COMPANY PRINCIPALS

Steve Gaither — Creative & Marketing

Steve is the hands-on director of the creative at the agency, as well as the agency’s founder. His unique formula of business and creative solutions combined with interpersonal client relations provides winning results for client projects.

With more than 15 years of design, marketing and management experience, Steve brings direct accountability and results to each project. An early innovator in the creative battlefield of promotion and strategic marketing, he has helped growing business organizations for more than ten years and brings this kind of strategic and tactical execution to every project at JB Chicago.

Prior to founding JB Chicago, Steve served as an art director at GMR Marketing and helped build the agency’s Chicago creative department. He was also a senior designer for Jager Di Paolo Kemp, Scott Ross Limited and MDI Grafx and has worked with a variety of clients ranging from Kraft Foods to Burton Snowboards. Steve has a B.S. from Ball State University’s acclaimed College of Architecture & Planning. He has sat on the board for Y-ME and Looking Glass Theater and has contributed services to Chicago's Gateway Green.

Jonathan Leake — Technology & Management

Jonathan has more than 10 years of Internet marketing experience. In college he began working in the trenches of Internet marketing and media delivery, and observed that marketers were on the cusp of a consumer revolution that could only be satisfied by customer-controlled media delivery efforts.

Jonathan’s experience gives JB Chicago’s clients ample access to expertise in direct response marketing technology .  This helps clients achieve maximum results through the interrelation of technology function and creative form coupled with their respective marketing goals. His combined approach to technology and creative allows JB Chicago to provide innovative solutions in the expanding field of direct and online marketing.

Prior to JB Chicago, Jonathan worked at Draft Worldwide and David Gomez and Associates. Under the leadership of Howard Draft at Draft Worldwide, Jonathan gained the opportunity to work with worldwide accounts such as British Airways, Cadillac, General Motors, United States Postal Services and Jack Daniels. As director of Interactive media at David Gomez and Associates, Jonathan oversaw all creative and web development projects, including the launch of iHispano.com, one of the leading career sites for Hispanic and bilingual professionals.

Jonathan also oversees day-to-day business operations and finances at JB Chicago. He holds a B.A. in Studio Art, Art History and Secondary Education from Ripon College and is a proud member of Chicago Interactive Marketing Association (CIMA) and the Chicago Association of Direct Marketers (CADM).

THE TEAM

Lorena Pasquesi— Communications & Public Relations

Lorena’s experience in marketing and communications spans a fourteen year period, with the majority spent in the healthcare industry. Her expertise in marketing communications includes strategy development, market research, messaging, advertising copy development, blog marketing, budget development and reporting, project management, e-communications, competitive analysis, third-party pieces, collateral development and communications audits. 

Lorena's public relations experience includes press material development, program and strategy development, event planning and management, community relations, reputation management and crisis communications. She has worked with media to secure local, regional and national coverage on behalf of clients in both print and broadcast mediums. She is also experienced in media planning and buying.

Lorena was most recently a marketing manager for a leading provider of comprehensive health enhancement programs, Matria Healthcare, Inc., where she developed marketing, communications and sustainability plans for several high-profile clients.

Prior, she was a marketing manager at the American Dental Association where she marketed and promoted one of the largest scientific sessions and marketplace exhibitions in the United States, the ADA Annual Session, to national and international member and non-member dental professionals, through advertising and sponsorship opportunities, direct mail and promotional materials and traffic-building activities.  Prior to the ADA, she spent five years as a marketing manager at Arjo, Inc., a healthcare manufacturer of patient handling, hygiene and wound care systems. 

Christina Ryan — Designer

Christina has more than ten years of graphic design experience and has been at JB Chicago since 1997. Her experience in designing for both industry and corporate clients makes Christina’s designs versatile.

Her specialty is typography in design and has recently worked on clients in the health and fitness, nightlife and restaurant sectors, particularly Cardinal Fitness, Hard Rock Hotel, Sound-Bar and Bortz Group.  Christina received her B.A. in Graphic Design from DePaul University.

James Zdaniewski — Interactive Design & Animation

James specializes in motion graphics, animation, video editing, web and illustration and excels in Flash animation for Web. Recent projects include the new JB Chicago site, AXE Microsites for Unilever, Sound-Bar and illustrations for Crown Royal. James has a B.F.A. in computer art, animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Rodrigo Muller—Interactive Design & Animation

Rod’s focus is 2D and 3D animation, Flash animation, graphic design, illustration, web design and animation for the web. Recent projects include the new Cardinal Fitness website, Y Lounge and Flash e-vite's for Sound-Bar events. Rod has a B.F.A. in computer art 3D animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and is fluent in three languages.

Chad Slater-Scott — Internet Solutions

Chad, co-founder of Internet technology solutions company disEntropy, has been a strategic partner with JB Chicago since 2000. Chad and the JB Chicago team provide small, medium and large companies and organizations with powerful Internet Technologies, and a specialization in developing customer Internet software and dynamic content-manageable websites. disEntropy offers JB Chicago clients business-class web hosting and e-mail services, and hosting engineering specific niche-marketing application services. This unique experience with Quality Management Systems and deep cross-market experience allows disEntropy to develop customer-specific solutions that integrate with the specific business processes of JB Chicago clients.