On the dance floor, Jeff admits to having two left feet. However, at SLA he’s the agency’s right hand man. With three decades of sales, marketing, advertising and PR experience, Jeff has successfully managed hundreds of accounts ranging from banks and builders to medical and manufactures. In addition, he has owned and operated a nationally recognized direct marketing company with clients in 35 states and held management positions in both radio and TV.
Steve co-founded SLA with the late Gary Suggs in 1975. Over that time, he has been responsible for creating some of the most memorable advertising ventures including the introduction of the first “Triple Drive Thru” campaign for McDonalds. Additionally, he has personally and successfully, managed a broad cross-section of accounts that range from Congressional Campaigns to TV networks. In 2005, he established SLA as the only agency in the nation retained by the Culligan Corporation to manage local co-ops. Steve has also earned the nickname “Sonny Pro Bono” for all of the agency’s work with non-profit organizations.
We were suspicious of someone who uses initials for a first name, but after a thorough background check – which consisted of looking him up on Facebook - we found out that he is not only an okay guy, he also has a variety of skills, experience and Facebook friends. D.C. has served as Operations’ Manager for broadcast groups here on the Central Coast as well as a few less-glamorous locales like Waco, Wichita and Bakersfield. On a daily basis, D.C. puts his 25 years of radio, newspaper, TV and web experience in gear to achieve great results for SLA clients, many of whom try to guess what his real first name is.
Elma is first and foremost, a soccer mom and exuberant spectator. She loves spending time with her children, cheering them on and encouraging them and when necessary, twisting the arm a referee or two. An Honors Graduate of Heald Business College of San Francisco in 2005, Elma has over eight years of bookkeeping experience and has been with the agency for over two years. She is responsible for all of SLA’s debits and credits, business reports, balance sheets, accounts payable and most importantly, accounts receivable, where her arm twisting abilities prove very useful.
Ryan is our video editor and we are lucky to have him. He has taken direction from the likes of Steven Spielberg and Michael Mann while editing in Hollywood, served as a cameraman on both film and documentary projects and written and produced his own motion picture projects, one of which is available in video stores right now! When he is away from the SLA Editing Suite, Ryan is an avid hiker and backpacker, and having grown up in the mid-west, a St. Louis Cardinals fan.
Michael wanted to pitch for New York Mets. Unfortunately, they never wanted him. Instead, he became a radio personality, a talk show host, Newsman, a TV writer and producer, college instructor and finally, for the last 21 years, SLA’s Creative Director. Michael has more than 40 years of experience in the broadcast/media industry and provides the voice for several of our clients. He also keeps hoping to get that call from the Mets.
A Cal State Northridge graduate who has been with the agency for 22 years, Roz has worked on so many different projects from annual reports and newsletters to newspaper inserts and marketing presentations, few have her experience or attention to detail. She also practices Transcendental Meditation and is currently levitating over her desk.
At a young 25 years old, Brandon already has more than seven years of professional design experience locally, nationally and internationally. With a history in fine arts as well as media, Brandon is passionate about pretty much everything he does. His love for art and technology have his mind constantly thinking about bigger, better and newer ideas, all day, every day. And we love that because it means he is constantly thinking about how to make designs fit our clients needs while making sure they stay at the forefront of the trends in the market.