The Group

• Angie Jordan

  Creative Director / Writer

  Angie began her work with KMT as a freelance hired gun. At the time, she was working from home while taking care of 3 young children and letting golf pro husband Jim handle the bacon bringing. As the kids got a little older, Angie decided to trade in the Coke-fueled, late-night creative marathons at home for Coke-fueled, late-night creative marathons at work, so we hired her. In her role as both writer and Creative Director, Angie combines her extensive experience (both life and work) with a sharp wit to produce work we’re all proud of.
  
  Angie is one of 8 children (the only girl), once spent a summer in Ireland as a missionary and has lived, in her own words, “many, many places”. In her down time (which, given the 3 kids, tends to be late), Angie likes nothing more than relaxing in front of the TV with her husband, which she considers research for her day job.

  Vitals: 17 YEARS SHARING GENIUS WITH THE WORLD, WORDIFICATOR, NURTURER, SUPER MOM, DEEPLY DEDICATED SLEEPER, ORGANIZATIONALLY ECLECTIC, CREATIVE MAGAZINE HOARDER

• Beth Johnson

  Public Relations / Writer

  When a career as a Rick Springfield groupie didn’t pan out after college, Beth decided to try her hand at advertising. Fifteen years later, she has a client roster any pro would be proud of, including some of the most iconic names in the home appliance world: Whirlpool, Maytag, Kenmore and Amana. But after learning more about laundry than any one person should, she decided to leave snowy Michigan in February 2010 to join us here at KMT. Having spent most of her career on the account side of the business, she’s returned to her roots as a writer to serve two purposes: 1. Head-up KMT’s public relations efforts and 2. Give Angie Jordan a life outside of the office. Both of which she’s thrilled to do.
  
  When she’s not crafting copy to make you buy something you may or may not need, Beth enjoys extreme couponing, the Food Network (i.e. porn for fat people), acting interested while her husband talks sports, and translating toddler talk on behalf of her 2-year-old daughter.

  Vitals: 15-YEAR RESIDENT OF AGENCY LIFE, SENTENCE MAKER, RECOVERING STARBUCKS ADDICT, AIR GUITAR MAESTRO, TEVA ENTHUSIAST, DANCING QUEEEN

• Brian Murphy

  Art Director

  If you ever wondered about the subtle differences between Times Roman and Times New Roman (and who hasn’t?), Brian’s the guy to ask. While most of us are doodling flowers or funny faces during staff meetings, Brian is drawing a lowercase “g” six different ways. This meticulous attention to the details of typography is apparent in all his design work, and his ability to identify about a million fonts at a glance makes him a valuable member of the team.
  
  Although a native New Yorker and devoted Yankees fan, Brian has been pretty well assimilated into Southern culture, having attended Southern Miss. He even married a nice Mississippi girl, had a lovely daughter and has occasionally even been heard to say “y’all”.

  Vitals: 12 YEARS OF DESIGN EXPERIENCE, TYPE SAVANT, NIGHT GARDENER, NEW MUSICOLOGIST, COOL DAD, FOODIE, SMALL ANIMAL WHISPERER, COFFEE CONNOISSEUR

• Jennifer Taylor

  Production Manager

  The strength of a concept is only as good as its execution. The same can be said about the paper, printing, photography, llustration, filming, editing, packaging and everything else that goes into the finished work that KMT produces. That’s where Jennifer comes in. She handles the monumental task of researching, scheduling, purchasing and monitoring all the resources KMT uses. Her superhero ability to do all this with a smile makes her a highly valued member of the team.
  
  When not making all of us look good, she can often be found making herself look good at the gym or outside running. She’s also frequently with her husband at the ball field, cheering their two softball-crazed girls to victory.

  Vitals: 16 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, ORGANIZATIONAL GURU, HUMAN SMILEY FACE, SUN WORSHIPER, RUNNER GIRL, SOFTBALL MOM

• John Thompson

  CEO / Business Strategist

  John is the grownup that makes sure the rest of us don’t get too out of control. Needless to say, that’s not an easy job, but he does it with perpetual patience and good humor. He has a gift for strategic thinking, which has served both us and our clients extremely well over the years. If not for Johnny we’d probably still be working at the old folding tables, searching our pockets for snack money.
  
  Along with wife Missy and their twin girls, Johnny enjoys all things related to the great outdoors. He spends his scarce leisure time hunting and fishing, or preparing to hunt and fish, or shopping for hunting and fishing related items, or talking about hunting and fishing. Or sleeping.

  Vitals: 8 YEARS IN THE CREATIVE BUSINESS AFTER 12 YEARS IN THE CORPORATE WORLD, HUSBAND AND FATHER, OUTDOORSMAN, NUMBER CRUNCHER, OWNER, VOICE OF REASON

• Justin Stanley

  Interactive Designer / Developer

  Justin created his first website at age 12 and has been hooked ever sense. Over the years he's designed, programmed and managed interactive media projects for companies of all sizes. It was his passion for online marketing which lead him to KMT and his ability to seamlessly translate technical jargon and computer code into something normal folks can understand has made him an important asset in our new digital world.
  
  When Justin is not scouring the bleeding edge for the latest and greatest technical breakthroughs he's probably stalking his friend's Facebook profiles. On the rare occasion when he can't be in front of a computer (or blackberry or iPhone or Laptop) he enjoys spending time out doors taking in all the natural beauty that the digital realm just can't offer.

  Vitals: 7 YEARS IN NEW MEDIA, INDIE MUSIC AFICIONADO, GADGET GEEK, FACEBOOK ADDICT, WANT-TO-BE OUTDOOR ENTHUSIAST, COUCH POTATO

• Kelly Guhne

  Art Director

  Kelly conveniently represents the 35-45 female demographic a lot of our retail clients are trying to reach, so she’s especially adept at developing concepts that effectively speak to, well…herself. But her talents reach far beyond the doors of the mall. During her career she’s demonstrated her creative versatility for clients including Conoco, American National Bank, Cricket Wireless and Anderson Hardwood just to name a few. She even once illustrated a children’s book, Pardon Me Is that the Chattanooga Choo-Choo?
  
  Kelly spends a lot of her free time with her two weiner dogs, Maxfli and Hogan. She also loves to grow roses and putter around the yard in her pajamas and flip-flops.

  Vitals: 24 YEARS IN DESIGN, ROSE AFICIONADO, YOGA PRACTITIONER, HIKER, DOG LOVER, DOG WALKER, POOP SCOOPER, MOVIE BUFF, GOLF SPECTATOR, BEACH BUM

• Mark Jacobus

  Director of Account Services

  Mark actually began his work life right out of high school by hitchhiking throughout the American west and doing everything from fighting forest fires to picking oranges. Lucky for us he later settled down after college and decided advertising sounded like a respectable career path. Since then he’s owned his own agency and managed account services departments at shops both large and small. Now he applies that extensive account management experience to a variety of clients here at KMT.
  
  As far as we can tell, Mark pretty much uses all his available free time to golf. When it’s too cold or rainy to play (which is a much higher threshold than most people would deem sane), he watches golf on his giant TV. In the rare event there is no golf to watch, pretty much any other sport on the planet will do nicely.

  Vitals: 20 YEARS OF AGENCY WORK, HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, ILLINOIS NATIVE, BIRDIE HUNTER, VETERAN HITCHHIKER, IPHONE DISCIPLE, INCURABLE CYNIC

• Missy Thompson

  President / Creative Director

  Having risen through the ranks of the advertising profession all the way from paste-up artist (yes, that was a job) to agency owner, Missy has seen and done it all. The 1995 birth of her twin girls prompted Missy to give up her guestroom and start a freelance design business, KMT Advertising. Joined by her husband John, Missy said goodbye to the guestroom and started KMT Creative Group in the summer of 2001, where she is now worshiped as a goddess of all that is good and creative (what can we say, she’s the boss).
  
  Missy spent her college days in Florida, which may help explain her perpetually sunny disposition (as well as the occasional sudden storm). She spends what little free time she has either shopping with the girls, or shopping by herself, or shopping online, or sending other people to shop for her, or reading books about shopping…

  Vitals: 22 YEARS IN THE BIZ, QUEEN BEE, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, PARTY PLANNER, SHOPPER, OWNER, FISHERWOMAN, TEAM PLAYER, SNACK DESTROYER, CHECK SIGNER

• Niki Phillips

  Media Buyer

  In 2008 Niki completed a comprehensive course in the art and science of media buying. Apparently her favorite part of the training was the chapter on “how to negotiate like an angry pit bull”, because she certainly has a gift for getting our clients phenomenal rates on their media placement. Her organizational skills and almost spooky ability to multi-task (don’t EVER say anything you don’t want her to hear or remember) make her the perfect person to handle the complex world of media buying.
  
  During football season (which is conveniently opposite NASCAR season), Niki spends most Saturdays screaming unprintable things at her TV during Alabama football games.

  Vitals: 6 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, BAMA MANIAC, TOUGH NEGOTIATOR, PROUD PENNY-PINCHER, DVR DIVA, ONE LIFE TO LIVER, GUINEA PIG GRANDMA, Wii WONDER WOMAN

• Starla Malone

  Traffic Manager

  Starla once thought she wanted to be a flight attendant, but after six weeks at “Barbie boot camp” she decided it wasn’t her cup of tea (or soda, or coffee). The friendly skies’ loss was our gain. As traffic manager here at KMT, Starla miraculously schedules, tracks, expedites and records dozens of projects at a time, all the while supplying the information, resources and support everyone needs to get the job done. It’s a little like managing the traffic at an Italian demolition derby. Maybe she and her husband’s lawnmower racing hobby explains why Starla’s so good at keeping us all on track.

  Vitals: 11 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, KID ROCK GROUPIE, SOUTHERN GIRL, LAWNMOWER RACE CREWMEMBER, TEAM PLAYER, WHIP CRACKER

• Teiya Eubanks

  Account Executive

  Teiya is one of the original five founding members of KMT. When we started she did everything from purchasing to booking travel to traffic management–all on top of her duties as an account manager. Over the years she’s been able to settle into a more traditional account executive role, but her organizational skills and Swiss army knife-like versatility still shine through in the way she deals with her numerous clients, who all love her perpetual smile and can-do attitude.
  
  In her free time Teiya loves to cook while watching ET (educational television). Her two children (who usually have at least one foreign exchange “sibling”) love that she loves to cook while watching ET. Teiya confesses that if her life had unfolded a little differently, she’d be an Eagles groupie, following them around the globe.

  Vitals: 17 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, DEVELOPING PREMATURE EMPTY NEST SYNDROME, SHOE HOUND, EXCHANGE STUDENT HOSTESS, HAPPY NAPPER, THERAPIST, TATTOOED LADY

• Todd Reed

  Art Director / Illustrator

  As one of the founding members of KMT, Todd’s been around since we worked on folding tables and our intercom system involved raising our voices. His prodigious artistic talent includes not only a refined sense of design, but also remarkable photo manipulation skills and the ability to draw and paint literally any type of flora or fauna with photo-realistic quality (you can see some of his artwork at http://www.toddreedart.com).
  
  When not drawing or painting the outdoors, Todd can usually be found experiencing it firsthand, usually with camera in hand. He also travels with his wife and two children to numerous wildlife art shows each year, where his work has been repeatedly honored. Someday we’ll all be able to say we knew him when…

  Vitals: 15 YEARS IN ART AND DESIGN, ZOO BUM, OUTDOORSMAN, EAGLE SCOUT, BEE WHISPERER, PINEWOOD DERBY MOGUL, WILDLIFE ARTIST, BIRD WATCHER, HUSBAND & FATHER, PHOTOGRAPHER