!
Last meal on Earth: Medium-rare cheeseburger with ALL the toppings (mushrooms, caramelized onions, bacon, egg, pepper jack cheese, etc.)
Bucket list travel destinations: French Polynesia, Italy, and Greece.
Best piece of advice for your younger self: Read "Think Like a Monk" by Jay Shetty.
Remote workplace of choice: On a sailboat.
Katelyn Martin
CFO
Katelyn is the glue that holds everything (and everyone) together at Bolder. In other words, we often refer to her as “the real studio boss” (though she’d never admit to it!). Coming from one of the fastest-growing franchises in Canada and the U.S., Katelyn brings deep experience in systems and process thinking to her duties as overseer of the accounting and day-to-day operations of the studio.
Completely smitten with her one and only, Keith, and spicy food (of course!), Katelyn could run the country with her hands tied behind her back, blindfolded, with her foot in a bucket. Yeah. She’s that good.
Childhood dream job: Dermatologist
Last meal on Earth: Paneang Thai Curry
Remote workplace of choice: Hawaii
Calle Evans
Director of Operations
If you want a master class in poise and how to get shit done, talk to Calle. She’s a virtuoso when it comes to wrangling projects, managing ALL the details, and keeping our customers happy. Did we mention she made her own wedding dress? Yeah, Calle can do all the things.
A graduate of the fashion design program at University of Cincinnati, Calle ran her own boutique for years before deciding to bring her customer service skills and business acumen to our studio. She may have never worn a pair of jeans in her life, but she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty and get the job done.
Superpower: Small talk. A Midwesterner at heart, and a master of the art.
Childhood dream job: Fashion Designer
Most unique hobby: Hand beading/embroidery, wine collecting. Oh, and touring caves.
Last meal on Earth: Eggs over easy on toast with avocado
Bucket list travel destinations: Ireland, Scotland, South of France, Maldives, and many more.
Remote workplace of choice: Paris, but since I'd probably have to bring my husband too, Italy.
Ken Kowalski
Creative Director
With over 25 years of design experience working with industry leaders, we knew we’d pulled the long straw when Ken decided to come on board as our Executive Creative Director. Truly a master of his craft, Ken is a hands-on creative leader whose presence and opinion carry considerable weight. A warhorse of the trade, Ken pushes the creative threshold, delivering purposeful and compelling solutions to every brand he touches. He has worked with world-renowned brands including Pepsi Co., Gatorade, Tropicana, Chobani, and Whole Foods—just to name a few.
Don’t let his ageless grin and good looks fool you: Ken can direct any genre of design. His personal signature, moreover, is present in every project he takes on and caught only by his insatiable ability to create timeless brands over and over again.
Amy Klinger
Director of Brand Strategy
Amy approaches brand strategy a little like a therapist works with a patient. She asks questions, lets her clients talk, and takes a lot of notes. Because while Amy is a whiz at pulling together smart, compelling brand positioning, message strategies, and more, she knows that a brand’s truth can only come from the people who live and breathe the business. In that way, she’s here to help you articulate what you probably already know.
Amy’s worn lots of hats throughout her career from in-house communications professional to freelance writer to agency-side creative for brands like Keurig, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Way and the State of Vermont.
Armed with an MFA in Creative Writing, Amy tackles copywriting and content development with a keen, critical eye for voice and narrative flow. But ask her how to improve your own writing and she’ll give you one simple piece of advice: Make it interesting. That was certainly the drive behind her first published novel in 2022, In Light of Recent Events.
Superpower: Making killer Neopolitan pizza
Most unique hobby: Classical guitar
Last meal on Earth: Mole Negro with freshly made corn tortillas
Best piece of advice for your younger self: Skip grad school, travel instead
Amy Domer
Marketing Director
No matter what Amy tackles in life, she does it with gusto and her full heart. An expert in all things digital marketing, she’s the one you turn to with questions about marketing, social media trends, and web “stuff.” She’ll get your brand dialed in fast.
Named Athlete of the Year 2021 at her local CrossFit gym, Amy’s passion for life extends outside the office too. She’s a triathlete and loves the outdoors, especially when she is hanging out with her husband and their puppy, Barry—who is proving to be the biggest challenge yet to Amy’s record of successes.
Childhood dream job: Veterinarian or a nurse. Amy loves animals and helping people!
Last meal on Earth: Ribeye steak, her grandma’s fried potatoes, and mom’s peanut butter pie.
Bucket list travel destinations: Pacific Northwest, Netherlands, 24/50 states in the U.S. not yet visited.
Remote workplace of choice: North Michigan or Alaska for the cooler weather and great lake views. Winter is a favorite.
Kahlin Hawke
PPC Specialist
With nearly a decade of experience in the digital marketing space, Kahlin’s ability to learn quickly, adapt and work efficiently makes him a master of his craft. He brings a Jedi presence to the Bolder studio and utilizes PPC strategy to show clients direct and clear company growth. Kahlin is also a generous teacher and goes out of his way to help others understand the Wild West World of paid search marketing. As a former teacher himself, helping others grow is simply in his wiring.
Kahlin is a true Midwesterner and has spent most of his life in Springfield, Ohio. In his free time, Kahlin enjoys kayaking and spending time outdoors with his five boys. His adventurous spirit once led him and his wife to live in an RV on the California coast for a year where he enjoyed the laid-back, bike-riding lifestyle of coastal dwellers. As much as he enjoyed that, Kahlin values working with people he knows and says nothing compares to a local community.
What did you want to be when you grew up? A hermit in Alaska, who lived off the land and had a sled dog team.
Name 3 Bucket list Travel Destinations. Anywhere with mountains, Israel, and New Zealand
What is the best piece of advice you would give your younger self? You have a lot of adventures ahead so just enjoy the journey!
If you had a year to work remotely, where would it be? I just love the simplicity of working from home.
Abby Hoffman
UX/UI Developer
A graduate of The Modern College of Design, Abby is a shrew UX/UI Developer, specializing in keeping everyone’s blood pressure at appropriate shrewd—aka, ensuring our clients’ sites and apps have a responsive user interface and user experience so they make sense, look good, and are easy to use.
Abby is an outdoor enthusiast and if she’s not in the office, she’s probably out hiking with her husband and two dogs, Maple and Scooby. She’s a true Ohioan and Urbana native. She loves animals and grew up showing goats and cows at the county fair for nearly a decade. Always seeking to expand her horizons, Abby would love to learn the guitar and could see herself selling everything she has to backpack across the globe at some point.
What did you want to be when you grew up? Veterinarian
Name 3 Bucket list Travel Destinations. Arches National Park, Switzerland, Italy
What is the best piece of advice you would give your younger self? Your life isn’t yours if you’re always caring about what others think. Just be yourself and save your money!
If you had a year to work remotely, where would it be? Camping and traveling to new places out west
A small team of A+ players can run circles
Around a giant team of B and C players.
~ Steve Jobs
We are real, showing up as our honest selves without pretense or pretentiousness.
We are candid even if it means having uncomfortable conversations.
We are passionate as we live optimistically and dive headfirst into challenges.
We are invested in each other, recognizing that “we” is a better, more satisfying way to work than “I”, and that the most important part of our culture is that we care about each other.
We are excellence-driven, bringing our A-game for every client and being proactive in tackling their needs.
We are accountable, knowing that every team member owns our studio's success.
We are not bound by traditional thinking.
We are fiercely loyal, committed to building rich and meaningful connections, and deeply dedicated to helping one another live better lives by offering opportunities to grow and make bold choices.
We take pride in producing the highest quality work from day 1 through day 1000 and beyond. We change and adapt right along with our clients so that our work stays fresh and always on point.
As a fully engaged partner, we point out opportunities and raise our hands when we have concerns. In this way, we invest ourselves in our clients’ success and longevity.
It’s the kind of self-awareness and knowledge that comes from experience as well as careful navigation and understanding of complex relationships. We’ve carried forward time-tested best practices and shed the approaches that don’t serve us or our clients well. But that doesn’t mean we’re not continually inviting and applying new lessons.
As a team, Bolder is efficient, effective, and darned good at producing the highest caliber strategic marketing and creative work.