Cactus’ team: new members and promotions

Cactus, the creative agency known for its award-winning behavior change campaigns, has responded to its unprecedented growth over the last two years with multiple senior-level new hires and promotions. The new ‘Cacti’ include Stacey Trunell as Brand Strategy Director; Director of Design Experience Shun-Luoi Fong; Media Coordinator Tara McKinnon; and Account Director Chris Browning. 

“Since 2020, we’ve been on a bit of a growth tear, doubling the size of our business and expanding our team size by more than 50 percent,” Jeff Graham, President and CMO at Cactus, says. “It’s allowed us to bring in awesome new talent and reward longtime rockstars like Max. Each addition to our team has given us a chance to level up our skillset, expand our offering and bring in some great new perspectives that will help make us a better agency,”

New Talent Hires:

Stacey Trunnell, Cactus’ Brand Strategy Director, comes to the agency following stints at such global agencies as Publicis, LatinWorks, GSD&M, Grey and Anomaly where she’s known for inspiring creative campaigns that engage audiences and grow businesses. Some of the brands she’s been fortunate to impact include Jack Daniel’s, Chevrolet, Target, Walgreens, Popeyes, Avocados from Mexico and Advil.

As the new Director of Design Experience, Shun-Luoi Fong will be responsible for Cactus’ digital strategy and experience discipline. He brings to Cactus a love for driving collaborative, cross-disciplinary work that transforms companies and culture. Prior to joining Cactus, he held digital and account strategy positions at agencies in Colorado and Washington, DC, and worked with clients ranging from  Movember, Colorado Lottery, North Carolina Education Lottery, VLMD, Finance of America, Perfect Day, Smartwool and Ladder Financial.

Media Supervisor Tara McKinnon is a data-driven performance marketer and digital media strategist who comes to Cactus with nearly ten years of agency and in-house experience. Her marketing background is extensive, spanning B2B, B2C, and D2C sectors, with a strong understanding of paid social. She previously worked at agencies Epsilon, Realeyes Digital and Booyah Marketing, handling multiple clients in the health, wellness and fitness sectors.

Chris Browning, who has joined the team as Account Director, began his career on the client-side, working as an Account Executive for Southeast Toyota. From there, he joined the Domino’s Pizza team at Crispin Porter Bogusky as Account Supervisor and most recently moved with the Domino’s account over to WorkInProgress Boulder as Supervisor of Account + Strategy. Browning will lead the agency’s financial services practice working on accounts including CommunityAmerica Credit Union, Westerra Credit Union and Umpqua Bank. 

Promotions:

After more than 3 years as a Sr Account Supervisor with Cactus, Max Cedergreen has been promoted to Account Director. He will lead the agency’s efforts for healthcare clients such as Cochlear, Commonwealth Care Alliance and Diversus Health, DetecTogether, and CDPHE/Naloxone. Prior to Cactus, Max worked at 90octane, R&R Partners and O’Brien Advertising. 

Also, after joining the team two years ago, Peter Sather has been promoted to Senior Designer at Cactus. Peter’s portfolio includes YOU at College, Find Help Now, Plano Molding, Tampa Bay Lightning, Baxter Healthcare, Earl of Sandwich and Volvo.

Celebrations:

In addition to the new hires and promotions, some Cactus team members are celebrating a few impressive anniversaries with the agency. 

Executive Creative Director Brian Watson has been with the agency for 20 years. Brian started at Cactus right out of Colorado University in 2002 as an intern, making him the only employee in the history of the agency to only work at Cactus. 

VP of Project Management, Lisa Van Someren, celebrates 25 years at the agency, she has become an expert in all things organization and process, and an invaluable leader. 

Cactus is a strategically-driven creative agency specializing in consumer behavior change. For 31 years, the agency has existed to work exclusively for the brands, causes, and nonprofits that help people thrive in their lives. Cactus is nationally known for groundbreaking campaigns in the behavioral health space like Mantherapy, a first-of-its-kind effort to combat suicide among working-age men. Driving behavior change is at the heart of everything we do at Cactus. The agency’s Belief & Behavior Design™ strategic process is built on decades of experience blending behavior change models with breakthrough creativity to achieve clients’ desired business outcomes.