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.

Scott spent most of his life thinking he was an introvert. He was wrong. It turns out that he actually enjoys being around people—and trying to figure them out. That makes Scott well-suited for this marketing business, along with his love for design, photography, and good ideas.

His agency experience goes back more than 30 years, working with brands ranging from destinations to home products, from technology to entertainment, and from professional services to higher ed. Scott’s background is in graphic design and art direction, but he can often be found writing a snappy headline or rethinking the strategy—you know, getting into everyone else’s business. But doing it politely.

Scott believes that as creative people, we need to do more than work. We need to “fill the well” so we will have life experiences to draw from to make our work more meaningful and richer. He fills his well by traveling to places he has never been and seeking experiences he’s never had. There’s so much left to do.

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.

Ever since he discovered a passion and a talent for creative writing at the age of seven, Ty has been smitten with the written word. He likes to believe fate ultimately brought him to creative advertising, given that his first foray into it came down to filling an extra spot in his undergrade course load.

Throughout his career, Ty’s skills as a brand storyteller have delighted, intrigued and even, moved people to tears. He has created, cemented and reconfigure various brand identities and communications making them more memorable, strategic and influential along the way.

As Avenir Bold’s Associate Creative Director, Ty guides and assists his team, collaborating closely with them to craft strategic solutions to marketing and advertising challenges as well as identifying opportunities where Avenir Bold can creatively excel as an agency.

In his spare time, Ty enjoys watching movies, listening to music and reading the latest bestseller in a quiet corner somewhere. He also sings in a local men’s chorus that performs around the Triangle.