MARY DEAN: Founder/ Chief Creative Officer
In January 2007, after 5 years as VP/Creative Director at Publicis USA leading the highly successful Curves business, Mary walked away to pursue a very personal goal: creating KickSkirt™, an agency that's dedicated to improving the way smart brands are connecting with women.

During her twenty plus years in advertising, Mary's work has garnered creative awards including Clios, Addys, The One Show, and Communication Arts. More notably, she has twice won highest honors from The AWNYs for contributing to the positive portrayal of women. But what Mary really excels at is getting results. The recent Gold EFFIE for her work on Curves is proof that she not only connects with women, but also motivates them. While building the Levi's Jeans For Women brand, her campaign flooded Levi's 1-800 lines.

Mary is that rare creative person who is a stickler for good ROI. Her work ethic and talent have benefited the likes of McDonalds, Celestial Seasonings, Levis, Clorox, and GlaxoSmithKline among others. She has spent years at some of the top agencies throughout the world including Leo Burnett, Chiat/Day and Foote Cone and Belding.

Mary lives in Austin with her husband Steve, son Cal (14), daughter Isabel (11), a dog named Ruby, and a bird that repeats words it shouldn't.
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BARBARA: Women's Health Expert/ Author
Barbara is an award-winning author and women's health nurse practitioner who appears regularly as a women's health expert on NBC's show iVillageLive. She reaches over 2 million women viewers at home and on-line with her friendly informative segments. With over 20 years of experience caring for and listening to women, Barb is an invaluable resource and advisor for KickSkirt's health and wellness clients. Not to mention, a great friend to have around the office when you're feeling a bit under the weather.

In January 2004, Barb founded Blue Orchid Press, an innovative company that publishes personal guides to women's health. She has sold over 3 million guides in partnerships with companies that provide products and services to women in the health and wellness arena. She is also on advisory boards for many companies and has worked with GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Wyeth and Cytyc to name just a few.

Barb holds a degree in nursing from Boston College and a master's degree in women's health from the University of California at San Francisco. While she still treats women of all ages in her practice at Women's Physicians OB/GYN Medical Group in Mountain View, California, she also manages to find time to volunteer at a free clinic for Latina women without insurance.

Barb is an avid scuba diver and snorkeler. When on dry land, you'll most likely find her building sand castles with her son or hiking with her husband, John. Clearly, she's an all-terrain marvel and we're lucky to work with her here at KickSkirt. Back to Top.

TERESA: Creative Director/ Writer / Wise Woman
Teresa brings a vibrant talent to KickSkirt. She began her career at one of the nation's most acclaimed ad agencies, Weiden & Kennedy, as an office manager. Within one year, her self-published The Interoffice Memos of Teresa Elliott caught the attention of Dan Weiden who found Teresa's writing so persuasive that he promoted her to copywriter on the spot.

After nine years working on clients ranging from Nike, ESPN, Oregon Tourism, American Indian College Fund, OK Soda, Coca-Cola, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Oregon Public Schools, Teresa headed to GSDM in Austin and in 2004, she went out on her own. Since moving to the Hill Country, she has worked on campaigns for Pennzoil, Charles Schwab, United Health, Southwestern Bell, Dial, Dupont Stainmaster Carpet, Pedigree Dog Food, Chili's, On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, and Dallas Women's Museum.

Teresa has an innate gift for connecting with smart women. On a warm spring night, you'll find her surrounded by them in the lush garden she created in her Austin front yard. When she's not doting on her bird dogs, she collects didgeridoos and other people's grocery lists. Yes, really. No wonder Teresa has such a keen understanding of the buying habits of women. Back to Top.

KLAUDIA: Strategic Brand Director/ Retail Guru
In the years that we've known and worked with Klaudia, we've become convinced there's nothing she can't do. She's got special expertise in strategic brand management in the retail, packaged goods and ingredient branding categories. Yet she's also led The Four Seasons, Monster.com, and a communications semiconductor account with equal agility. While leading the Wal-Mart account for five years at GSD&M, she not only drove their marketing, she led their operational and merchandising strategies as well.

And did we mention she's also been a media planner and buyer? Or that we've never seen her succumb to the need for sleep? Or skip her kids' swim meets? That, my friends, is the sign of one dedicated woman with boundless energy.

Klaudia received her bachelor's degree in Psychology at Vanderbilt University. When she's not helping a client reach new goals, you can find her photographing her children, Nate and Nina. Back to Top.

PAM: Creative Director/ Art Director/ Madison Avenue Survivor
Art + Commerce. It's that rare combination so coveted in advertising. Pam graduated with a BS in Business from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - a business school ranked in the nation's top 10. Yet she managed to spend enough time in the Art Department to earn a minor in Fine Art.

Things all came together on Madison Avenue where Pam found that being creative and strategic made her a rare and valued art director. It was a combo act she perfected while working at the likes of Ammirati & Puris-NY, Chiat Day-NY, Deutsch-NY, Foote, Cone & Belding-NY, Ogilvy & Mather-NY and Hal Riney-NY.

Since then, Pam has created ad campaigns for all sorts of blue chip clients including: American Airlines, BMW National, Citibank, Chase Bank, Club Med, HP, HotBot, IKEA, Kodak, Kirin Beer, KLM Airlines, Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks, and Wyndham Hotels while shooting print and TV all over the US, Canada and Europe. And, of course, the ad community has doled out numerous awards to her.

Pam continues to balance her commercial work with the arts of yoga, oil painting and ceramics along with frequent travels to Europe and other places around the world.

Art + Commerce never looked so good. Back to Top.