Patty Voje

President

We have Patty to thank for making SPOT so sweet, and not just because of our office candy bar. With over 20 years of experience in design and marketing, Patty understands agency work from every perspective and is passionate about it every step of the way. Besides running a company, Patty spends her time creating her next acclaimed art piece. Her favorite subject to paint? Cattle.

Patty’s talent and leadership helps to make SPOT shine—although her bulldog Ed might argue it’s actually him, making it pretty clear why The Bulldog is one of their favorite spots.

Jonathan Alstad

Creative Director & Copywriter

Really, Jonathan’s title should be Creative Director/Writer/Candy Enthusiast. Lucky for him (and the rest of us), Candyland is located just down the street from SPOT!

It was Jonathan’s passion for creative writing that sparked his interest in advertising, where media titans wage war for attention armed only with money and compelling ideas. His background includes working with everyone from mom-and-pop restaurants to Fortune 500 companies, because, as he likes to put it, every story has potential if you know how to tell it. Now if we could only land a candy account!

If you’re looking for sweet copy call Jonathan. If you need a sweet treat visit Candyland.

Jay Spiess

Account Director

If you think Jay’s 15+ years of brand and marketing experience is of impressive stature—just wait till you hear about the New York City skyscraper he helped raise. Seriously.

Jay’s passion for this field stretches from building creative strategies to tapping into the digital marketing landscape. With his skill set for guiding business’ thinking, behavior and communications, he can help your company reach new heights. When he’s not busy helping clients achieve their full marketing potential, Jay can be found watching the latest sports game at a local burger joint or microbrewery. Which naturally made his favorite St. Paul spot, Barrel Theory.

Anne Wagner

VP Account Services

Meet Anne. No really, set up a meeting–she loves them. You’ll soon see how her 15+ years of B2B and consumer marketing experience can work for you. She’s an ace at identifying opportunities, elevating brand identities and designing detailed marketing programs, all done with a smile on her face.

So check your calendar and get a meeting scheduled, she would love to have coffee and a delicious treat from The Salty Tart…which happens to be dangerously close to our office.

Tory Scales

Senior Account Executive

Tory’s fun demeanor, creativity, and signature toothpick make him easy to pick out in our office. His experience within this field has given him a killer set of skills which we’re lucky to have. Tory has built a career by putting clients at ease, knowing their work is in his capable hands. His wealth of senior-level agency experience spans a variety of B2B clients across a wide number of industries.

In his free time, you can find Tory at his cabin with his wife (and co-worker) Lisa, sharpening his skills on our office pinball machine, or perhaps heading out to grab lunch at Deb’s Hot Dog Stand.

Theresa Kurth

Senior Account Executive

Even though Theresa insists that she’s from Le Mars, Iowa, and not the actual planet Mars, we’re still not sure. How else can you explain her phenomenally critical eye for detail, unworldly ability to adjust to changes on the fly and super-human strength to manage multiple projects at the same time—all with a smile and a laugh?

When she’s not analyzing data, developing strategy, reviewing creative or signaling the mothership, she claims to enjoy concerts, festivals, art galleries and sporting events. It’s why the Union Depot makes a perfect spot for her; she’s able to get to all these places while her spaceship is unavailable.

Iowa—yeah, right.

Anna Biljan

Account Executive

If Anna walked in the office juggling chainsaws… we aren’t sure anyone would be surprised—she’s already pretty well known for being able to juggle a mountain of work. Anna’s a wiz at helping SPOT clients with their marketing needs and helping them see their vision come to life.

Outside of work, she can be found with her head buried in a book or exploring downtown with a stop at a local dive bar, like the The Gopher Bar in Lowertown.

Josh Braaten

Digital Strategist

Josh just wants to know everything. Ever since building his first Geocities website back in the early ‘90s, he’s been obsessed with the internet and how he can leverage it to gather data that empowers better branding and marketing decisions.

From building the world’s first brand analytics platform to spending over a year wearing Google Glass and playing World of Warcraft (that’s in-game time, mind you), you can’t wash the geek off him—and he’s okay with that.

As a learning-obsessed St. Paul native, Josh wants to give a shout out to the St. Paul Public Library (George Latimer Central Library) for its stunning architecture and wealth of knowledge.

John Novak

Project Manager

Having survived eight hurricanes, nine months in Iraq and two boys under age 4 at home, it’s safe to say John can handle anything you throw at him. His talent for marketing, sales, and both print and digital strategy help ensure his clients’ projects succeed.

When he’s not using his varied skillset to get things done, he’s often found chasing his boys around, golfing, or cheering on the Saint Paul Saints at CHS Field, conveniently located steps from our office.

Erik Olson

Copywriter

A prolific doodler and veteran copywriter, Erik brings 20 years of writing experience as well as a background in design to the SPOT team. His talent for detail unites with his ability to see the whole picture, making him a crucial component to any project. His infectious smile and varied early morning music taste both bring a great energy to our office. Even our visiting office dogs know to go to him for the best treats.

When Erik isn’t poring over words, he can be found exploring downtown, often visiting the Fitzgerald Theater. Hmmm, what an important, classy, and… tall building? Does the Fitzgerald remind us of anyone we know?

Ella Dostal

Project Manager

Ella’s interests are as varied as her creative skills. She loves dogs, playing instruments, 80’s movies and crazy, colorful socks. Her title is Project Manager, but she’s happy to utilize her graphic design talents, passion for PR, or her social media skills when needed. With her past experience working for Make-A-Wish Foundation, she’s sure to help make your marketing dreams come true.

As a self-proclaimed art nerd, she’s a fan of the Ordway —all the way down to their mosaic-covered trash cans.

Brian Doeden

Creative Director

Brian’s seasoned creative skills are a hole in one—and we’re not talking about golf. As a donut connoisseur, he prefers his metaphors to be on the sweeter side. With over 30 years of experience, Brian’s background and talents range from creative direction to design, photography and video production.

As a morning person, he enjoys watching the sunrise with a big cup of coffee. He’s also a skilled painter specializing in his favorite subject—trees. Brian normally takes his coffee and donuts to go, but when he has the time you may just find him satisfying his sweet tooth at The Buttered Tin.

Michael Mazzitelli

Director of Video Content

Don’t let his lack of a mullet fool you—our Director of Video Content Michael is a lifelong hockey player and a huge Minnesota Wild fan. His hat trick of videography, editing and animation skills always score big points with our clients.

When he’s not skating through video projects at SPOT, you can find him shooting sketch comedy videos or checking out local St. Paul breweries.

Helen Teague

Animator

Helen’s colorful earring collection isn’t the only thing that catches an admiring eye. Her animation work and video skills continue to wow our clients. Helen’s desk mate, a 4D model of a velociraptor, has the best seat in the house to watch her creative work take shape.

With a great taste in music and a talent for photography, Helen lends a hand to a couple of music blogs within the cities, making her a regular concert goer. You’re likely to see her at the Palace Theater probably sporting her newest pair of earrings.

Leah Palmquist

Creative Director

Creative Director doesn’t even begin to encompass everything Leah does. But can we help it? She can basically do it all. Her talent and passion for design, digital strategy and social media come together to create a powerful force. Her unique skillset leaves clients amazed and somehow, she finds time to continue her creativity with original artwork.

Leah can often be found at Creators Space, where she explores painting, photography and more, while also helping out with their social media. Like we said, she can do it all.

Kelley Stafne

Creative Director

Kelley’s 20 years of experience working with Fortune 100 companies like 3M makes her a valuable member of our creative team. She specializes in elevating and evolving brands through her design work across a variety of print and digital platforms. While she’s used to the pressure of working on big-company brands, Kelley never passes up an opportunity to flex her creative muscles on smaller, local brands too, making her design skills strong.

Working with Kelley is definitely like a walk in the park—maybe that’s why she loves Mears Park so much, luckily it’s just outside our office window.

Cheryl Groustra

Art Director

Cheryl is constantly unlocking new ways to breathe fresh life into brands, and her years of design experience continues to bring impressive results. No matter the project, Cheryl’s talent makes her imaginative design look effortless. In fact, her knack for balancing thoughtful creativity with a healthy respect for brand integrity is the reason she consistently produces results that clients adore.

Her desk also serves as a refuge for office plants that have been neglected by co-workers. At lunch you will always find Cheryl diligently working at her computer-unless of course it’s Tuesday or Thursday, when she sneaks down Wabasha to the satellite Saint Pauls Farmer’s Market for fresh flowers.

Breanna Vick

Graphic Designer

Breanna brings her passion for all things design to the SPOT team, and boy are we thankful for that. Her ability to wow clients with unique layout, illustration and new ideas proves valuable in the world of marketing and throughout all of SPOT’s work. Check out the Como Zoo’s newest website to see what we’re talking about.

When she’s not at work, she can be found attending jazz or funk concerts, rock climbing or canoeing. Her green thumb inspires her love for Pedro Park a pocket of golden sunflowers in the middle of St. Paul.

Erik Lehrke

Production Artist

Erik’s creative industry skills are as impressive as his collection of vintage music posters—and that’s saying something. He’s a master in production, layout, trouble-shooting and workflow management. Need someone to polish your project? Talk to Erik. He’ll get it done with his technical expertise, Adobe Certification and talent for finding efficient time-saving solutions.

When Erik isn’t aiding the SPOT team, he’s catching up with the latest science podcast or YouTube channel, volunteering, or following one of his favorite radio stations—like The Current Although he loves listening to music, his ears are also always open to hear about your project’s needs.

Lisa Scales

Production Artist

Lisa’s production and design experience has given her both a creative eye and an eye for detail. No glasses needed—her skills are that sharp; whether it’s successfully getting files to print or helping keep our heads above the water with edits.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Lisa can often be found at the cabin swimming, boating and relaxing in the outdoors with her husband (and co-worker) Tory, two boys and dog Lewey. When her eyes aren’t on work, they are usually pouring over a recipe, an episode of Schitt’s Creek, or her next book. Which easily makes Subtext Books her favorite St. Paul spot.

Claire Barczak

Agency Coordinator

Claire’s love of spreadsheets and colorful post-it-notes serves her well as SPOT’s agency coordinator. Her diverse work within this field has given her experience in production help, on-set assistance and errand running for any of your wildest needs.

Claire doesn’t need a lucky charm to keep SPOT running smoothly—although she does have a good amount of horseshoes lying around. Outside of work, Claire enjoys spending time outdoors with her horse, Tucker, or trotting over to a St. Paul favorite— Dark Horse. How fitting.