A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER OF WHEELIE:

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Hi. I'm Lisa Slagle. I'm highly-introverted, which is why most of my life is dedicated to talking about your brand and not myself and why I'm not even on the website until this tiny section at the bottom of a page, but I will say that making things with people adds deep meaning to my life, and I'm happy you're here. I started this thing in 2009 from a clapped-out laptop and a pile of soggy business cards that I used to hand out on chairlifts, and somehow that worked. I'm proud of what WHEELIE has grown into and the stories we've gotten to tell. Along the way, I have creative directed for over 350 brands, produced millions of dollars of creative work, and managed over 50 full-time employees and hundreds of contractors. I've worked my ass off, and it hasn't always been easy (in fact, it was really hard for the first ten years!), but I do it because I love this stuff.

 

I love the process of imagining things that aren't real, feeling what it would be like if they were, and then rallying teams of people to bring it all to life. The end product is extraordinary, but how we pulled it off is always my favorite part. I love turning to an editor or a DP or a client after watching the final cut together and saying, "Holy shit, we made that."  That lights me up. I think agency owners are supposed to be more removed and more serious, but that's not how I roll. I like to be in it. 

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I don't run WHEELIE like I used to-- I've modernized it, gotten rid of the typical agency bloat, rented our office building to a cannabis dispensary, and have more fun than ever making the best work we've ever produced. And I mean ever. I should have done this years ago. My roster of talent is stacked with our industry's top creatives. I am hellbent on hiring diversity in front of and behind the camera and bringing the right people to the right projects for the right clients. I now run the whole thing from my home office in Crested Butte, Colorado, often in my ugly glasses and old soccer shorts. I consider my creative company to serve you more like a shot of espresso rather than a latte with a bunch of extra shit in it. Pure, high-octane, no bullshit. Ask me about it if you're curious. 

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I ask big questions, think deeply, and enjoy snowboarding or mountain biking every day, where I think of deeper and bigger questions. I'm writing a book about the business of imagination, and in the meantime, feel free to read my Substack. You can work with me directly in lots of ways from requesting me as your creative director to one-on-one consulting to quarterly creative directing for your in-house marketing team. I also still shoot photos all the time. You'll get the most outta me if you bring me on to your special projects for creative thinking & development. It's what I'm best at (that, and getting creative, intelligent, remarkable people to rally toward the same vision), and like I said, I love this stuff.

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Thanks for being here,

Lisa