Creative Manager Kyle Wood’s childhood dream was to direct movies. Then again, his real-life childhood was pretty busy. From winning a Mickey Mouse card contest at age 9 and being a talented athlete (he attended “professional basketball camps”), to winning poetry awards in college, Kyle’s always lived and dreamed big.

His goal today? “To rise to the occasion, work with the best of the best, and prove to everyone that I’m a born Rebel,” he says.

When he’s not producing content at Rebel, you can find Kyle “reading; playing minigolf; going to the beach; visiting breweries, coffeehouses, and restaurants; and taking day trips to explore New England.” He also enjoys napping, going to concerts (he’s a big metal and emo fan), video gaming, and watching movies and TV.

It’s a good thing he had time to dream during childhood because adulthood is definitely keeping Kyle busy.

Creative Manager Jon Feld has worked in content creation for more than 25 years and has experience developing and managing content marketing campaigns and strategies. He has mastered every level of the content creation process—from directing teams to editing drafts—and develops dynamic content for clients across a range of industries.

Despite his wealth of experience, Jon is always open to learning something new and enjoys working closely with his team members. He values diversity of skills on a team and strives to absorb all he can from coworkers with different backgrounds and perspectives.

Social Content Creator Wei Guo started his career behind the lens taking portraits for social media with an iPhone. From these humble origins, Wei’s career evolved into making music videos for a variety of artists. But he discovered his greatest passion creating hype/promo videos for several NCAA sports.

“Active” is a word that helps describe Wei. Whether it’s snowboarding, hiking, basketball, or going to the gym, he’s constantly in motion. He recently began sitting down, but only to teach himself piano through YouTube.

You’ll know when he runs out of fuel, though. “My personality is directly proportional to the amount of caffeine in my body.”

If ever a person and company were a partnership waiting to happen, it’s Rebel and James Dowd, our Chief Creative Officer.

“I feel like my brand has always been Rebel,” he says. “Once, at the top of a business card, I had the line, ‘I aim to misbehave.’ In fact, there’s a great quote by the late royal photographer Cecil Beaton that sort of sums up my philosophy: ‘Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.’”

Senior Graphic Designer Ryan Edgely’s mad talents and skills are manifested in each of his contributions to Rebel’s projects. He also enjoys life. A lot. He’s dedicated to a wide range of pursuits: Nature, fishing, Autumn, horror movies, breakfast, beer, firepits, soccer, and drawing.

“I enjoy drawing in my downtime,” he says. “Been doing it for as long as I can remember. Wish I did it more. A few of my favorite illustrators are Jason Edmiston (beautiful, realistic style), Lance Inkwell (funny cartoon style), and Sam Heimer (dark and twisted style).”

Honing his expertise as a copywriter for several Boston and Connecticut agencies during the past decade, Senior Copywriter Kevin MacPhee’s calm, unflappable nature and staunch belief in core tenets are especially evident in his approach to punctuation.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he says. “I tend not to use exclamation points. I also believe pineapple is good on pizza, and I prefer not to use the Oxford comma. Both can get contentious.”

“I’m comfortable in the quiet moments where the thinking happens,” he adds. “Whether working alone or in a group setting, the thinking part of our job is the foundation for everything else. Good ideas and good writing start with good thinking.”

Art Director Veronika Zhikhareva (or V, as we call her) is a design superhero. At Rebel, she unleashes design powers to create aesthetic works of art, for both digital and print. Whether it be newsletters, brochures, websites, or social media content, there’s nothing Veronika can’t do.

What motivates V? Spite, mostly: “The only reason I even learned about graphic design as a career field is because my high school art teacher didn’t think I’d make it in a fine art school.”

Senior Graphic Designer Kate Gore is not afraid to design outside the box. She lives by the motto “anything is possible in design; you just have to be willing to push the envelope.”

With more than seven years of marketing and design experience, Katelyn has worked within many verticals. Before joining Rebel, she worked with another Connecticut-based agency assisting in the creative execution of client websites, landing pages, email newsletters, and various digital marketing tactics. From healthcare to finance to senior living, she’s done it all.

“BJ doesn’t like the spotlight, but he deserves it,” said a co-worker. “So even though he didn’t want a bio, we’re doing it for him.”

“From practicing law to consulting, strategizing, ideating, and leading the way in Fortune 500 boardrooms, BJ is an unexpected, disruptive brilliance, but he would have never admitted that himself. He looks like a street artist who sold out, and thinks like a BCG consultant who didn’t. He sees what others don’t, formulates like no one can, and transforms businesses and brands like no one could imagine; it’s that simple.”

What makes Graphic Designer Kevin Skrocki a true Rebel? It just might be that his favorite quote comes from one of our favorite all-time rebels, Steve Jobs: “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your inner voice.”

Kevin came to Rebel from a broadcast environment and most recently worked at NBC CT as a creative services intern.

What else makes Kevin a Rebel? “I look to find creative answers to solutions, I want to grow and learn, and I’m excited about new journeys and new tasks.”

Design Strategist Larissa Topalis works in digital media and web design and has experience in both graphic and floral design, making her an expert on color configurations. Her varied skills bring a unique perspective to the creative process at Rebel, and Larissa hopes to expand her experience in website design.

Larissa loves overcoming challenges online and in nature; she spends her free time kayaking, hiking, surfing, and skiing. She considers herself a thrill-chaser and when she can’t find the adrenaline rush in nature, she turns to carnival rides — maybe our next Rebel outing should be at a theme park!

Audio/Visual Specialist Chris Gamelin comes to Rebel having worked in the fast-paced world of TV news, where he assisted operations at WFSB Channel 3. In addition to working with cameras, troubleshooting technical issues, and completing daily maintenance tasks, he also worked in the control room during broadcasts.

Chris thinks outside the box—it’s what makes him a Rebel! He’s always ready to learn from people and is drawn to groups where he can build his knowledge and experience. He’s certainly come to the right place.

Creative Director Corey Hutchison has more than 10 years of design experience, expanding across multiple mediums including print, digital and web. With primary focus in UI and UX design and development, he’s also skilled at photography, marketing strategy, project management and email marketing. Corey has worked in industries including newspaper, wide format printing, trade shows, electronic, sports fitness and nutrition, MMA, headphones, sound technology, and web design.

Corey believes the fact that he’s an only child compels him to be independent and to stand out from the crowd, so we Rebels try not to spoil him with extra attention.

Creative Director Justin Girard comes to Rebel with more than 10 years of marketing and design experience honed at several agencies.

Justin’s greatest accomplishment? “Making a career out of doodles and weird ideas,” he says.

But on a more serious note, he makes no secret about the passion he has for what he does or about his own expectations for his work. “Creating fulfills my inner purpose and I seek to push boundaries with my work,” he notes. “If you don’t break rules, don’t expect to break through.”

Senior Videographer and Editor Marc Manzi has worked in film and video production for 15 years. While he prefers working in post-production, he’s skilled in shooting, editing, motion graphics, photography, lighting, audio mixing, and more. When it comes to film; if you can name it, Marc has probably dabbled in it!

Marc’s passion for film and video production began in his freshman year of high school, and he has since overcome many challenges and obstacles to get where he is today. Though he identifies as a logical person, he’s not afraid to toss logic out the window to follow his passions—a trait that has served him well over the years.

Director of video production Scott Serencha has more than 10 years of experience in marketing, technology, and web development services, overseeing account and project management for local and national clients.

At Rebel, he’s responsible for managing web design and development teams to provide high-quality, thorough technology solutions for clients, while keeping website and web application projects on-time and on-budget. Scott also schedules team resources and prioritizes tasks for web designers and developers.

Senior Graphic Designer Ashley Boronin comes to Rebel with a wealth of graphic design experience in higher education, technology, and more.

Over time, she’s honed her skills and learned about what she truly enjoys. “As a designer, I’m passionate about building visually exciting brands, websites, and social creative in both digital and print formats,” she says. “I love pushing the envelope and blending what I’m passionate about – within and outside the field of design – and turning it into a more impactful experience for Rebel clients and their audiences.”