2023 Renewal: Exciting New Changes at Smarty

This year marks an important milestone here at Smarty as we approach our 10th year in business, and we have big plans for how our agency will evolve in the years to come! As we prepare for the next stage of our growth, 2023 will be a year of renewal for the agency as we aim to give fresh life to our agency mission, values, processes, and retire what’s worn out at this stage of our journey. Our focus this year will be to continue to define #TheSmartyWay across all facets of our business. This includes refocusing, repositioning, and rebranding to really hone in on our value proposition for our clients in the MedTech industry and the type of work we want to bring into the world.

As we kick off our year of renewal, we’re excited to announce some important changes and promotions that we’ve implemented to allow our team to scale, offer new services, and to continue to provide the highest level of service to our clients.

Stephanie Theodoropolous has been promoted to the newly appointed position of General Manager, overseeing all agency operations and departments. In this new position Stephanie is responsible for all agency KPIs, processes, hiring, and team management to provide the highest level of service across the Smarty client roster. All department leads now report directly into Stephanie as she works to drive deeper collaboration and integration across our departments and services. Stephanie has served as VP of Client Service and People Operations over the last two years and has been instrumental in supporting the agency through a period of 30% growth, formalizing and leading the client service department, leading key accounts, and launching new systems and processes throughout this growth period. She brings over 20 years of marketing, advertising, and social/digital marketing experience to the team from leadership positions at agencies such as Y&R, JWT and Garage Team Mazda—specifically building and operationalizing teams and departments from the ground up—all of which has proven to be invaluable to the agency in this stage of growth.

Michelle Prieve has been promoted to the role of Director of Client Service to oversee the client service team and continue to grow Smarty client relationships. Over the past two years, Michelle has managed some of Smarty’s largest accounts, while also introducing strong new processes based on client service best practices and training modules to ensure the department is running efficiently and that our clients are getting the appropriate attention and support they need. Michelle is a 15-year advertising veteran, working at agencies such as DGWB, Donor, and One Partners on accounts such as the Irvine Company, Smile Brands, and Hilton Garden Inn, and was most recently the Advertising Manager at Taco Bell. Michelle brings strategic expertise in leading integrated campaigns from planning to execution and has a wealth of experience managing multiple clients and teams, positioning her perfectly to take over the Client Service department with a seamless transition from Stephanie as the agency continues to grow and offer new services.

Shannon Taylor has been promoted to CX Team Director tasked with overseeing the growing CX Department from leadership, team management, to scheduling, training, and driving a deeper integration of CX insights across all departments. In her last five years at Smarty, Shannon has done anything and everything needed based on her diverse range of skills and experience, eventually landing in the CX Department where she fell in love with the value that CX provides to client business and working with a dedicated team of CX specialists. Shannon brings years of experience working with complex policies and procedures as an underwriter specializing in government programs in the mortgage industry and over 10 years of experience with training and supervising employees across various business functions. This perfectly positions her to lead the CX team through ever-changing challenges on social platforms and to help elevate the team to support the agency and its clients.

Jami Eidsvold will continue to serve as CEO, overseeing the agency’s evolution and growth, while serving as a strategic advisor to mentor and coach the team. Jami will be working directly with Dee Thibodeau, VP of Operations, and Stephanie Goddard, VP of Business Development, to oversee business operations, people operations, strategic partnerships, marketing, and new business. She will also continue to lead strategy and planning for all of Smarty’s clients and will continue to develop and support the growth of Smarty’s proprietary Social Academy program as the lead speaker and trainer.