Fabian Marquez

Associate Creative Director, Writing

I believe the best advertising tells a good story in a very compressed timeframe. Having spent my career writing, producing and directing short- and long-form films, and working with studios like New Line Cinema and DreamWorks, I learned the value of efficient storytelling. Now I apply those skills every day, while embracing new challenges and opportunities in storytelling using a variety of media and mediums. As a result, I'm a good idea man, writer and director. And I'm not too shabby at lying on the beach with a drink in my hand! But I pride myself on listening to what my clients and collaborators have to say, and understanding the essence of what they're trying to convey.

Centerline has established a reputation for being innovative and always taking on new challenges, so that means I'm always engaged and flexing my creative muscles. I feel very lucky to do that for a living. But most of all, I love working with my team to over-deliver on client expectations.

Nora Jones

Executive Project Manager

My 18 years of agency experience began almost by accident — I got a job as a production assistant through a friend and right away I was hooked. Since then I’ve worked in production, and account and project management for clients like British Airways North America, IBM, Nortel Networks, Mannington Floors, and North Carolina Travel and Tourism.

I’ve spent my career sharpening my skills in process management, planning and coordinating. At Centerline, our primary focus is understanding our clients’ needs so that we can effectively solve their communications challenges. But my passion is guiding project management teams in building and maintaining successful and productive relationships with clients.

Cait Vlastakis Smith

Senior Creative Strategist / UX Designer

I once raided my dad's Craftsman tool chest, fished out the tools I needed and turned my family’s wok into a snow sled. (I was promptly grounded.) I still do this today, except I use digital tools to transform communication challenges into user-centered experiences and creative content. It's a great time to be a designer. We get to solve problems with data, science and art.

My background is a mix of writing and design: from writing grant proposals, speeches, copy and code to designing sales tools, presentations and intellectual libraries. I also ditched the workforce during the recession for graduate school to pursue my passion for storytelling and interactive design. These experiences ingrained in me a habit of dissecting problems, figuring out what makes people tick and then designing a solution that speaks to both. At Centerline, I build on this habit each day with the brands we serve to achieve their marketing goals, and I collaborate with an immensely talented group of people who are equally passionate about harnessing the power of good design.

Kristen Powers

Executive Account Manager

I got my first taste of commercial and digital production at BBDO in Atlanta where I got to work with some of the biggest brands in the world. I was immediately hooked. I’m a little schedule-obsessed, with a love for structure, so the need for organization and attention to detail suited my type-A personality just fine. But there’s another part of me that craves the creative mindset: collaboration, brainstorming and completely out-of-the-box thinking. In marketing, we have the opportunity to use strengths from both parts of the brain, which makes it an industry like none other.

Today, my focus is on building and maintaining strong internal and client relationships. At Centerline, I work to help my team read and understand our clients’ needs, and then go above and beyond to surprise and over-deliver for both existing clients and those on their first project. Producing beautifully creative work that effectively overcomes communication challenges is the best part of the job. That and working with some of the smartest, most creative people I know.

Bret Kruse

Associate Creative Director, Interactive

When I saw Toy Story for the first time I decided then and there that I wanted to work at Pixar making 3D-animated movies. Instead, I kicked off my career in the social gaming industry at Disney working to master techniques involved with user experiences and interactive marketing. Fast-forward to today where I guide design teams in building award winning work using animation, 3D, interactive, user interface design and seamless HTML/CSS/jQuery.

At Centerline, we try to contribute a sense of an all-of-the-above approach. We don't just do design. We don't just do frontend or backend. We do all of that and then some. I work with an amazing and talented team, and every day I learn as much from them as they learn from me. Together, we combine complex technology with engaging design to produce great work for our clients.

Brian Pace

Art Director / Team Manager

From an early age I knew I wanted to create things. I was always drawn to art and had the good fortune of hitting my stride just as computers and digital technology were becoming faster, cheaper and more widely used. I loved combining video and graphics to make things move, and the first time I saw my work on the “big screen” was probably the greatest moment of my career to date.

At Centerline, we’re constantly coming up with ways to innovate and stay ahead of trends in spite of limitations in technology. I rarely get the impression that things are stale; there's always a new challenge to tackle. To that end, my focus is sharing my expertise with my team (the guys doing the heavy lifting). I guide them along through the journey of each project making sure they use their talents wisely and efficiently. Although, they’d probably say I mostly use my ninja-like skills to sneak up behind them and watch their work in progress.

Rebecca Dole

Executive Project Manager

While I started my career in graphic design, there are few things that I love more than a well-organized spreadsheet (like Post-it® notes, Sharpie® pens and amazing coffee). So I consider myself a true right- and left-brain person. Before joining the agency world I worked in higher education in various roles within marketing and communications. Now that I live the agency life, I have the best of both worlds: working with creative and project management teams. And I wouldn’t trade the daily opportunities for collaboration between my team and our clients for a lifetime supply of Post-its.

My team has described me as “sassy with a sprinkle of Southern charm”, so I work hard to live up to their expectations. I also strive to be both a leader and a mentor. While I am constantly multitasking at work, the concept took on a whole new meaning when I became a working mom. At Centerline, I share my commitment and intense work ethic with my team so we can create compelling digital campaigns and assets that resolve our clients’ toughest communication challenges.

Jodi Schwartz

Executive Account Specialist - IBM

As long as I can remember I’ve been surrounded by media and communications. When I was younger, I helped my father choose photographs for multimedia slideshow presentations, and I adjusted lights on video shoots. My production days turned into a successful film- and video-editing career. I still have a meticulous eye (and ear) for the smallest editing issues. The move to project management was a natural progression — I even keep a spreadsheet at home for weekly camp schedules and school lunch inventories. At work, I immerse myself completely in a client’s business. It gives me a deeper understanding of their communication challenges so that together we can overcome them.

As a principal at Centerline since the beginning, I’ve had the good fortune to work with extremely creative and resourceful people. Everyone here is driven to do good work. To continually evolve and take on the unpredictability of the industry and the digital space — and at the end of the day to say, “I created something that tells a good story”.

Tami Gaythwaite

Vice President - Account Management

There are a lot of misconceptions about what we do in this industry (and I attribute most of them to Mad Men). But to me it’s all about watching ideas grow and develop, and ultimately using those ideas to solve clients’ communication challenges. I started out on the creative side of those challenges — writing, editing, motion graphic design and multimedia production. This experience helps me see both the creative and business sides of projects, so our team can guide them from budget and workflow through execution.

A big part of my job today is building marketing solutions and driving strategic growth through client partnerships. At Centerline, we believe the most important thing to maintaining these relationships is listening so that together we can uncover effective solutions.

Steven Keith

Senior Business Strategist

For the past 20 years, I've been brewing my own special blend of strategic thinking through experience as a business analyst and as a digital marketer. It gives me unique perspective from two fronts. First, I've worked to dissect business plans from the outside, helping companies overcome big, sticky internal operations challenges. Second, as a veteran practitioner of digital marketing, I've helped top brands think differently about how they package themselves outwardly in order to get the right information to the right audience at the right time.

Ben Harris

Interactive Art Director

I've always loved art and design. At first, advertising was a job where I'd be able to make money while I pursued "real" art. Then I figured out that advertising is one of the signature art forms of 21st century American culture. Nothing reflects our consumer-driven culture more than our advertising. After I graduated from SUNY Alfred, I spent a good part of my career designing and developing online games and promotions for Nickelodeon, Sony Pictures and DreamWorks.

At Centerline, I get to work with very smart people in a job that changes from day to day. Our interactive team collaborates with content strategists, interactive designers and developers to create compelling and usable online experiences. Once a strategy is in place, what separates a memorable user experience from a forgettable one is all in the details: How did the user get here? What device are they on? What should they accomplish before they leave? These are all things that should be considered before the words "best practices" are considered. And our job is to help make every online experience an easy and memorable one.

Kaileen Gersper

Recruiter

I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay area, but today I call Raleigh home. My experience ranges from start-ups to well-established companies, and covers everything from sales and marketing, to management and recruiting. At Centerline, I get the chance to work closely with a wide range of people — my job is to collaborate with our hiring managers to bring in candidates who fit our needs.

And while I’m not directly involved with the client or creative sides of our business, I still enjoy the diversity and creativity of agency life. No two days are the same, and there’s such a great energy to our company culture. On a daily basis, I work to represent Centerline’s culture to prospective employees. Even when a position’s requirements are very specific, I can find folks who help our team become better, stronger and faster.

Erin Craft

Executive Account Manager

I guess you could say my background is pretty diverse — I double-majored in business management and microbiology. So naturally, I took a year off after college to focus on photography and work with horses. When I decided to get a “real job”, there was a production/office assistant position open at Centerline. Nearly a decade later, I’m still here — working to master the nuances of IBM’s business model, as well as the marketing needs of the various (and plentiful) IBM divisions.

I love that we have the daily opportunity to switch between right- and left-brain approaches to solve communications challenges from a variety of different angles. At Centerline, we believe that forming strong partnerships with clients is the only way to achieve their marketing and business goals. So with my unique blend of experience, an eye toward creativity, a tight grasp on budgetary concerns and old-fashioned common sense, I guide accounts to measurable success.

Lauren Childs

Senior Project Manager

It’s been my experience that the best work is created when we build a strong foundation of trust in our relationships — both with clients and colleagues. And that’s what I’ve focused on doing since I took my first job at a PR & advertising agency after college. Because while things can admittedly get stressful at times within this fast-paced industry, it’s during those moments that I’ve learned the most about effective communication and what true teamwork can accomplish.

My type-A personality thrives in project management; I love to handle multiple schedules, contribute to great design, organize calendars, form solid bonds with customers, and perfect project details. And I’ve had the chance to do that for brands in luxury goods, IT, travel and tourism, and more.

At Centerline, my team and I work to demonstrate our reliability in every interaction to ensure our clients feel confident in our dedication to their projects. Together, we work diligently to deliver inspired creative solutions that are on time, on point and on budget (and we have a little fun in the process, too).

Shawn Gillen

Executive Creative Director

I’ve always been an artist and a designer, driven by the power of communications — specifically, distilling complex information down to a simple idea or design. With a strong background in establishing brands and engaging conversations, the importance of making emotional connections and delivering value and not just information has always been a driver in what I do.

As a creative director at Centerline, I lead an agency full of problem solvers, so the question is never "can we?" but always "we could..." Discovering new solutions to age-old problems both in execution and delivery of the work is how we roll, and having a fluid process and collaboration of strategy, departments and client relationships is how we make it happen.

Sarah Riley

Senior Project Manager

As a French major with a minor in business, I always imagined I would end up as a professor or, perhaps, an ambassador. But then I landed a job at a consumer promotions agency and felt an immediate connection with the creative, solution-driven environment. Now that I live the agency life, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Growing up, I was the kid who was never afraid to ask questions (which got me into trouble more times that I can count). Fortunately, my unquenchable thirst to know “why” has turned out to be an extremely valuable asset, as I’m reminded with each project that it takes asking the right questions to find the right solution.

I thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment and that’s why Centerline is the perfect home for me. At Centerline, we are constantly changing and evolving, which pushes my team and I to always find the best solutions for our clients. Our ability to see the possibilities in problems — the design in chaos — and the path to the finish line is what helps us bring our clients continuous success.

John Lane

Vice President - Strategy/Creative

Watching TV as a kid, I used to run to the bathroom during the shows so I could make it back for the commercials. Those days launched me down a path that included layout and writing for the college paper; communications strategy for political campaigns; marketing strategy and graphic design for Gensler (a global design and architecture firm); and the implementation of new programming, animation and design techniques for Centerline.

Today I specialize in content marketing strategy and building digital deliverables to execute those strategies. But it’s about more than just creating killer digital content. At Centerline, we help clients succeed in the digital marketplace using a three-pronged approach: strategic (message creation, brand strategy), tactical (design, development), and analytical (measurement and adaptation). This experience-tested approach allows me to build campaigns that are both well-designed and effective for clients like IBM, DuPont and CEI.

David “Rock” Schafermeyer

Art Director/Team Manager

When I first saw the opening credits of the movie Se7en, I knew wanted to be an animator. Since then, I’ve spent my career creating animations and motion graphics for corporate video, Web, narrative film, television and interactive experiences. As one of the original Centerliners, I’ve spent more than 12 years honing my design style for clients like IBM while managing a multidisciplinary team of animators, editors, composers and 3D artists. I consider myself lucky to have found a career that lets me use my creativity. This industry is built on the unexpected, and my team lives for finding unconventional solutions for our clients’ communication challenges.

At home, I spend time improving my lifestyle by cooking and eating healthy foods. At Centerline, I continually push my team to raise the industry bar by building distinct, hardworking visual executions for video and multimedia projects with a focus on clean, precise design, and an emphasis on readability and dramatic motion.

Kristi Creamer

General Manager

In the early days at Centerline I was a project manager and a self-taught editor. I also managed everything from human resources to accounting to overall operations. That was 10 years ago. Now that we’ve grown from a handful of people to around 80, I use that experience to keep the business running smoothly.

Before Centerline, I helped lead my college basketball team into the NCAA tournament (go, Furman!), earning co-MVP honors in the process. I’m still committed to my team’s success. I take a lot of pride in our culture and work environment — my team and I are continually learning and working to solve the new challenges that each day presents.

Charles Long

Founder & CEO

As the founder of Centerline, I consider myself fully accountable for the creative direction and quality of content that Centerline delivers. But my true expertise is problem-solving — specifically using both the right and left sides of my brain to find creative solutions to big business issues. Here at Centerline, we combine strategy and media elements to create compelling, immersive experiences that generate traffic and awareness. The chance to do that better every day keeps me coming to work.

Before founding Centerline in 1996, I was a power generation engineer for General Electric, providing energy solutions in developing countries of the Pacific Rim. Today I continue to expect the unexpected and work to always raise the bar for what we deliver to our clients.

Adam Mittner

Art Director / Team Manager

Since a young age I have loved storytelling and technology. My goal was to become a 3D artist, but I hit a slight snag. In the words of a post-production professor, "everyone in this room is creative, artistic, and has a story to tell, but you are learning how to shoot and edit video because you can't draw.” I edited my first short film in 9th grade and the rest is history.

The most challenging and rewarding thing about this industry is that it is constantly evolving. I work hard to maintain my status as an expert in video and post-production technology, always researching and pushing to find innovative ways to make Centerline better. The members of my team are extremely skilled, experienced, and just as driven. My expectations for them are almost as high as their expectations for themselves, and that’s how we do amazing, thought-provoking work.

Erin Grohs

Executive Account Manager

I started my career in technology and consumer public relations. For years, I managed global PR and sales teams, from Mexico City to Milan. I like to think I’m a good problem solver — I’m also a kickass speed-reader and I play a mean game of catch. I transitioned to marketing because I wanted to be more involved in the strategy behind the content, creative and messaging.

At Centerline, I work with incredibly smart, fun, talented and all-around-rad people that make me want to be MORE awesome every day. I work side-by-side with strategy, creative and project management teams to help define our clients’ short- and long-term needs and develop and execute communication strategies that support those business objectives and marketing goals.

David Baeumler

Executive Creative Director

Part director, part writer, and the former lead singer of a touring punk rock band, you could say I have a different way of viewing the world. It’s a perspective that was sparked by growing up in a home filled with abstract art. And it was further honed by living in places like Vienna, Norway, Spain, Los Angeles, and Boston. All those different cultural inputs influence my unique way of capturing stories through the filmmaker’s lens.

My films are my way of exploring new ideas and using narrative as a tool to convey them — and they have been featured at festivals and galleries around the world. I put my passion to work daily at Centerline where I’ve written and directed thousands of customer testimonials, event videos, and product demo animations. In 1997, I was hired as the first employee at Centerline Digital. I feel fortunate everyday to be a part of a company that is innovative and passionate about exceeding clients’ expectations. At Centerline, my team and I blend experimental techniques with storytelling threads to deliver compelling pieces that ensure our clients are happy and successful.

Shawn Lamons

Executive Project Manager

I love seeing the pieces of a puzzle come together — which is why I’ve always been keen on organization and proud of my attention to detail. Growing up, I thrived at leading group projects; I managed my college’s radio station and enjoyed creating trip itineraries for my friends and I. My ability to foresee roadblocks during projects and a knack for producing innovative solutions prepared me for my role at Centerline.

After graduating from East Carolina University, I moved to Raleigh to begin a career at Centerline. Over the next 6.5 years, I worked my way up from Office Assistant to Executive Project Manager. When approaching a new project, I make sure to put myself in the customers’ shoes. While being knowledgeable about our capabilities is important, understanding the clients’ needs and goals is imperative. By forming strong connections, my team and I ensure that our deliverables not only meet, but exceed, our clients’ expectations.

Jamie Ousterout

Senior Project Manager

I’ve always been passionate about creative writing. So during my college years at Cornell University, I was actively involved in my school’s publishing activities, serving as the editor-in-chief at Rainy Day Literary Magazine. This opportunity helped me to perfect my skills in copyediting and also introduced me to the world of digital marketing.

After graduation, I took a position at a publishing company here in Raleigh. And while my role there was rewarding, I wanted to pursue a career that would intertwine my love for working alongside clients with creative storytelling. I found my niche at Centerline, where I work with a talented team of people to deliver stories that enhance and shape our clients’ brand messages.

At Centerline, I use my background in writing narratives to help clients determine the best format to tell their stories.  My proofreading expertise — what people have termed as “eagle eyes” — ensures that the smallest details of each project complements our clients’ overall message and achieves noticeable results.