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The importance of strong leadership cannot be underestimated. Providing momentum, it blends courage, humility, and responsibility with experience and intelligence to effectively drive the desired results. More than that, good leaders are good listeners, and good people...the kind of people that you want to work with to get things done.
At RightMinds, we recognize that leadership extends far beyond management. We recruit for these leadership qualities with every role, in terms of mindset, attitude, and expertise. Everyone here acts like an owner, both of our company and our clients’ work. We are people pleasers that thrive on making big things happen for our clients.
The way we look at it, this mindset makes us more effective at everything we do, as individuals, as a part of the RightMinds team and as a dedicated instrument in achieving our clients’ objectives.
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Chris Thurston, President, CEO & Founder
- 20+ years in consumer and business-to-business advertising and marketing
- Driven entrepreneur by profession; marketing catalyst by nature
- Top 40 Under 40, Ad Team of the Year
As CEO, Chris oversees RightMinds operations. His primary focus is strategy and vision for the company and our clients. Chris is dedicated to providing clients with the most dynamic and diverse marketing talents, and the most technologically advanced capabilities. He strongly believes that the growth and success of RightMinds is directly dependent upon the growth and success of our clients and our people; and that our goal should be to exceed the expectations of both.
Chris is the founder of RightMinds,which has experienced numerous advertising and marketing successes for companies ranging from national retailers to service industries; from product manufacturers to financial institutions; from business-to-business to consumer marketers. He attributes the success of RightMinds to a combination of attitude, drive, ingenuity and most importantly, a team of minds that has all the right stuff. An avid entrepreneur, Chris thrives on coming up with big ideas and making them happen.
Named as one of Richmond’s Top 40 Under 40, Chris is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, where he currently serves on the board of the VCU Foundation and the advisory board of the School of Mass Communications. Chris spends many weekends in Mathews County, Virginia, fishing with his two sons on the Chesapeake Bay.
Jim Harenchar, Executive Vice President
- 15 years of experience in advertising, marketing, product development and direct marketing
- Former Executive Vice President of Sales, Brann Worldwide, part of the $2 billion Havas agency network
- Acknowledged leader in implementing multi-channel marketing programs
As RightMinds’ Executive Vice President, Jim is continually looking to partner with a diverse group of Fortune 1000 companies to assist them in building effective sales and marketing strategies and campaigns that drive incremental revenue. Prior to joining RightMinds, Jim was with Brann Worldwide serving as Executive Vice President of National Accounts and later was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Alcott Routon, an independent direct agency. Jim was responsible for developing retainer relationships with clients’ such as Disney, Marriott, US Bank, SunTrust Bank, LensCrafters, MCI WorldCom, Nordstrom, Ameritrade and ClubMed. Before the acquisition of Brann by Havas, Jim was Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Response Marketing Group in Richmond.
Jim’s experience in both business-to-business and consumer direct marketing is extensive and he has spoken at several Direct Marketing conferences and expos. He is very involved in both the “thinking” and the “doing,” having front-line strategy experience as well as implementation and execution history.
James Sawyer, Executive Creative Director
- 16 years experience that has bridged brand planning and creative disciplines
- Client–side experience as Director of Marketing for a $1.5 billion healthcare provider
- Former owner of marketing consultancy focused on positioning brands to create value
As the agency’s Executive Creative Director, James leads the creative and production team at RightMinds in developing concepts that are perfectly aligned with brand strategy. He brings a unique perspective to creative development that injects account planning principles into the conceptual process. He has extensive experience in healthcare, financial services, consumer packaged goods, technology and startup brands. His national brand experience includes Wachovia, Hanes, Champion, RJ Reynolds, Virgin Drinks, Sealy, Thomasville Furniture, Siemens, Hardee’s, Sprint and ServiceMaster, among others. His clientside experience with Carilion Health System was spent repositioning the brand as Carilion Clinic to effectively compete on a broader scale with other internationally renowned clinics like Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic.
James received his MBA degree from the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University and his BA from Washington & Lee University. He has also attended the Portfolio Center in Atlanta and executive sessions in Brand Leadership at the Darden School of Management at the University of Virginia.
Stephanie Bergreen, Vice President of Web
- 22 years in marketing/advertising
- Proven proficiency in web strategic planning, project management and production
- Expertise in web and database programming
Stephanie’s diverse interests and talents perfectly suit her role as VP of Web. The unique combination of challenges presented by web projects–including strategy, design, technology, teamwork and troubleshooting–make them notoriously difficult to manage. Stephanie not only manages, but also thrives on, juggling all the different pieces and creating effective solutions that are on time, on target and on budget.
Stephanie joined RightMinds as an expert database programmer and project planner, with particular expertise in Lasso, FileMaker and JavaScript. In addition to setting the direction and capabilities of our web group at RightMinds, Stephanie manages account coordination and project management. From initial strategy sessions to project completion, Stephanie works with the client and the RightMinds team of designers and programmers to ensure the fullest and most efficient use of advanced technologies.
Brent Morris, Vice President, Media Director
- 15 years experience on both the sales and agency sides of media
- Expertise in RightMinds Efficiency Planning System (REPS)
As Media Director for RightMinds, Brent oversees and directs all aspects of media strategy, planning, buying and post-buy analysis for our clients. Brent is recognized for his innovative and strategic approach to every campaign, whether it is coast-to-coast, regional or local in scope. He was responsible for developing the process for media planning and placement at RightMinds, referred to as RightMinds Efficiency Planning System (REPS).
Prior to joining RightMinds, Brent started and operated World Cup Coffee in Richmond, building the successful brand from the ground up. Brent is a graduate of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he earned a degree in advertising. He lives in Richmond’s Historic Fan District and enjoys traveling.
Jorge Chazo Vice President, Technology
- Highly skilled technology administrator
- Pioneer in digital photography and imaging
As Vice President of Technology for RightMinds, Jorge Chazo establishes and directs the strategic long-term goals, policies and procedures for the technology of the company. He joined RightMinds in 1995 after spending six-and-a-half years at Circuit City corporate office where he introduced and specialized in digital high-end photography as part of the advertising department.
Jorge grew up in the photography business, as his father was a commercial and portrait photographer. Not intending to follow his father’s line of work, he studied computers and advertising at Old Dominion University and one day signed up for a photography class which he ended up teaching because of his expertise. His position is an ideal combination of his fascination with technology and experience in the advertising business. He enjoys capturing his two young children on camera and highly recommends the picture-perfect scenery in Argentina for your next vacation.
James Setaro, Senior Account Director
- Experienced account and brand leader for major national brands
- Member of the American Marketing Association in Richmond
- Recruiter and mentor for VCU School of Business MBA program; graduate
James is a marketing pro with more than 12 years of client and agency experience with brands like Toyota, Saab, Advance Auto and Carl Zeiss Vision. He joined RightMinds in October of 2002 after serving as an Account Director with The Martin Agency in Richmond. Prior to that, James worked as a marketing administrator and team leader with Toyota and Lexus in Torrance, California.
Having earned his BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, James chose to pursue a fast-track MBA at VCU while working full-time. He has two children, Andrew and Ben, and spends lots of time outside riding bikes with them.
Daniel Durazo, Director of Public Relations and Multicultural Marketing
- Founder of NoticiasWire.com, the first PR Newswire for Hispanic media
- Manager of ethnic marketing campaigns for blue ribbon corporate clients
Recognized as a successful public relations practitioner, Dan focuses much of his professional attention on connecting with multicultural audiences and training spokespeople to communicate with the media.
With 15 years spent in the diverse Los Angeles market, Dan has coordinated and executed numerous marketing endeavors for notable corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations. After years working in the agency world, Dan invoked his entrepreneurial side and started his own marketing agency in Los Angeles. Known as one of the country’s leading Hispanic marketing agencies, his firm attracted clients like American Honda Motor Corp., Merrill Lynch and Verizon to the agency’s niche services.
His days in media relations taught him what the media wants to report and what the public wants to know. This knowledge and understanding led Dan to the role of a respected media trainer. Dan enables spokespeople to effectively target their key messages to audiences. Throughout his career, Dan has appeared on ABC World News Tonight and shared his expertise with clients like Coca-Cola and Toshiba.
Ready for a change of pace, Dan and his family returned to the east coast and settled in nearby historic Charlottesville where rush hour traffic is manageable and the scenery is spectacular.
Lynn Rogers, Director of Accounting/Controller
- Specialist in strategic planning for businesses
- Understands accounting and financial analysis
- Owns and operates a national franchise fitness center
As a leader over both accounting and human resources at RightMinds, Lynn brings a wide range of experience to the table. She has been a Vice President, Director and Manager for a national distributor for consumable goods, working successfully to achieve a defined set of goals and objectives.
Using her background in organizational structure and strategic planning, Lynn’s expertise helps identify and develop growth needs for both accounting and human resources to position RightMinds for future growth. She works on streamlining processes to make the group more efficient while maintaining solid business practices.
When Lynn’s not searching for the next innovative budgeting strategy and long-range plan, she can be found at her fitness center helping the ladies of the region get in tip-top shape. She also is excited about trying new things in life including pottery, stained glass art, mosaics, line dancing and faux painting.
CarolAnn Cartwright, Director of Production
- Skilled estimator, budget analyst and project manager
- Printing expert
As supervisor of RightMinds production and traffic departments, CarolAnn oversees the internal workflow of the agency as well as the contracting of outside vendors for printing, production, promotional items and a variety of other services. Well-suited to a job that requires organization, budget management and negotiation skills, CarolAnn came to RightMinds from B&B Printing where she was a Customer Service Representative. Prior to that, she was Procurement Analyst and Billing Specialist for Cadmus Communications Corporation. A woman of many talents who was originally trained in accounting, CarolAnn also has managed membership sales for Kiln Creek Golf & Country Club and even served as manager of a yacht club for East West Partners.
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