Helping Businesses Grow, Scale & Thrive Since 2012

Adrienne Wilkerson

CEO
Reno, NV

When Adrienne was in her early 20s, she realized she was going to make a much better boss than an employee. She founded Beacon Publishing + Design in 2001, and with a lot of hard work (and a far degree of scrappiness), she turned it into an award-winning digital marketing agency. She oversees the company’s day-to-day operations and is responsible for strategic planning and management.

Adrienne loves a challenge, which means she’s the go-to person for finding solutions. This attitude has earned her numerous awards, including Woman of the Year (National Association of Professional Women), Marketing Visionary of the Year (American Marketing Association of Alaska) and a listing in the Top 40 Under 40 (Alaska Journal of Commerce). She’s also served as a founding board member for a number of non-profit organizations including the Alaska Business Women’s Summit, Alaska Women’s Leadership Forum, the Alaska chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Artists. She also co-founded the Women in Digital Cleveland Chapter when she spent a few years living in Ohio.

She’s also a passionate coach and mentor – not just for members of her own team, but for emerging leaders across multiple industries. She frequently speaks on topics such as personal branding, word-of-mouth marketing, social media marketing, building your professional network and more.

Adrienne grew up in Alaska and moved to Nevada with her family in 2018. When she’s not talking about marketing, she’s busy working on a 40-acre ranch north of Reno with her husband, son and dog, with occasional visits from a herd of wild horses and her neighbor’s free-range cows. They hope to add chickens, goats, elephants and some cows of their own. (We’re kidding about the elephants.)

Jennifer Christensen

CMO
Anchorage, AK

We call her “Sparkle Queen,” but her work is anything but fluff. Over the years, Jennifer has accrued over 20 years of award-winning sales and marketing expertise. As our chief marketing brain, she assists companies in developing, creating, and implementing their online marketing strategies.

In 2012, Jennifer joined forces with Adrienne Wilkerson of Beacon Publishing and Design to form Beacon Media + Marketing. Her comprehensive knowledge includes all aspects of social media, web, email, online advertising, and media buying plans. Jennifer is passionate about exceptional service and staying ahead of the ever-changing trends in Inbound Marketing, and her contagious positive energy permeates through our offices every single day.

Jennifer has a Master’s Certificate in Online Marketing and Social Media from the University of San Francisco. She is the first Alaskan to be Inbound Marketing Certified. Alongside Adrienne, she was jointly recognized as the Marketing Visionary of the Year by the American Marketing Association of Alaska, in addition, she was named Marketer of the Year by AMA Alaska. Jennifer is fulfilled by serving her community at large and uplifting women in business. She is the Director of Women Entrepreneurs of Alaska.

Lisa Brest

COR
Anchorage, AK

With almost 25 years of experience reviewing financials and a B.S. in Mathematics, Lisa has a mind for the numbers! She makes sure we are on track with our finances, monitoring our budget-to-actuals, projecting agency growth, and much, much more. Her digital marketing specialty is Google AdWords.

Lisa started with data input for Google AdWords several years ago. She got hooked when she saw the amazing results. Today, Lisa analyzes the key performance indicators of our client accounts and modifies their AdWords strategies for success. In 2018, Lisa became AdWords certified, making Beacon a Google Partner.

Her financial experience comes from running the family business, Taylored Restoration, a 100+ employee company that handles $15M of work each year. Lisa helped Taylored grow and kept track of the numbers through many years of economic ups and downs. Ready for a new adventure and a fresh challenge, Lisa partnered with Beacon and has proven that great business sense is in her DNA.

Lisa has been married for 25 years and has three kids, a dog, and a cat. She is Alaska born and raised and she loves gardening, despite the challenges of her home state! It is said that boating was in Lisa’s marriage vows – she spends a lot of her free time out on the water with her family.

Ken Okonek

Sales + Marketing Director
Anchorage, AK

Ken’s biggest strength is building relationships. He loves to chat and he’s genuinely interested in what our clients have to say! He was recruited to join Beacon Media + Marketing from the fitness industry, where he’s spent the last 16 years. He started as a personal trainer worked his way up to being a regional manager, looking after a team of up to 270 employees (with 16 direct reports).

He joined #TeamBeacon in 2020. He’s been working in the world of sales and marketing since 2010, and he’s excited to provide leadership and direction to our team. In fact, he set a record for bringing an exciting new client on board in his first week! Ken engages with people on a human-to-human level, which means he’s quick to identify exactly what our customers need.

Ken was born and raised in Alaska. When he’s not meeting with clients, he’s a blur of activity. He enjoys structured exercise, hiking, biking, volleyball, and snowboarding. He’s also an entrepreneur in his own right, with a personal training studio in Anchorage and an online exercise program. In his downtime, he enjoys hanging out with his wife and their two fur babies, Rvca and Dekker.

Michelle Williams

Account Manager
Anchorage, AK

Michelle has a passion for making creativity shine! She keeps us organized and looking sharp with project management genius, and a little creative support on the side.

Michelle recently moved to Alaska from North Carolina with her husband Jon. She started her marketing journey in North Carolina working for a national mental health hospital system as a professional relations liaison over the Southeast U.S. Having received a B.S. in Recreational Therapy, Michelle knew the mental health world well and developed a passion for marketing from her knowledge. She went on to work for a print, design, and promotional product company in her home state, doing sales and social media. After working on the front line in sales, executing marketing plans, Michelle was excited to have found a passion for the action on the planning end, behind-the-scenes! She loved doing social media, which is why she wanted to work at Beacon, to learn more about digital marketing!

Michelle is very active and loves the great outdoors. She is a life-long soccer player and she enjoys watching football with family and friends. One of her favorite outdoor activities is running with her dog Chief, a giant, adorable Goldendoodle.

Hanna Heffern

Account Manager
Anchorage, AK

Hanna brings an empathetic approach to all sides of account management. She has broad marketing experience and has worked on both the agency side and the client side of campaigns, so she’s an expert in managing relationships both internally and externally. She studied marketing at Montana State University in Bozeman and joined Beacon Media + Marketing by way of a number of well-known local companies in Alaska.

Hanna is a self-described “over-communicator” who enjoys juggling multiple projects at once. She thrives when she’s busy and loves bouncing back and forth between different clients, coming up with fresh ideas and putting powerful strategies in place to optimize results.

When she’s not responding to client messages, Hanna spends most of her time outdoors. She’s the kind of person who will show up and always have a good time, no matter where the adventure ends up. She enjoys alpine skiing and running, but definitely not kayaking. Ask her to tell you the story.

Sabrina Martinez

Digital Marketing Coordinator
Reno, NV

Sabrina is an organizational whirlwind with a talent for nudging the right people, at the right time, to ensure our projects stay on track. She joined #TeamBeacon in 2020 and maintains a big-picture perspective of our entire workflow to make sure no deadlines are missed. This is a key role in helping our business scale, as we take on more amazing clients and more incredible campaigns.

She’s also our production team’s secret weapon (shhh!). Sabina has a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada, Reno, and has spent the last couple of years working as a freelance writer. When she’s not coordinating our accounts, she helps our clients optimize their websites to smash their SEO goals, and occasionally flexes her creative muscles to pen a blog or two.

Sabrina is one of those people who reads three books at once – ranging from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, to Amy Tan, and everything in between. She lives in Reno with her husband and their two gorgeous kids, Christina and Isaiah, and enjoys hiking, biking, and spending time at Lake Tahoe.

Ashley Witucki

Digital Marketing Coordinator
Reno, NV

Ashley’s skillset is the perfect blend of creative thinking and business acumen. Originally from Las Vegas, she’s a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, where she studied journalism with a minor in business administration. She joined #TeamBeacon from OCG Creative in Reno, where she jumped straight in the deep end with pay-per-click ads, social media, and account management.

Ashley loves interacting with clients, whether that’s setting up meetings, going over reports, or finding creative solutions for mid-campaign challenges. She’s highly organized and always uber professional, which means our clients can rest easy knowing they’re in very safe hands.

During the summer months, you’re likely to find her soaking up the sunshine at either Truckee or Tahoe. Otherwise, Ashley enjoys artistic pursuits such as painting plant pots. She also just got a disposable camera (remember those?) and enjoys taking photographs on film.

Christian Bowers

Sales Assistant
Anchorage, AK

Christian loved Beacon so much he couldn’t stay away. He first worked with us as an administrative assistant, before moving to A Pie Stop – a great local bakery in Anchorage. He started there as a barista and worked his way up to being a manager and part-owner within three years. Along the way, he discovered a passion for small business, especially when it comes to business relations. He loves networking and his superpower is something we like to call woo – Winning Others Over.

He’s the type of person who can lift the mood of a room because his positivity is infectious. He brings a lot of energy to all of his meetings and he’s excited to learn the ropes from our Director of Sales and Marketing, help grow our business, and make Anchorage a better place to live and work.

Christian was born and raised in Alaska and spent a year living in Oregon. Outside the office, he helps out at A Pie Stop, and spends a lot of time learning new things on YouTube. He’s a self-described “history nerd” who also loves spending time hiking and skiing in the great outdoors.

Sarah Testen

Social Media Director
Columbia, SC

Sarah’s talents allow us to keep all our creative energy in-house and on target. In her role, Sarah captures a client’s awesomeness for all to see and love. She knows what makes for engaging content, and what is suspect to fall into the dark world of “meh.” Her bright personality is guaranteed to melt even the coldest brands. Think you don’t have much to show? Don’t tell her that…

Video is one of – if not the most – digestible forms of digital media, and Sarah’s work is utilized on a wide variety of platforms, from social media to websites. She understands all of the various aspects of the video and photography process and can see the project from start to finish. She is invaluable in brainstorming and storyboarding sessions. She applies her expertise to all video formats but specializes in short-to-medium formats.

Sarah holds an IC3 Certification and loves the ever-evolving world of digital photography and video. She attended the College of Art and Design at Columbus State University.

Thomas Parker

Lead Generation Specialist
Reno, NV

Thomas prides himself on being a non-traditional marketer. He has a degree in biology from the University of Nevada, Reno, and discovered marketing while working in retail at Lululemon. He interned at The Abbi Agency and Dolan Auto Group before joining Beacon Media + Marketing in 2020. His biggest strength is his ability to bring fresh eyes to everyday marketing problems.

A lot of his skills are self-taught, which means he can think outside the box and blend ideas from different backgrounds to create copy that grabs attention for all the right reasons. He’s also great at bridging the gap between traditional and modern marketing philosophies and loves educating clients about new marketing strategies they can implement to generate more qualified leads.

Thomas was born and raised in Sacramento, California, and moved to Reno to join the Nevada Wolf Pack as a linebacker. When he’s not in the office, he enjoys keeping fit, roller-skating and learning to play the ukulele, and eating out (he’s the one to ask for food recommendations in Reno!).

Storme See

Digital Content Specialist
Anchorage, AK

Storme (a.k.a. Cyber Storm) realized she loved digital marketing when she was about 16 years old. She grew up working in her family’s commercial fishing business, and began teaching herself the basics of marketing when they started shipping fish interstate. She really enjoyed helping grow her family’s legacy, and this passion for making a difference has stayed with her ever since.

Storme is a creative genius who loves helping clients see the impact of a strong marketing plan, with great content, reflected in their bottom line. She has a background in the fitness industry, having worked for two years as the Marketing Coordinator at gym chain Body Renew Alaska. She joined Beacon Media + Marketing because she wanted to help other small businesses thrive too.

Outside the office, you can usually find Storme hiking around Anchorage with her fiancé and their pitbull, Ronan. She’s also a self-described “beer fanatic,” so she’s definitely the best person in the office to ask if you’re interested in learning more about Alaska’s local brewing scene.

George Brest

Google Marketing Specialist
Anchorage, AK

George is a wizard when it comes to Google Ads. He has all of the Google Skillshop certifications (which include Search, Display, Shopping, Video and Measurement), and he says one of the things he likes most about it is that there is always more to learn. He joined the team in early 2020.

He traveled after finishing high school, working at the Breeze Inn in Seward, AK, and the Lava Lava Beach Club in Waikoloa, HI, before coming home to Alaska. That’s when he developed an interest in digital marketing – Google is constantly rolling out updates and changes, and keeping on top of the latest strategies makes the job fun. There’s much more to Google Ads than you might think!

George says creativity is his best quality. Outside work, he spends most of his time reading and writing fantasy novels (see? We told you he was a wizard!). His favorite sub-genre is medieval fantasy, so he’s well-versed in worlds of knights and magical twists. He also loves being outside during summer, so if he’s not reading, he’s usually fishing on his dad’s boat in Southeast Alaska.

Kym Van Arsdale

Website Developer
Anchorage, AK

Kym’s superpower is problem solving. She started her career in real estate and first developed an interest in computers when she took on a graphic design project for her boss. She loved it so much she went on to get a degree in Management Information Systems at the University of Alaska Anchorage. To this day, she thrives on finding creative solutions to complex website puzzles.

Kym joined Beacon Media + Marketing after more than 12 years as Lead Developer at Sundog Media. She specializes in WordPress websites, including custom themes and plugins, and she makes sure everything she builds is efficient… and very user-friendly. If you don’t know your PHP from your CSS or HTML, she’s the person to ask. Best of all, she loves building webpages that drive sales.

When she’s not at work, Kym is usually spending time outdoors with her husband and their two teenage sons, Brock and Simon. As a family, they love fishing, hiking, and camping at their favorite yurt somewhere near Kachemak Bay (to this day, the exact location remains a family secret).

Tina Tipner

Graphic Designer
Anchorage, AK

Tina specializes in making brand messaging jump off the page. Her brain is an archive of all the cool layouts and designs she sees on her travels around the internet, which means never short on ideas. She’s always finding new ways to combine colors, fonts, textures, and details to breathe life into our websites. It means every one of our clients is guaranteed a fresh and unique look and feel.

Tina was born and raised in Alaska, but spent quite a few years living in Michigan before returning to the Last Frontier. She’s a graduate of Michigan State University, where she studied marketing and graphic communication. Tina started her career designing in the fitness and recreation industry and joined #TeamBeacon because she wanted to work with an agency as part of a close-knit team.

Away from the desk, Tina enjoys finding new places to hike. Luckily, there’s no shortage of that in Alaska! (She’s done some pretty cool three-day trips out in the wild.) She also enjoys ATV sports like four-wheeling, trying out new breweries, and escaping to her family’s off-grid cabin.

Sara Murr

Bookkeeper
Anchorage, AK

Sara has always been good with money. She joined #TeamBeacon on a part-time basis in 2019 and she quickly became indispensable. In fact, while the rest of the team is exercising the right sides of their brains and coming up with creative solutions for our clients, she’s holding down the fort on the left. She’s got a knack for streamlining processes, especially when it comes to onboarding new clients, and she keeps our accounts running smoothly so our clients can get back to business.

She was born and raised in Anchorage, and always knew that’s where she wanted to raise her family, but she’s also seen a lot of the world. Pre-kids, she worked on a farm in New Zealand, stopped by Australia for a few weeks, taught English in Bangladesh and visited Swaziland (one of those tiny countries located entirely inside South Africa) multiple times to help build orphanages.

Sara and her husband have a nine-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter, who keep them busy. They’re currently teaching the kids to snowboard, and they like to make the most of Alaska’s short-but-magnificent summers by going camping and fishing every weekend.

Thad White

Video Production Manager
Anchorage, AK

Thad has been interested in sales and marketing ever since he ran his own radio show as a teenager. He was told he needed to sell sponsorship to keep his program on the air, so he jumped right in. He joined Beacon Media + Marketing from the non-profit world in 2020, and says his biggest strength is his ability to connect with the public, and reflect the beating heart of a community in each campaign.

Thad grew up in Long Beach, California, and moved to Alaska with his wife and two sons about 15 years ago. He has a lot of experience driving sales in the fitness industry, and he’s also finely-tuned his skills in cultivating meaningful relationships and building communities through his church. When he’s not working to help businesses grow, he serves as Lead Pastor at Lift Church AK in Anchorage.

He loves hiking and spending time outdoors with his family, and he’s always looking to try the next great Alaskan experience. Most recently, he went flying with a friend who is a local bush pilot. They landed off-runway, right at the bottom of a glacier, which Thad says was “quite the experience.”

Jake Sloan

Videographer + Photographer (Contractor)
Anchorage, AK

With a background in media that extends from Africa to Hollywood to “old-time” Alaska, Jake can do it all! He has experience in every part of the videography process, from storyboarding to capturing breathtaking footage. Jake has a passion for telling the stories that communicate what our clients are all about and how their product or service can impact the people who need them most.

Jake has been in the professional audio industry for 12 years as a musician, recording engineer, and producer. He has been doing photography and videography for 6 years. Jake has worked alongside many successful photographers and audio producers over the course of his career, including Alaska photographers Steve Gilroy and Bradford Washburn, and Hollywood producer Al Phillips! During his time in Talkeetna, Jake worked as a guide for bear viewing trips and a dispatcher for K2 Aviation. Jake is currently an FAA licensed drone pilot for commercial drone work.

Jake was born in Seattle, Washington but he spent is formative years in Nepal, growing up among the Himalayas. He has toured Europe and Africa with his band, Cadence, as a musician, producer, photographer, and videographer. Jake has been in Alaska for over 20 years. In addition to photography and videography, Jake enjoys building light sabers! He regularly visits children’s hospitals dressed up as Darth Vader. Many of his adventures are recorded on his YouTube channel, Jake Sloan. Jake is married and has three children.

Kirrily Schwarz

Content Manager (Contractor)
Somewhere in Australia

Kirrily (who goes by the code name Kanga.Roo) is a words person. As a kid, she was the kind who stayed under the covers reading with a flashlight until the early hours of the morning. As a grown-up, she went ahead and got a job for the biggest news company in Australia. Her first role was writing news headlines for Today, a live national TV breakfast show (which is actually syndicated with Good Morning America – #smallworld).

After that, she worked at the Australian headquarters of News Corp, which is a global publishing company based in New York City. She worked as a reporter for news.com.au, before joining the in-house content studio and delivering polished campaigns for governments, tech companies, health companies, tourism agencies and more. She fell in love with the creativity and challenge of developing digital marketing campaigns.

Kirrily is currently living her best #vanlife in Australia. She met the Beacon Media + Marketing team during a ski trip at the start of 2020 and helps us out as a freelance copywriter and content manager. Away from the desk, you can find her hiking, camping, rock climbing, drinking wine, or fending off sharks.