our team

At UNC-Chapel Hill, Jan’s professors encouraged her to become a novelist. Armed with degrees in Journalism and English, she set out to tell a different kind of story—the brand story. Jan began her career in marketing at McKinney in the Triangle before moving to New York City to work on Madison Avenue, study graphic design at the acclaimed School of Visual Arts, and raise a family.

During that time, Jan built quite a collection of brand stories including Holiday Inn, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and American Express to name a few.

At Avenir Bold, she leads the agency and manages some of the leading brands in the region. A hands-on leader, one client describes Jan as “the hardest working CEO in the business,” while her team characterizes her as leading with her heart. She’s okay with both of those descriptions.

In an alternate reality, David could have been a baseball player with enough skills to make it to the major leagues. Thankfully, the David we know had the insight to realize that what he lacked in baseball, he more than made up for in art and design.

With a deep awareness of the power of art and copy, David chose advertising for the opportunity to persuade others, inspire them to think and to simply put a smile on their faces. The thing he enjoys most about the industry is working with other unique and talented people and witnessing the power of collaboration firsthand.

As Avenir Bold’s Creative Director, David leads by example, guiding his team to excel at creative storytelling, collaborate closely for effective problem solving, and become leaders as well. One of his many daily goals is to make sure everyone feels empowered to do great work. Mainly because that’s what attracted him to Avenir Bold in the first place – that, and his great respect and admiration for the agency’s leadership.

When David is not in the office (which is super rare), he’s out traveling to exotic places like Bora Bora. He’s also an avid reader and loves biking the American Tobacco Trail in Durham. 

Ultimately, Karen’s goal at work and in life is to make things better. As Avenir Bold’s Media Director, Karen strives to reach consumers in the most efficient and effective manner, while actively helping clients better understand how to market to their target audiences. She’s also very committed to sharing better information to streamline and improve processes, both internal and external.

Karen once saw herself as an interior design professional, quite possibly with her own HGTV show. Somewhere along the way, she became fascinated with the real-world applications of advertising and marketing while taking statistics and economics classes. When she eventually entered the industry, she quickly discovered an additional perk – that consuming media content like TV shows was a part of her job.

At Avenir Bold, Karen enjoys the opportunity to impact the market she lives in. Although she’s placed a lot of national media during her career, there’s nothing cooler to her than having deep insight into what works in her own backyard. It’s this knowledge, along with her problem-solving skills, leadership ability, and determination, that help her make smarter recommendations for our clients.

Outside the office, Karen loves traveling, volunteering and cooking. She’s a wiz at all sorts of dips and spreads, from guacamole to delicious salsas - perfect for a trip to the beach, which just happens to be her favorite destination for rest and relaxation.