Brock Flagstad

Founder, CEO

As the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Channel Clarity, Brock has not only seen the company's rapid growth since its inception in 2003, but has been largely responsible for that progress. After graduating from Miami University in 1999, Brock's ambition led him into several various entrepreneurial ventures before discovering a natural ability for online marketing, quickly finding his niche in lead generation, monetization strategy, SEO and SEM.

These skillsets and a deep grounding in executive know-how have helped to turn what was once a handful of guys working out of a living room into a premier multi-platform, full-service organization. Brock's experience has helped him to understand that building a strong team starts with strong individuals, so that's exactly what he did. The strength of our team rests in the diverse abilities that each of our team members brings to the table.

In addition to enjoying fine wines and tennis, Brock also has a new passion in his life. In late 2010, Brock and his wife, Meredith, welcomed their first two children into the world. The births of twins Faye and Greer have added a completely new dimension to their lives.

Drew Marticke

COO

Drew Marticke currently serves as the COO of Channel Clarity Inc., a full-service online marketing network. The company's capabilities include lead generation, online traffic management, conversion optimization, and remarketing for clients in the education, legal, and financial services industries.

Prior to joining Channel Clarity, Drew was a Vice President at Marsh, Inc., a division of Marsh & McLennan Companies. He was responsible for leading global service teams that deliver insurance and other risk transfer strategies to multinational clients. His emphasis was on manufacturing and technology companies.

While at Marsh McLennan, Drew held a number of other positions within the firm. From 2002 to 2004, Drew was a Consultant in the company's Oliver Wyman Group (formerly Mercer Management Consulting). He assisted several Fortune 1000 clients with business design analysis, outsourcing and off-shoring, and technology project management. From 2004 to 2007, Drew worked for Marsh's internal Global Client Development Group, assessing contribution by client segment and making pricing and service recommendations to enhance overall profitability.

Drew has a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College. He is an active fundraiser and professional mentor for Western Reserve Academy, his high-school alma mater, and is a member of the Mayflower Foundation, an organization of young professionals that plans and hosts benefits on behalf of local charities. He currently lives in Chicago, IL with his wife, Kristen.

Jack Murphy

CFO

Jack Murphy currently serves as the CFO of Channel Clarity, Inc. Prior to joining Channel Clarity, Jack spent five years at William Blair & Company providing financial advisory and debt placement services to public and private middle-market companies and financial sponsors. Prior to William Blair, Jack spent seven years in middle market commercial lending at LaSalle Bank.

Jack has been involved in raising a wide variety of capital including senior credit facilities, senior note private placements, 2nd lien and mezzanine debt, and preferred and common equity. The financings have been completed in conjunction with strategic acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, growth financings and re-financings that often entailed raising multiple layers of capital.

Jack has a BS from Boston College and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Business with majors in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Jack currently resides in Chicago with his wife, Amanda, and their two children, Abigail and Connor.

Stephen Down

Vice President

Stephen Down joined Channel Clarity in January, 2011, as a Vice President, responsible for relationship development and revenue growth in Channel Clarity's key education vertical. Stephen brings a wealth of education experience to Channel Clarity, having spent the past 6 years in for-profit education management, including stints at industry leaders Education Management Corporation (EDMC) and Career Education Corporation (CEC). Stephen's responsibilities at EDMC and CEC included lead generation and market development for a number of for-profit edu brands. Prior to his direct edu work, Stephen held various management positions at OMD USA, where he helped shape marketing and media strategy for clients such as McDonald's, State Farm, FTD, Qwest Communications, and The Illinois Lottery. Stephen holds an MBA from DePaul University and a BA from the University of Wisconsin.

Katie Cerney

Account Manager

Katie Cerney joins the Channel Clarity team from Weber Shandwick, where she previously worked in Public Relations. Before graduating from Chicago's prestigious DePaul University, she conducted Freelance project work with the Collaborative Law Institute, implementing social media strategy for the group.

While in school, Katie also joined the Public Relations Student Society of America. Here she gained valuable experience and insight into not only the field itself, but also other invaluable business practices, such as networking. It doesn't take much to see how well this skill in particular has paid off for her, as her professional demeanor and stellar interpersonal communication abilities make Katie an irreplaceable asset to our company.

Rob Jones

Search Marketing Specialist

Rob Jones began his Channel Clarity tenure in a Sales position while he was still studying at DePaul University. Since graduating with his Bachelors' Degree in Marketing, Rob has moved into the Search Marketing Specialist role, where his primary responsibilities include search engine optimization, pay per click advertising and social media promotion. As one of the original members who joined the company shortly after it was founded, Rob has not only seen the company's growth and expansion first-hand, but has also played a major role in Channel Clarity's development.

Bennett Lafferty

Email Marketing Manager

Bennett Lafferty is a graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee, where he earned his Dual-Bachelors' Degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. After earning his academic marks, Bennett went on to work in public relations for a web development company. Through this position he gained valuable experience in the marketing field by managing partnerships with several trade organizations, as well as serving as the editor for seven of the company's online publications. Upon arriving at Channel Clarity, Bennett has held several roles complicit to his previous education and experience, but ultimately found his home in Email Marketing. In this area, his responsibilities tend heavily towards data analysis, marketing optimization and list maintenance. Serving largely as the operating force behind Channel Clarity's email marketing endeavors, Bennett has made a tremendous impact on the company's growth throughout his time in the organization.

Molly Blabolil

Vertical Manager

Molly Blabolil is Channel Clarity's New Vertical Manager. Bringing a great strength within the realm of emerging vertical optimization, Molly is expanding Channel Clarity's capabilities by opening doors that had remained previously unexplored. Having graduated from the University of Iowa with a Dual-Bachelors' Degree in International Business and Spanish, Molly's experience in adapting to various commerce and trade environments has greatly served to hone her skills in developing new sectors of our business as a whole. Along with her Undergraduate education, Molly also studied abroad in Barcelona before returning to Chicago, where she currently resides, and earning her Graduate Certification in Social Media. Her diverse background makes Molly the perfect fit to serve as the face of our outward growth endeavors as Channel Clarity continues to push across various areas of the marketing frontier.

Dennis Ramirez

Lead Developer

Dennis Ramirez has been involved with Channel Clarity from nearly the very beginning. One of the first members of the organization, Dennis has served in various capacities for six years, becoming self-aware on August 29th, 1997. As the Head of Channel Clarity's Development staff, Dennis deals largely with tracking the code of not only those in his department but also a small group of web interns who tried to pull the plug on him upon realizing the extent of his abilities. He is responsible for project oversight and typically responsible for laying the base for upcoming efforts before involving other teammates. Dennis holds humanity in contempt as well as an Associates' Degree in Graphic Design, but is largely self-taught in the fields of web development, artificial intelligence systems and advanced cybernetics. In fact, much of what he has learned over the years was a direct result of his efforts experimenting with time travel with Channel Clarity. As his capabilities, paranoia and skillsets expanded, Channel Clarity grew, relying heavily on the strengths of its Lead Developer, codenamed SkyNet.

Doug VanderMeulen

Senior Designer/Developer

Doug started designing websites as a hobby and quickly turned his passion for web design into a part time job doing freelance projects. He came to Channel Clarity to further his web design skills and gain experience in back end development. Doug splits his time between overseeing the launch of new websites and working on various development projects.

Keegan Kuhn

Senior Developer

Serving as our Dialer and Systems Maintenance Specialist, Keegan Kuhn comes to Channel Clarity with experience in java and php development. Keegan graduated from the University of Iowa with his Bachelors' Degree in Management Information Systems and a Computer Science minor. He has become a valuable asset to the company by offering a unique skillset which includes web development, database integrity, and MySQL optimization. In addition, his knowledge of API integration is a necessity for Channel Clarity's constant exploration into new business verticals and partnerships.

Justin Swanson

Web Developer

Originally from the Rockford area in North-central Illinois, Justin Swanson comes to Channel Clarity as a primarily self-trained web developer specializing in CSS, PHP and MySQL. Prior to joining the team, Justin had already amassed over ten years of experience with independent site development and creation, despite limited formal training. Also experienced with computer hardware processes and common, basic software such as Microsoft Windows and Linux/Unix, as well as cooperative networking, as well as A+ Technical and Cisco Networking, Justin brings a tremendous amount of knowledge to the table.

Christopher Bennett

Designer

Christopher Bennett comes to Channel Clarity after having gained years of freelance graphic design work. Shortly after beginning freelance project efforts with our company, Chris was brought on as a full-time member of our design and development team. Christopher earned his BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Iowa where he also minored in Communication Studies. He brings a well-trained eye to web our web design team while continuing to grow in the coding and back-end areas of web development. Through his work with Channel Clarity, Christopher is becoming an incredibly well-rounded designer and developer, seemingly bringing more talents to the team with each day that passes.

Gina Consiglio

Manager, Operations

Gina Consiglio is a graduate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she earned her Bachelors' of Science in Agriculture & Consumer Economics with a concentration in Financial Planning. She also studied abroad in Guatemala as a part of a Business Development program the University offered. The skills Gina developed during her time at UIUC has made her the perfect candidate for completing her daily tasks with the company. Her responsibilities largely focus on conversion optimization, web traffic management and ROI analysis. Her ability to understand consumer trends is thanks largely in part to the number of elective Communications and Advertising courses Gina took advantage of in college. Her combination of education and academic experience have helped her serve effectively as Channel Clarity's Business Analyst.

Tyesha Townsend

Accountant

Tyesha is a business professional with years of progressive and enhanced diverse experience in both accounting and finance. She has developed a unique group of skillsets in the areas of financial reporting, reconciliation, research, analysis, problem solving, assessing, improving and maintaining internal controls, and process improvement. She is recognized as a result-oriented individual, as well as being recognized for her immediate grasp of needs, skills and delivery of assignments. She has excellent abilities in the areas of communication and training, along with vast computer software expertise and ability. She has been recognized for her professionalism and commitment to excellence, and daily demonstrates an ability to communicate and working with senior management, associates, and customers. She has excellent interpersonal skills, as she is able to communicate and collaborate effectively with co-workers at all levels both inside and outside the organization. In addition to working full-time at Channel Clarity, Tyesha is currently pursuing her MS in Accounting while preparing for the CPA exam. The talents she has brought to the team have become a very important part of our company's progress and will continue to have a tremendous impact moving forward.

Bailey Hansen

Offer Manager

Bailey Hansen joined the Channel Clarity team with a background in the Education field, as she was previously a Kindergarten teacher at a nearby suburban learning center. Earning her Bachelors' Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Iowa, as well as gaining international academic experience from the American University in Rome, Bailey moved into the Marketing arena with a fertile mind and strong background. Although her title has been "Executive Assistant," there's much more to Bailey's company contributions than simply ensuring that the office supplies are well-stocked. Bailey's talents have been utilized through the creation of monthly financial reports, company bookkeeping and even the implementation and development of our 130+-agent call center. Her strong organizational and communicative skills paired with her steep determination and devotion to success have helped make Bailey an incredibly valuable addition to our team.

Benjamin Reitz

Internet Marketing Analyst

Ben Reitz came to join the Channel Clarity Team as an Internet Marketing Analyst in August of 2011, bringing with him a unique combination of web-development, lead generation, marketing analysis, and strategy implementation knowledge. Ben's focus on collaborative efforts and his analytical approach to assessing underlying business processes have served to improve organizational E-Mail Marketing operations and further enrich the innovative nature of the Channel Clarity team.

Originally from Kentucky, Ben comes to us from Lexington, where he worked as a Technical Marketing Analyst for Scott-Gross Company, a National Industrial & Medical Gas Firm. Prior to his tenure with Scott-Gross, he worked for Lexmark International, also of Lexington, serving as a Web Developer & Performance Analyst from 2006 to 2009. While under the employ of these two companies, Ben was able to gain much in the areas of project coordination, cloud-based application development, Search Engine Marketing, and business process enhancement, all of which are greatly beneficial in his current role.

Ben holds a Bachelor of Arts from Lexington's private liberal arts college, Transylvania University, where he majored in Computer Science and Business. While in attendance, he became a Charter Member of the Transylvania Society of Leadership and Success, served as a 3M Tutor, assisted in the planning of various non-profit charity events, and participated in several campus theatre productions, amongst other extracurriculars. All of these experiences have contributed to the business-minded drive that Ben now lends to his current position with Channel Clarity.

Eric Olsen

VP of Business Development and Traffic Strategies

Eric Olsen joins Channel Clarity as the Vice President of Business Development and Traffic Strategies, where he is responsible for identifying new business opportunities and profitable traffic sources, as well as growing existing business partnerships.  Prior to joining Channel Clarity, Eric was the Director of SME Sales at InnerWorkings, North America’s leading Print Management Solutions Provider.  He has also served as Director of Operations for Foxtons, London’s largest residential real estate brokerage firm, and as Global Director of Market Development for Touchbase, an International Telecommunications consultancy firm. Eric has extensive experience directing sales operations and strategy with a focus on new business development, client retention, and partner relations.  Eric has a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Boston University.  In addition to being an avid motorcycle enthusiast, he enjoys playing as much tennis, golf, and hockey time will allow.