OUR STORY:
Wheelie Creative? Wait, are you saying "really" or "wheelie?"
That's the joke and why this business is named what it is. Life is too short to be so serious all the time.
That's the joke and why this business is named what it is. Life is too short to be so serious all the time.
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We're the first to admit, agencies tend to suck.
All that corporate jargon and bazillion dollar strategy that proves they don't know the difference between ripping skins and showing skin... and then you're supposed to trust them with your brand? Gross. That's why we're the anti-agency. WheelieCreative is a story of something from nothing. There are no investors, no power-suited people behind the curtain of this business, and certainly no committee of retired NFL players who make decisions for us and our clients. It all started with snowboarding. Wheelie was born in 2009 in the small, mountain town of Crested Butte, CO as a means to support Lisa Slagle’s snowboarding habit. Lisa shredded all day and designed all night by the light of a laptop. She handed out business cards on chairlifts and turned down parties. She hustled. She moved to Utah and spent exactly one year as a photo editor at Backcountry.com while keeping Wheelie going at night. Scooping up friends at Backcountry and Snowbird, she hustled harder and learned as much as she could about the nuances and intricacies of the outdoor industry before packing up her Subaru and heading north toward pillow lines only dreams are made of. Great work breeds more great work. In 2012, on a solo trip to Canada, Lisa’s car died outside of Whitefish, MT, so she and her dog, Scout, threw down some roots, got an office, and started hiring Montana’s best to join the hustle. After 5 solid years of business in Montana, it was time to bring this design party full circle and open a second branch in Colorado, where this shitshow began. The Battery621 building seemed the only place appropriate enough to house this crew of creative, hard-working hooligans, and our second branch was born. Welcome to the ride. |
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The Crew:
Our Leadership
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Lisa Slagle, Founder + PRINCIPAL
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Lisa grew up in Fort Collins, working in bike shops, instructing snowboarding, and building drop-in ramps off of rooftops into rail parks that she welded herself. In order to delay growing up while supporting her snowboarding habit, Lisa single-handedly started Wheelie Creative in 2009 from the small town of Crested Butte, CO. After almost every business in town had a new logo and brand identity, she moved to Whitefish to throw down some roots and grow her business into an oblivion of awesome. Armed with a BFA in Graphic Design and a minor in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Colorado State University, Lisa thrives on creating in all capacities from words to pixels to paint. She believes in wearing t-shirts to business meetings, shaking creativity out of cracks, and the unlimited power of play. Her approach generates successful projects that are fun and unabashedly human.
Lisa is also an adjunct instructor of design and videography at FVCC, a writer, and often speaks at industry events. When she's not working, Lisa enjoys putting core shots in her snowboard, crashing her mountain bike, and digging her snowmobile out of deep powder in the backcountry. |
Jessica Parker, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
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Jessica found her way to Montana after running all the rivers east of the Mississippi that she could find. She hauled her two adorable boys west on a family trip, and knew right away that the Northern Rocky Mountains were going to be home.
This Jersey-native is fun, creative, and passionate about everything she does. Jessica is skilled in business communications and graphic design which means she can relate your amazing business ideas with design concepts. She keeps the gears greased at Wheelie which means your project runs smoothly. When she’s not working, you might find Jessica around town coaching or playing soccer, looking for new lines to ski, or relaxing with her kids at the lake. |
Amanda Guy, creative TEAM
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We are so stoked to have Amanda Guy on our team. Do you like fun? Then you will like 'Manda. She's one personable, hardworking, talented lady, and a champ with all things creative. Whether it's design or photography, Amanda's on it. She earned a BA from the School of Film & Photography from MSU in 2009 and an AA in Graphic Design from FVCC.
Amanda is a Kalispell native, and she can't decide what she loves more: bacon or Star Wars. Feel free to ask. |
IRIS MATULEVICH, Creative Team
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No one can say her last name, but we're keeping Iris forever. Iris started at Wheelie as a marketing intern during her pursuit of a Business Admin degree at Gonzaga University with a concentration in Marketing and double minors in English and Entrepreneurial Leadership. That's right, Iris is an over-achiever. But she's our over-achiever, and we wouldn't have it any other way. She kills it for us on the social media front.
Iris is a local from the Flathead Valley. On the weekends, she is always bagging peaks, mountain biking, or taking ridiculously pretty summit sunset photos like a badass, but here at Wheelie, she geeks out on analytics, strategy, and trending hashtags. She's organized, hilarious, and one hell of a researcher, too. (And she didn't get scared away when we tasked her with organizing and planning Montana's first Camber Outdoors event on her very first day of work.). What a champ. Welcome to the crew, Iris. |
Michael Crenshaw, Accounts Team
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The New Guy. Michael arrived in Whitefish and got thrown into an office full of women. Unarmed with puppies or chocolate, Michael bravely stepped into the trenches of our Whitefish office and seems to be not only surviving, but thriving.
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ALI HOLST, Creative Team
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Ali Holst is as level-headed as she is talented. Always calm, cool, and collected, she got roped into working here because she was a student in one of Lisa's graphic design classes, and Lisa couldn't let go of Ali's reluctant talent. As a student, Ali always acted like, "Yeah, I made that. So What?" Like being insanely gifted at design was no big deal. We thought otherwise.
We basically kidnapped her and forced her to stick with graphic design because she is so flippin' good at it. You're welcome, world. |
Andrew Chad, Creative Team
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Andrew Chad, or @a.chad on Instagram, is our go-to freelance photographer and videographer. He's fun, dependable, and can carry a whole lot of gear to the top of anything.
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Doug Olsen, ACCOUNTS TEAM: SEATTLE
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Doug Olsen, better known as 'dougefresh' grew up in the mean streets of Detroit... if that is what you want to call a charming little suburb a mile or so outside of the city. He always had a distinct independence and the urge to travel, so once he was 17, he headed West.
First was a brief stint in San Francisco, then down to L.A. to get his Business Degree in both Marketing and Business Administration from Azusa Pacific University. After splitting his time between beaches and Big Bear, he decided to venture to Breckenridge to pursue snowboarding full time. His adventures in Colorado lead him to a career in the action sports / youth marketing world; a Sales Rep for Burton in the Rockies, an Account Executive for Transworld Media in San Diego, and a Marketing Manager for Zumiez in Seattle. After an incredible mid-life retirement of traveling and exploring, Doug joined the ranks at Wheelie Creative to help build amazing partnerships between Wheelie and all the wonderful brands in our industry. Currently Doug can be found up in the PNW, but only when he is not off traveling the world to find surf / snow / skate, adventure, party, and most importantly FUN! doug@wheeliecreative.com |
MATT SWENSON, AccountS Team: Winter Park, CO
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Matt is a ColoRADo native who’s been shredding bikes since the age of two and his life has literally revolved around two wheels. His surgery list is substantial, yet he wouldn’t give it up for the world. He studied Sports Medicine at CSU where his passion for bikes grew to a new level. After a stint with the medical industry, he switched gears and headed to Winter Park to help run their bike and ski race series. We’ll just say he’s an action sports junkie and move forward.
These days you can find him at the Trestle bike park, trail riding, skatepark and dirt jump sessions with his wife and pup, Enzo. In the winter, they enjoy backcountry missions, and you can find Enzo buried facedeep right next to them. Matt believes there’s a proper balance to be held between work and love for what you do, and he thrives on that daily as our account executive here at Wheelie. matt@wheeliecreative.com |
