Laura Gallagher

President

Laura loves this business and it shows in everything she touches.  She's visionary but she loves the details too.   She understands inherently how to build a community and how to make people care.  She lives and dies by a great story.

Locally, Laura serves on the Leadership Board for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  She also serves on the National Retail Federation's Retail Advertising and Marketing Association board of directors with CMOs from the largest corporations in America including JC Penney, Kohls and independents such as Half Price Books.

Laura's passion is writing.  She devours books, loves live music and art as well as taking her children to museums and parks.  She plays the piano.  She loves to cook for her friends.  She is competitive and loves to win.

Laura is also the creator of a new social media community called Soul to Soul.  She is active at Blackhawk Church where she leads an Affinity Group for the Arts in Madison. 

You are invited to visit Laura's executive profile on The Executive Directory of Madison. 

Andre J. Gagnon

Art Director

Andre's passionate about great design and helping Creative Company's clients bring their brands to life on the web and in real life.   He enjoys working closely with clients to develop their brands and utilize new media.  He is intuitively smart, kind and generous.   

He's received numerous shout outs by his peers for his design work.   Last year, Andre won two International Awards for his logo design work.  He was also selected to judge the RACie Awards for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association in New York City in November, 2008. 

Andre loves jazz.  He's a wicked good pianist and can play Stairway to Heaven on the guitar.  He has a terrific sense of humor, loves to be by the water and is happiest when the sun is shining on his face.  He loves words, art, music, chocolate and life. 

Kara R. Hanko

Publicist

Kara is truly a people person.  She loves helping the Creative Company’s clients see results from what they do and letting everyone know about how spectacular they are. 

She is constantly making new connections and friends and is always glad to help anyone out by answering questions or lending a hand.  She is unfailingly kind and supportive in everything she does.

She is a news junkie.  Whether it is for local stories or national headlines, there is no living in a bubble for this woman.  Kara is on top of what is going on in the world and regularly shares new tidbits with coworkers and clients.

Kara’s dream is to live in Paris, France.  She loves reading fiction and traveling across the United States and internationally.  Family and friends are extremely important to Kara and you can find her watching movies with them often.  Be on the lookout for the book she plans on writing in the future.

Kara is a member of the Madison Chapter of PRSA and the Social Media Club of Madison

Liesel M. Olson

PR-Project Manager

Liesel has passion for organizing in the same way that others are passionate about sports or music. She loves making to-do lists and the feeling that she gets when completing a project, especially if it makes waves, meets goals and provides results for the clients at The Creative Company.  She sees the good in people and strives to bring that out.

She gets shivers down her spine from making people happy and turning nothing into something special.   She doesn’t rest until a project is just right and puts her entire self into everything she does.  When it comes to words, Liesel loves how expressive words can be and how finding the right word makes everything “click.”   She has ‘rare sense’; as a wise woman once told her, if it were truly common sense, then everyone would have it.

Liesel is a Madison native who speaks French and is in the pursuit of learning Norwegian.   Liesel is a loyal friend who likes to learn new things, despite keeping a busy schedule, and she is happiest when she is snuggling up in her fleece sheets during a morning thunderstorm.  She loves dogs, fruit-flavored candy and working out.

Liesel is an active member on the Dane Buy Local Membership Committee and the Social Media Club of Madison

Ian C. McNamara

Media Developer

Ian writes code for e-blasts, microsites and web sites in addition to uploading the profile images on this page.   His ability to write code that is faster, smarter and more intuitive is second to none. He is well versed in code languages including HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, ActionScript and MySQL.

He is always thinking of a better way to complete a project, and when you talk to him you can see the gears turning. He doesn't rest until it is the best it can be, and seems to like troubleshooting: it is a learning experience, after all.

He also enjoys putting his art degree to good use by engaging in design work whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Ian is a skilled photographer. He loves books and movies and holds regular board game nights with friends. A favorite is Genus Trivial Pursuit 1981.  He's also a talented writer and calligraphist.

Ryan J. Brickl

Accounting Specialist

Ryan comes to The Creative Company from the Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics (CESG) where he was responsible for managing a program budget of $3.75 million over the course of 4 years.

This past year, Ryan also interned with Ernst & Young during tax season, as part of the UW-Madison IMAcc program in which he is enrolled. The IMAcc program is a 5-year Integrated Masters of Accounting program offered through the UW–Madison School of Business.

Ryan continues to develop his tax preparation skills through volunteering as an income tax assistant. He is an avid soccer player and loves to spend time with his friends, whether they are watching movies or playing soccer. He always has a smile on his face.

Lisa E. Hovey

Public Relations

As the newest member of The Creative Company team, Lisa will be in charge of website editing and social media updates.   She will also brainstorm new ways of growing community around brands through the use of social media marketing.

Lisa is currently enrolled at UW-Madison, where she is pursuing a double major in Marketing and Management and Human Resources.

She is actively involved in clubs and activities at the University, including professional marketing association Mu Kappa Tau.  She took a break from these groups in Fall 2009 to study abroad in Ireland, where she studied business at the Quinn School of Business.  She has previous experience working for the national brand Winmark Corporation which is the franchiser for Once Upon a Child®, Plato's Closet®, Play It Again Sports® and Music Go Round®.