Lighthouse Creative is a
full-service content agency.

Sam Slaughter is a former journalist and startup bro and the co-founder of LHC. Among his professional achievements: being on the founding team at Contently, working as a producer at NY1, and driving a 1994 Ford Explorer from Brooklyn to Paraguay. Sam was also a DJ for a number of years, at a series of bars and clubs nearly all of which are (coincidentally, he maintains) now out of business. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, the journalist and author Jessica Bennett, and their influential dog Charles.

John Hazard is a content strategist and the co-founder of Lighthouse Creative Group. He is the former VP of Enterprise Services at Contently, where he was an early employee who helped design the software experience and built the Contently Freelancer network. John has led content strategy engagements for global brands, including JPMorgan Chase, Philips, Sallie Mae, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He studied history at Rutgers University but ended up as a journalist when he took a weekend job writing obituaries for a local paper and fell in love with newsrooms.

Heather Freiser is Lighthouse Creative’s VP of Client Service. She has more than 15 years of experience building award-winning content and social programs for enterprise brands including Bank of America, Marriott, Amazon, and more. She was instrumental in the development of the JPMorgan Chase News & Stories initiative, Johnson & Johnson’s revolutionary employer brand platform, Shine, and spearheaded episodic video content for brands like Hilton, Nike, and Stop & Shop.  She’s a journalist at heart, having previously led Bloomberg Television’s flagship closing bell show, Street Smart. Among her other accomplishments are running a literary-themed restaurant in Long Island, being mom to three amazing kids, and once getting into a fight with Elon Musk.

Guy Cimbalo is VP of Content for Lighthouse Creative. While Head of Content for Uncubed, he created branded video and editorial content for brands like IBM, Amazon, and Buzzfeed. Earlier in his career, he created the first official web presence for “The Simpsons”, and edited the A&F Quarterly, Abercrombie & Finch’s groundbreaking magalogue. His experience in digital content dates back to before it was even called “content”, and his freelance writing has appeared in New York, Entertainment Weekly, Playboy, The Village Voice, Complex, and Maxim.   

Rich Tong is a designer and developer with more than 20 years of experience building digital products and companies. Most recently, he was the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of P00LS, a platform empowering creators to create their own cryptocurrencies.  Previously, he also founded Fohr, one of the world’s first influencer marketing platforms, and Weardrobe, a fashion community that was acquired by Google.  He’s also built products for a variety of teams and individuals, including SKIMS, Amazon, Andela, Chanel, The New York Times, and more.

Langa is a writer, editor, and strategist. Her background in literary publishing nurtured her passion for the craft of storytelling. As a strategist, Langa distills industry and internet trends into blog posts, social campaigns, and everything in between. At LHC, she leads SEO and social teams to create compelling narratives across platforms. Outside of LHC, she can be found apologizing for absconding from NYC to LA (and, worse, liking it).

Kenzo Nakawatase is a creative content specialist at LHC who for 2+ years has been responsible for a range of B2B marketing initiatives as an editor, copywriter and project manager.  He specializes in crafting customized content in a range of formats: blogs, emails, white papers, ad copy and social media.  Previous to LHC he had an eclectic professional background, most recently spending time as the director of The Lenfest Center, a non-profit community center that provided programming and services to young people and their families.  His work in media includes time at Comcast, on-air and website management for community radio stations, and the requisite blogging of the mid 2000’s.   He graduated from UMass-Amherst with a BA in history and a minor in Understanding Massholes.  

Kelsey is a digital marketing and operations leader with 15 years of expertise in paid media, demand generation, and sales and marketing operations. Kelsey honed her technical skills and pioneered digital marketing functions at a series of B2B and B2B2C digital marketplaces, including LivingSocial (acquired by Groupon), WeddingWire (acquired by The Knot) and Axiom Global. Her expertise includes search engine marketing and optimization, cross-channel lead acquisition strategies, and the setup and maintenance of Sales/Marketing tech stacks that enable business intelligence. Kelsey, a lifelong East Coaster, is a recent transplant to Santa Barbara, CA and loves exploring the West Coast with her husband and dog, Maverick.

Anthony Miller Jr., formerly a designer, now rocks as our Creative Project Manager, notable for his meticulousness, creative storytelling, and empathy. With a background in Communications Design from Pratt, he’s contributed to various small startups, artists, and film productions. He is particularly proud of his work on UrbanONE’s Legacy Lives On documentary addressing the Black Wall St massacre and promoting financial literacy in the black community. Beyond work, he dives into passion projects like creating comics, music, and practicing Muay Thai. Based in Philly, he shares his life with his wife and their dog, Boudicca.

Francesco Saviano has been working in New York’s film industry for fifteen years as a writer, director, producer and cinematographer for both studio productions and his own independent production company. His films have appeared in premiere festivals both in the United States and abroad, including the Vancouver International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and the New York Television Festival in NYC. Through his production company Unarmed Media, Francesco has been directing and producing films and commercials all over the world. He is currently directing Out of the Ring, a feature documentary on professional boxers and the long-shot nature of becoming a champion in one of the most unforgiving of all sports.

Jac is a photographer, creative director, and senior project manager. A multidisciplinary visual artist, she has experience leading teams and creating innovative visuals for clients such as Baxter Street Gallery, Peloton, and more. She anchors every project in beauty, creativity, and the understanding that a brand’s visual identity keeps it moving forward. At LHC, she has brought this insight (and her camera lenses) to shoots in Buenos Aries, Rio, Dallas, Long Island, and more — including LHC merch campaigns in her neighborhood in Brooklyn. You can also find her running off the clock, or enjoying live music (probably Fred Again..) and documenting life on film.

Dasha is an editor and writer with more than two decades of experience creating content. She started off as a humble print journalist, then turned to broadcasting and spent eight years as a BBC News producer covering revolutions, wars, politics, and a handful of happier topics. Before joining LHC, Dasha rekindled her passion for coding and helped tech startups and established brands translate their innovations into plain English.

Adam Laukhuf is a writer, editor, digital content strategist and creative consultant living in New York City. He’s a veteran of national media outlets like Vanity Fair and the New York Observer, where he was Executive Editor, and the arts and travel magazine The National, where he published work by Pulitzer Prize-winning writers and Poet Laureates as Editor in Chief. He has also served as Editor-at-Large of the lifestyle glossy Man of the World, Executive Editor on the luxury relaunch of Maxim, and as an editor of special projects and branded content for New York magazine, DuJour and the Hollywood Reporter. As a content specialist, Laukhuf has launched more websites than he can count and consulted extensively for startups, luxury brands and digital media projects, including Gucci, Casamigos and the Yale School of Medicine. He recently co-wrote the bestselling book Big Macs & Burgundy, which was named one of the best books of the year by Food & Wine, Saveur and Town & Country

Jesse Brukman is a recovering lifestyle writer and editor specializing in travel & hospitality and all things food & drink. Most recently, he was the Executive Director of Content & Strategy at Time Inc., overseeing digital media and branded content campaigns for brands such as Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, and Departures. In previous lives, he built and operated a branded content studio at Thrillist, was the founding editor of successfully acquired BSC Media, and interviewed Lebron James at a press event for a tractor company. He lives in the West Village with his much smarter book editor wife and only a little bit smarter daughter.

E. James Ford been working on the web since 1997. His first job involved building websites for tourism boards in the Caribbean and Africa. Since that time he has developed websites and online strategies for many companies in the non-profit, higher education, governmental, creative arts, and fashion/nightlife industries.  He currently lives in Brooklyn with his dog Freya.

Judy Wong is a veteran design and art director with over 20 years of experience. She’s worked in publishing, at tech startups, and with agencies on just about any kind of project you can imagine, from directing magazine shoots on down to designing infographics. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, 4 kids, and 1 chubby rabbit.

Miriam is an experienced, solutions-oriented program and project manager with a background in communications, digital marketing, and creative team operations. With over 15 years of experience, she has measurable program successes for clients spanning the government, venture capital, tech, and non-profit advocacy spaces. Her most recent role was at IBM, where she managed the restructuring and redesign of the user journey and visual experience for all IBM product offerings, as well as any new acquisitions. Her expertise includes integrated project management, digital and web content creation, and cross-functional team operations. Miriam is known for her organizational prowess, team leadership, problem-solving, and ability to play a key role in both strategy and implementation. She lives in Arlington, VA with her husband, son and French bulldog, Pepper.

Jamie Fass is a social strategist. She focuses on weaving storytelling together with strategy without losing sight of a project’s operations that will encourage success. Before joining LHC, she did brand strategy and digital marketing for brands in the hospitality, lifestyle, and wellness space, and was the Chief of Staff of a small restaurant in New York City. She graduated from Barnard College at Columbia after studying Economics and Gender. Currently based in Denver, when she’s not at her desk she can be found cooking or looking for the closest thing to New York-style pizza.

Sam Dart is a writer, editor, and content strategist. He produces everything from whitepapers to UX copy, video scripts, and blog posts for LHC clients. Previously he worked as a freelance writer in Vietnam, where he also started a digital marketing agency with two friends. Sam graduated from the University of Michigan; he likes playing tennis and biking around Brooklyn.

Alison has more than a decade of bookkeeping experience in the hospitality and construction industry. Like most great bookkeepers, she also has a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts. She lives by the beach with her husband Rich, son Vincent, daughter Giada, and dog Sioux. Alison is a big fan of music, comedy, Stephen King, and margaritas.

Brianna is a designer and multidisciplinary creative with a background in architectural design. She has a keen eye for detail and a passion for crafting compelling design narratives. Her education in architecture has allowed her to hone skills in spatial design, composition and problem-solving and this foundation has equipped her with a deep understanding of form, function and aesthetics which she integrates in her design work. She takes inspiration from textiles, music, Japanese and Scandinavian design, and, of course, architecture. When she’s not designing, she enjoys sewing, film photography, tennis, running and interior design.

Emily Kanner is a Brooklyn-based project manager and designer. She has been using the internet inconsistently since 1995. As a project manager she has managed the creation of websites, buildings, and advertisement campaigns. As a human she manages the creation of full dishwashers, made beds, grocery lists, and broken hearts.

Tim Barker is a senior video producer at LHC who claims to have “never had a real job”, and is “good at Internet stuff”. Tim began his career as an assistant on feature films such as Argo, and Silver Linings Playbook. He was a director of photography for VICE news on HBO, and has produced countless commercials over the span of his decade-long “career”.

Tamara (wearer of many hats) is a writer, storyteller and educator, with a background in the performing arts and learning design. At LHC, Tamara proudly wears a copywriter cap and pens SEO pieces, blog posts, guides, and more on tech, design, and finance. Before joining LHC, Tamara served as the Creative Content Director for startup Supernow, producing, writing, directing (and occasionally performing in) super awesome children’s edutainment content. Out in the wild, she’s a multi-hyphen creative who writes movies and poems, reads fortunes in coffee grains, and collects languages to add to the six she speaks fluently. 

Richard Sharp is a fractional CMO and the CEO of partner agency Boombox, Inc. He collaborates with LHC on marketing and content strategy, sales enablement, and more. In past lives, he was the CMO/VP of Marketing at SimpliField, Networked Insights, Emissary, and Contently. He splits time between Austin and New Orleans, where he lives with his beautiful, genius wife and energetic, lovable dog Starla.

Marika Hacking is a New York based editor, director, cinematographer, illustrator and co-founder of the production company, Unarmed Media. Along with her commercial editing work for a diverse range of clients from Verizon to NPR, Marika has traveled the world shooting narrative and documentary film. She is passionate about storytelling and bringing to life the personal journeys and issues faced by underrepresented people and communities.

Mallory is an experienced marketing strategist and manager with a successful track record of implementing complex marketing strategies in fast-paced, high-growth environments. With over 15 years of experience, her most recent position was at Amazon Pay, where she served as the Global Head of Marketing Operations. Before that role, she specialized in launching, resourcing, and scaling marketing programs targeted at creating demand for both B2B and B2C audiences, both at Amazon and other SaaS companies. Her expertise includes integrated cross-channel demand generation, account-based marketing, event management, and brand strategy. Mallory is known for her innovative thinking, operational expertise, and her capacity to balance overarching strategy with a focus on tactical details. Mallory lives in Chicago with her husband and their two dogs, Stevie (Nicks) and Baker.

Lesley Gibson is a writer, editor, and content strategist with more than 15 years of experience creating marketing communications for universities and arts organizations, including NYU, Northwestern University, Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, among others. She lives in Harlem with her husband and their aggressively affectionate toddler, where she spends most of her free time watching old episodes of Frasier.  People love to tell her that she “asks a lot of questions.”

Jim is a veteran media and communications professional with over 25 years of experience in journalism, content creation, digital and print media strategy, graphic design, brand marketing, and product development. He was previously a managing editor at the New York Post and has also been involved with launching several new products in startups environments. Outside of work, he’s a proud husband and father of two young children, one of who is more famous than he’ll ever be — see Mommyyyyyy! on YouTube.

Laura Brothers is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience spanning journalism, branded content, and content marketing. She believes in clean, engaging copy and loves the Oxford comma and em dash equally. Hailing from Western New York, she now lives in Brighton, UK (but travels often).

Yanina has more than 15 years of project management, creative operations, product management, and general operations experience. Prior to working for LHC, Yanina worked for BDG and was responsible for the creative operations for brands such as Bustle, Elite Daily, Nylon, Scarymommy, Fatherly and The Dad and more. As an operations leader, Yanina knows how to support creative excellence while managing to the needs of the business and her clients. When Yanina is not busy optimizing workflows, she loves engaging her colleagues in pop culture discussions, including, but not limited to any Real Housewives franchise.

Alex has worked in marketing and communications for over 12 years bridging the gap between strategy and execution for clients that include Lexus, IKEA, PepsiCo, and Tim Hortons (the latter exposing her Canadian roots). Just prior to joining the client services team at LHC, Alex led and scaled the marketing, sales and customer success teams at a growth-stage SaaS company called VRIFY, achieving 90% year-over-year growth in annual recurring revenue. In addition to big brands and big concept campaigns, she loves working with growth-stage companies to build winning marketing strategies from the ground up. Offline, Alex strives to find the perfect balance of overpriced wine and your typical outdoor pursuits (hiking, camping and surfing).