A new way of thinking

Carrie is a prolific brand champion, strategist, and agency leader who founded YSA, driven by a vision to create an all-star team that empowers clients to think and act boldly, promoting brand health and business growth through effective brand activation and development. As a dynamic and trusted leader, she inspires with her vision and strategy for organizational development and increased profitability, focusing on innovative growth strategies. Carrie cultivates meaningful relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, fostering a culture of shared alignment. She actively leads in strategy, new business initiatives, and alliance member recruitment and management at YSA, specializing in business consulting and omnichannel campaigns.

Carrie's career is marked by strategic leadership roles in agencies, where she has focused on brand strategy, account management, and EBITDA growth. She has successfully driven global client initiatives for iconic brands such as Samsung, Bank of America, Planters Lifesavers, TJ Maxx, Hanesbrands, Siemens, Nextel, Sunbrella, GE Appliances, Hamilton Beach, Zatarain's McCormiick, Procter & Gamble, M&M Mars, and Floor & Decor. 

She has guided teams across diverse agencies, including independent firms and holding company networks Publicis, IPG, and Omnicom. As the visionary behind MullenLowe Group's Frank About Women, she established a leading market communications firm dedicated to serving women. Most recently, her transformative leadership at Chernoff Newman earned her the esteemed Most Admired CEO Award from the Charlotte Business Journal.

A seasoned strategist and high-level account leader, Chris leads Client Strategy and Growth Solutions for YSA. As part of these efforts, he is heavily involved in the development of Growth Path Strategies and program strategies spanning brand, omnichannel, and sports/partnership programs. 

Chris brings decades of experience in client and agency leadership, spanning a variety of disciplines. The first half of Chris' career was focused heavily on sports, partnership, experiential, and retail activations for brands like Lowe's, Sprint, and BASF within motorsports, soccer, golf, the NFL, NCAA, music, and theme-park strategic activations.

The second half has been focused on working closely with clients to solve brand, B2B, and B2C customer engagement and sales challenges through brand strategy, go-to-market strategy, actionable journey and persona development, and robust omnichannel campaigns. While with Wray Ward, Chris has worked with an array of brands, including: Moen, Floor & Decor, Dal-Tile, LEVOLOR, Cooper Lighting Solutions, Festool, CertainTeed, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's, and Sunbelt Rentals.

Most recently, Chris was the VP of Client Engagement for linqd. where he spearheaded a comprehensive Growth Marketing initiative that mixed email, digital, and Voice (inside sales) activation to generate 18:1 ROI for a national building products distributor.