Leadership
Leadership
Julie Cortés
Founder
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Copywriter by day. Freelance Rockstar by night. Julie Cortés lives, breathes, teaches, speaks, and coaches on all things creative self-employment. She’s run her own business for more than 25 years, is the founder of The Freelance Exchange of KC, and created a much-needed college-level course, Freelancing 101, for the KC Art Institute, where she teaches as an adjunct professor. Awarded dozens of times over for her work, leadership, volunteerism, and community involvement, she’s regularly sought out for business coaching, media interviews, and speaking engagements. Julie is loving life, and living out her passion for helping creative freelancers succeed.
Kelly Ziegler
President
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Kelly is a digital marketing strategist with more than two decades of experience. In that time, Kelly has worked with a wide variety of industries and clients, from consumer goods to manufacturing. What’s more, Kelly has worked on both the client side and the agency side, giving her an excellent 360-degree view of the entire marketing cycle from strategy development through execution all the way through the sales cycle. Today, as the owner of Numerical Tree, Kelly’s clients are reaping the benefits of her expertise and unique insight through digital marketing focusing on paid digital media, social media ads, and SEO.
Katie Proberts
Secretary
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Introducing Katie Proberts, the driving force behind Enchanted Dawn. With her expertise in unique story-driven digital marketing and operational management that is catered to her clients, Katie is a catalyst for turning your business aspirations into reality. From revitalizing your social media strategy to implementing cutting-edge CRM software that fuels a strong lead funnel, Katie has the hands-on experience to guide you beyond mere advice. She specializes in breaking through the barriers that hold business owners back, ensuring that you achieve your goals and propel businesses to new heights.
Holly Hempfling
Treasurer
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Holly is a fourth-generation entrepreneur with over a decade of design and marketing experience working with entities of all sizes, from global to local. She has worked with companies in the legal, insurance, financial, and staffing industries, with municipalities and nonprofits, and has corporate in-house marketing experience. In 2021, she completed UMKC’s Entrepreneurship Scholars program at the Bloch School of Management. Holly joined The Freelance Exchange in 2021 to get to know other freelancers in the community and share what she’s learned.
Board of Directors
Shannon Carpenter
Communications Director
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Shannon Carpenter is the author of The Ultimate Stay-at-Home Dad and is a graduate of the famous Second City, where he refined his humor. Whether writing social satire, essays, or copy for brands that want to stand out, he is always able to leave you with a lasting impression. He has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, NPR, Forbes, The Atlantic, and others. Finally, BuzzFeed recognized him as one of the funniest women of the week in 2020, which was weird because he is not a woman.
Ryan Hembree
Marketing Director
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Ryan is a strategic creative and builder of brands with over 25 years of experience working in a variety of roles. He founded, built and operated his own design firm for over 16 years; has worked on the client side in sales and marketing; and built the creative capabilities and design team at a fast-growing full-service agency. Today he is an independent creative working directly with business owners, leaders and other marketing professionals to enhance brand awareness and solve complex business and marketing challenges. Ryan is also an educator and speaker in the areas of design and design entrepreneurship, as well as a published author.
Shauna Clark
Programs Director
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With a resume resembling a pinball machine comprising multiple sectors and numerous industries, a constant activity throughout was always creative marketing. She founded Ess Factor Solutions to share her creative talents in graphic design, web design, digital photography, social media, and blog writing with the rest of the world. When not working on contributing to world peace, you can catch her between adventures, at a Kansas City Royals game, spending time with her husband of 18 years, waiting for a text from their four adult children, or most importantly, hanging out with one amazing grandson.
Angela Van Holland
Social Director
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Angela has over 30 years of experience consulting with creative clients. She has spent the last ten years in her current role at NextPage. She uses past experience to help clients explore the possibilities, while always being mindful of the goal and the budget of the current opportunity. She thrives on integrating marketing communications into a revenue-generating strategy–to work smarter while protecting budget and brand. NextPage has allowed her the opportunity to bring a great team to the table to assist in the ‘dream making.’
Linda Waterborg
Web Director
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Linda is an award-winning, one-woman marketing department with nearly 20 years of experience in copywriting and design. Her expertise spans both the print and digital worlds, including website design and development. She’s a rare combination of creative and detail-oriented that ensures deadlines are met and clients are happy. While nonprofit organizations and small businesses are her specialty, you’ll also find her working for big names such as Garmin and University Health. Linda is an MU journalism school grad who lives in Shawnee with her husband, son, and dog.
Hazel Krebs
Social Media Director
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After numerous transitions in her life and career, Hazel has found her calling professionally as a social media manager and content creator. Additionally, Hazel published her first book in January 2024 entitled Enthusiastically Me, which chronicles her journey into sobriety and away from society’s inherent expectations for gender presentation, career aspirations, and dreams. Her ultimate goal is to inspire everyone to live their best life through enthusiastic authenticity. In recent years, Hazel has embraced an intensely active role in publicly advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, focusing on transgender rights, particularly for trans youth.
Terese Grossnickle
Special Events Director
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Terese is the vibrant force behind Strategic Renaissance. Beyond her effervescent personality, her unique resume seamlessly blends marketing strategy and operational prowess with design skills, ensuring outcomes that go beyond mere aesthetic appeal. Terese prefers close collaboration with clients, infusing a creative revival into their visual identities, publications, and digital assets. Embodying a modern Renaissance spirit, she extends her passion beyond graphic design by creating mandala art, singing tenor in a community chorus, performing in a handbell ensemble, honing her disc golf game, and occasionally indulging in dance classes. Terese isn't just a graphic designer; she's a dynamic, multifaceted partner.
Brady Timmons
Design Chair
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Graduating from Kansas State University in 2021 with a BFA in Graphic Design, Brady fostered a passion for user-centered design and emerging technologies. He gained valuable design and print experience interning at Copies4Less, and currently applies these skills as a graphic designer at Harvest Graphics, producing high-quality prints for clients using the latest software and technology. Brady values team collaboration and learning from feedback. He is actively seeking opportunities to leverage his passion for emerging technologies and user-centered design in creating innovative solutions that enhance user experience.
Brianna Privett
Membership Chair
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A passion for the web as a medium for art is the foundation for Brianna’s 20-year-long career in digital strategy and multimedia design. Brianna is the founder of TechnoSiren, and she helps web users become web creators.