Barbara Apple Sullivan

— Founder & Managing Partner

For over three decades, Barbara has been at the forefront of brand engagement. Her experience working with leading organizations—both from a client and agency perspective, has given her a unique perspective on the role of brand and its impact on business outcomes.

In 1990, Barbara founded Sullivan to help organizations of consequence bridge the gap between brand and customer experience at key moments in the customer journey through integrated strategy, design, and digital experiences. As Managing Partner, Barbara continues to build the firm’s vision, set our business priorities, and oversee day-to-day operations.  She cares deeply about the quality of work and sets the tone for all of Sullivan’s client engagements.

Prior to Sullivan, Barbara held senior marketing roles at Chemical Bank (now JPMorgan Chase) and American Express. She began her career in her native city of Minneapolis as Product Manager for Pillsbury’s Slice ‘n Bake Cookies, and in account management at Carmichael Lynch Advertising.

Barbara has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a trustee of The School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center.

When not working or attending ballet, Barbara can either be found on the golf course or playing Sudoku.

John Paolini

— Executive Creative Director, Partner

As Executive Creative Director and Partner, John helps lead the agency, its clients, and a team of deeply talented creatives. With over 25 years in the industry, John brings a deeply human, honest, and compelling perspective to every organization he has the good fortune to touch—and it’s been one love affair after another. In his 17 years at Sullivan, John has worked with some of the world’s most recognizable brands, such as American Express, IBM, Bank of America, Barnes and Noble, Human Rights Watch, Cornell Tech, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Brown University.

Prior to joining Sullivan, John held roles as Creative Director at Siegel+Gale and Design Director at Waters Design.

John has BFA in graphic design and art history from Ohio University and an MFA in Communication design, VCUARTs. John also serves on Leadership Council for the Ohio University School of Fine Arts, lecturing at Columbia College’s School of Architecture Graduate Program, Columbia University School of Business, Pratt Institute Graduate Communications Design, and Ohio University Undergraduate Graphic design.

When he’s not at work, John can be found working on one of his many passion projects, including “Honestly Stolen,” his collection of permanently borrowed ash trays, match boxes, and menus from around the world.

Nicole Ferry

— Executive Director & Partner, Strategy

As a Partner and the Executive Director of Strategy, Nicole helps organizations take a stand and communicate their point of view with pride. She never loses sight of a company’s business objectives, and manages to raise their ambitions while honoring the needs and experiences of audiences. Nicole applies decades of experience to companies including American Express, Goldman Sachs, LinkedIn and Twitter; and higher education institutions including Duke University, Stanford University, and Brown University.

Prior to joining Sullivan, Nicole held strategy roles in branding and advertising at Siegel+Gale, BBDO, and Grey Advertising where she developed brand platforms and campaigns for Stryker, the American Academy of Family Physicians, Best Foods, and Domino’s Pizza.

Nicole graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in English with a concentration in Marketing. She is a founding member of the McIntire Marketing Advisory Committee, providing input to faculty on curriculum, industry insights, and hiring trends.

When she’s not at work, Nicole can be found mentoring other women as a member of Chief and playing an intense pickup soccer game every Sunday with her two boys.

Nancy Schulman

— Executive Director & Partner, Strategy

As Partner and Executive Director of Strategy, Nancy leads client relationships, manages and mentors our strategists, and helps oversee Sullivan’s operations and growth. While Nancy started her career on the client side, she eventually found her way to agencies that supported the belief that the best strategists are creative, and the best creatives are strategic. That conviction led her to Sullivan nearly 15 years ago, and she’s never looked back. Today, Nancy leads Sullivan’s relationships with a number of clients including Bank of America, Crown Castle, and Capital Group.

Prior to joining Sullivan, Nancy spent several years with a boutique asset management firm in a dual role as the CMO and COO. Before that she held roles at Ammirati Puris Lintas, Hal Riney & Partners, and Ketchum working on clients like GM, Bank of America, Pacific Bell, NPR, NBC, Aspen, Hertz, and some of the best restaurants in the bay area.

Nancy attended Hofstra University, where she studied International Trade and attempted to learn to write and speak Mandarin.

Nancy is driven by the heart, and it is the people in her life that matter most. Her greatest pleasures include weekend visits with family and friends at her house on Shelter Island, where she has two rules: Don’t ask, and do whatever you want—as long as you cook and she doesn’t have to.

Valentine McGovern

— Chief Financial Officer & Partner

Val has worked in corporate finance for over 25 years. As CFO, he is a strategic business advisor responsible for financial, technology, legal, risk, and administrative support for the business. He’s a firm believer in exemplary client service and in having a financial vision beyond “cost control” to drive company growth.

Before joining Sullivan, Val held senior finance roles at Frontline Communispond Group, Havas New York, and Lowe and Partners/IPG.

A native of Sligo, Ireland, Val attended Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

When he’s not at work, Val can be found spending time with his wife and three (mostly) grown kids, who are spreading their wings around the country.

Leah Kiel

— Chief Talent Officer & Executive Producer

As Executive Producer, Chief Talent Officer, and Principal—Leah wears many hats.

With over 12 years of experience at Sullivan working with clients to bring our strategies to life, Leah is the connective tissue between creative, operations and strategy. Her tenure at the agency and experience in the business makes Leah uniquely qualified to help recruit the best talent for our team, and to help manage overall firm resources.

Prior to joining Sullivan, Leah worked in consumer advertising in media planning and account management roles.

Leah studied Business Administration at the University of Delaware.

When not at work, she can be found at home in New Jersey with her husband David and two kids, Indy and Wyatt. She is probably whipping up some chili while David teaches the kids to juggle!

Tina Citron

— Executive Producer & Principal

As an Executive Producer and Principal at Sullivan, Tina helps clients to deliver work that is on-strategy, on-time, and on-budget. Since joining Sullivan in 2005, Tina has worked across all verticals and produced work that spans print, digital, video, events, and VR experiences. Tina has worked with clients across industries including Cornell University and Cornell Tech, Duke University and its Fuqua School of Business, Columbia Law School, Yale School of Music, American University, American Express, AXA Insurance, Millennium Management, TD Ameritrade, and Two Sigma.

Prior to joining Sullivan, Tina held branding roles at both FutureBrand and Lippincott. While she joined Sullivan as a strategist, she discovered a love for helping bring ideas to life and making things, so she pivoted into a producer role. Today, she works with both strategists and creatives to help ensure strategies and creative ideas can be brought to life across different channels, audiences, and mediums.

Tina graduated with a BA in both Business and Economics from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Tina’s “happy place” is on Nantucket and when she can’t be there, she can be found exploring Central Park and trying to get her two boys out of any tree they may have climbed.

Rachel Ward

— Principal, Growth

As a Principal at Sullivan, Rachel works with the leadership team to grow and market our company. With over 15 years of experience in consultative sales, Rachel is able to dive deep into complex business challenges and find the right mix of branding and marketing services to drive our client’s business success. At Sullivan, Rachel works across our portfolio with clients like American Express, ADP, JP Morgan, LinkedIn, and Insight Partners.

Before working at Sullivan, Rachel was a Vice President at Blue State, a digital agency, where she helped the company double in size by bringing on clients like UNICEF USA, Colgate Palmolive, and Teach for America. Before that Rachel was a major donor fundraiser, raising principal gifts for clients like the Pentagon Memorial Fund and the National Sailing Hall of Fame.

Rachel graduated from the George Washington University where she studied International Affairs.

When not at work, Rachel can be found chasing her poodle and two small children around Brooklyn.

Richard Smith

— Creative Director & Principal

As Creative Director and Principal at Sullivan, Richard helps businesses transform their brand reputations and redefine their market perceptions. He’s reimagined both Fortune 500 companies and mega-successful rock bands, and led brand initiatives for various clients across a broad spectrum of industries. Over the past 10 years at Sullivan, Richard has worked with a number of clients, including Crown Castle, VCU Arts, J.P. Morgan, Millennium, Weill Cornell, Liquidnet, TD Ameritrade, Duke University, Merrill Lynch, American University, HRW, and Lehigh University.

Richard’s career began 35 years ago in London at Peter Saville Associates. After moving to New York, Richard held Creative Director roles at many of the city’s premier agencies, including Select Communications, Siegel+Gale and Wolff Olins. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Creative Review, Huffington Post, Vogue, and Time, and he’s received awards from the Society of Publication Designers, the D&AD, Design Week magazine, and Pantone Color Systems.

Richard studied Design for Printing at Guildford College, England; Typography and Design at the London College of Printing; and has an MA in Typo/Graphics from the University of Arts, London.

Outside of the office, Richard enjoys coffee, art, fashion, photography, food, family, and music.

Kevin Steen

— Principal, Strategy

As Sullivan’s resident financial services guru, Kevin draws on more than 25 years of experience in wealth management, asset management, banking, fintech, retirement, and insurance. He brings a deep understanding of the nuances of our clients’ businesses, combined with a passion to help brands connect on a personal level with new and more diverse audiences. During his tenure at Sullivan, he has led engagements with many top and emerging brands including J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Capital Group, Fidelity, Ameriprise, TIAA, and iCapital.

Kevin truly gets what it’s like to be in our clients’ shoes. He started his career on the “client side,” leading an institutional retirement communications team at Putnam Investments and managing global branding and advertising at Scudder Investments (now DWS).

Kevin holds a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Communications from Boston University.

Kevin and his husband Ian have a great love for global travel, along with being homebodies in Hell’s Kitchen and Fire Island with their friends and goldendoodle “nephew” Dexter. Kevin spends his free time exploring the cultures of countries including Spain, Portugal, China, Thailand, Philippines, Argentina, Morocco, and Australia.

Greg Pymm

— Managing Director, Technology

As Managing Director of Technology, Greg oversees Sullivan’s engineering team and drives many of the technology decisions for the agency as well as our clients. With over 20 years of experience, Greg brings a deep understanding of technology’s role in both digital and traditional mediums. Today, he’s focused on how tech teams interface with broader creative and strategic teams, and the role of technology as a bridge—not a wall. At Sullivan, Greg has worked with a variety of organizations, including SAG-AFTRA, Yale, Two Sigma, Berlin Rosen, Bank of America, and Crown Castle.

Before joining Sullivan, Greg worked at ad agencies, web shops, post houses, startups, and in the freelance world for clients that include Marriott, JP Morgan Chase, Chevron, Crayola, Verizon, Celgene, NYU, Sittercity, and Ford Models.

Greg graduated from FIT with a BA in Advertising Design and from Stonybrook with a degree in Computer Science.

When not at work, Greg can be found trail bicycling, playing the drums, and traveling—5 continents and counting.

Christian Castellano

— Managing Director, Strategy

With over 20 years of agency experience in brand strategy, communications planning, and digital strategy, Christian brings a strong background in financials, technology, B2B, and higher ed. As an integrated digital marketer, Christian helps clients transform their most critical marketing mix of brand, product, sales, and demand generation into a unified experience that inspires services and motivates customers. He is unafraid to challenge the status quo to bring new transformative ideas to the table that push the boundaries of what’s possible through a mix of technology, content, and design.

Before joining Sullivan, Christian worked at Digitas, where he worked with clients including Comcast and American Express. Prior to that, he spent time at Hill Holliday, where he led an integrated B2B group to drive leads and sales across the SMB market.

Christian studied at the University of Delaware, where he earned his BSBA in Marketing.

Christian enjoys perpetually renovating his NYC apt with his wife and taking care of their 5 Koi fish.

Nick Miller

— Managing Director

As Managing Director of Strategy, Nick is focused on developing brand engagement opportunities that help organizations be useful, empathetic, and interesting to their audiences. Nick is a student of simplicity, and he believes the best brands are unmistakably clear and surprisingly original. At Sullivan, he translates that ethos into his work for clients that include American Express, Bank of America, and Walters Kluwer.

Before joining Sullivan, Nick spent more than a decade at Siegel+Gale, where he worked with global brands across the United States, Europe and the Middle East, including Google, Adobe, Visa, Wells Fargo, Emirates NBD, Syngenta and A.T. Kearney. Prior to Siegel+Gale, he worked in business development and account management at RedPeg Marketing, a Washington, D.C.-based brand experience agency.

Nick graduated from The George Washington University School of Business with a degree in Marketing and Information Systems Technology.

In his spare time, he enjoys making homemade pasta, lounging at the beach (whether at his native Jersey shore or the south of France), and eating his way around the world.

Becca Green

— Creative Director

As a Creative Director, Becca works alongside our strategists, copywriters, and designers to bring fresh ideas to life through compelling concepts and powerful content. With more than 10 years of experience in advertising and branding, Becca has a knack for marrying creative vision and strategic insights to create brands and communications that capture both hearts and minds. At Sullivan, Becca has worked with a number of financial and higher education institutions including Capital Group, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America and Merrill, Lehigh University, Duke University, and American University.

Prior to joining Sullivan, Becca held copywriting roles at advertising and branding agencies including Interbrand, Purpose, and GMMB where she developed creative for clients such as Microsoft, The Rockefeller Foundation, Unilever, and the American Beverage Association.

Becca graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, CT with a B.A. in English Creative Writing and Art History.

When she’s not at work, Becca can be found urban gardening and traveling around Mexico in search of the perfect fish taco.