Meet the Team

About Brian Wulfe

Brian is the founder and CEO of Effective Spend, one of the fastest growing digital marketing agencies in Texas. He founded Effective Spend in 2008 after leading the marketing department of a top 250 internet retail company. With more than 16 years of experience in performance-based digital marketing, Brian currently leads the strategic direction of the agency in his role as acting CEO.

In addition to being a business owner and a leader, Brian remains a true digital marketing practitioner. He jumps in and works with clients daily which allows him to stay very close to the evolution of the industry and ensure that Effective Spend continues to put innovative ideas, strategies and technologies into practice for its clients.

Fun Fact

My first job was taking apart F16 engines for my father’s aircraft parts business.

About Maddie Wulfe

As Chief Barketing Officer, Maddie’s main responsibilities are announcing visitors and entertaining at company happy hours. She is highly skilled at catching frisbees in mid-air and being a good, good dog. Outside of work, Maddie enjoys jogging, swimming in the lake and hanging out with her family.

Fun Fact

You can give her a belly rub any time, free of charge.

About Paula Thompson

Paula has been with Effective Spend since 2012 and has an extensive background in the digital media buying and planning space. She is regularly brought in to consult potential clients on strategic account implementations to improve their bottom line. Paula’s team manages a wide range of traditional SEM accounts, as well as social and programmatic display marketing clients. She is a native Texan and University of Texas alum.

Fun Fact

I have seen every episode of Friends at least 4 times.

About Kyle Stoldt

With more than 7 years of experience in online marketing, Kyle currently manages Effective Spend’s pure play eCommerce clients. Kyle studied business marketing at Sonoma State University and then gained experience in international commerce while living in Shanghai for several years. In his spare time, Kyle enjoys traveling, golfing and palling around with his pup, Roscoe.

Fun Fact

In the late 90’s I played in the professional laser tag circuit.

About Brittany Black

Brittany is a Houston native who came to Austin to study advertising at the University of Texas. Her professional background includes work in online lead generation and eCommerce for a variety of business verticals. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to crime podcasts and drinking beers on the patio.

Fun Fact

I regularly volunteer at a pig rescue farm.

The world of digital marketing is fast-paced and exciting. It’s growing and changing and becoming more complex every day. At Effective Spend, we pride ourselves on responding quickly and nimbly to this ever-evolving environment to deliver cutting-edge online marketing strategies to our clients. We’re looking for team members that share this drive and passion!

Join a team of true digital marketing experts at a fast-growing company that year in and year out has been named one of the Best Places to Work in Austin.

OPEN POSITIONS

About Zak Brooks

Zak is a graduate of Texas Tech University where he earned degrees in Business Management and Marketing. He began his career in digital marketing in 2015 working for Facebook. He joined the Effective Spend team in 2016, where he works in our PPC department helping clients efficiently scale paid search campaigns and grow their businesses.

About Courtney Smith

Courtney is a graduate of the University of North Texas where she received degrees in Digital Retailing and Merchandising with a minor in Marketing. She now contributes to the management of eCommerce paid search campaigns, internal marketing, and Effective on Amazon. In her downtime, Courtney enjoys exploring the Austin area’s popular nature spots.

Fun Fact

I reenacted a scene on the Friends set, playing the role of Rachel.

About Ben Cooper

Ben joined Effective Spend in 2018 after beginning his PPC career in 2016. He enjoys traveling anywhere with mountains, watching the movie Step Brothers, and sitting outside watching the shadows getting longer. On any given day you can find him somewhere with his two spring-loaded Australian Shepherds, Shiner and Goose.

Fun Fact

I once did a 10-mile running race in jorts and a mullet wig.

Watch Ben’s Employee Spotlight

About Topher Zuleger-Freeman

Topher grew up in the Maryland-DC region and graduated from the University of Maryland at the end of 2016. He’s new to Austin, having settled here after a few years of working in a number of different fields in various cities. When he’s not developing his digital marketing career you can find him spending time outdoors, traveling, trying out different restaurants and cooking new dishes with limited success.

Fun Fact

The summer before college I spent a month in Alaska building hiking trails and backpacking.

About Sophia Walker

Born and raised Frisco, a Texas native, Sophia attended the University of Florida and graduated in 2019 with a business degree in Marketing. After graduation, she moved to Austin and gained some professional experience before pursuing a career in paid media at Effective Spend. In her free time, she likes to stay active outside, plan camping trips, eat at Chi’Lantro, and attend many of the live music sets in Austin.

Fun Fact

I hiked the tallest peak in Texas.

About Emmie Anderson

Emmie is from Corpus Christi, where every local’s favorite line is “We are home of the Whataburger.” She attended the University of Texas at Austin where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Marketing with a minor in Communication Studies. Emmie fell in love with Austin and decided to stay after graduation. She then joined the Effective Spend team to pursue her passion for digital marketing. In her free time, she enjoys adventures around Austin, live music, trying new restaurants in town, and watching standup comedy.

Fun Fact

When I was in middle school, I had a Justin Bieber fan Twitter where I managed to get over 50,000 followers. Unfortunately, I deleted it years ago but I wish I still had it to laugh at (and be proud of) that point in my life.

About Amanda Fairris

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Amanda attended Texas A&M University where she earned a degree in Marketing with a focus in Data and Consulting. She has worked as a Marketing intern and Engagement Coordinator and is eager to make her mark in the marketing industry. Her greatest dream has always been to move to Austin, Texas, and is incredibly excited to be a part of the Effective Spend team. She enjoys just about anything outdoors, live music, and quality time with friends, family, and dogs.

Fun Fact

I love watching sunsets.

About Alyssa Hess

Alyssa was born and raised in the Kansas City area and graduated from the University of Kansas in 2020 with a major in Marketing and minor in Spanish. She began her career in sales before pursuing Digital Marketing. She moved to Austin in April 2021 and loves exploring all the restaurants, live music, and outdoor activities Austin has to offer. She loves traveling, finding the best spots to watch the sunset, cooking, working out, and watching Netflix, Reality TV, and Kansas City sports.

Fun Fact

I have been skydiving in the Swiss Alps!

About Megan Gillett

Megan was born and raised in Austin. She got her degree in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin where she developed a passion for marketing and analytics. She enjoys diving into data and learning about customer behavior. In her free time you can find her two-stepping, sewing vintage and western clothes, or cooking.

Fun Fact

I worked as a ranch hand on my family’s farm through high school and college.

About Evan Gerdes

Evan’s from a town in Washington called Spokane. He grew up fishing, snowboarding, and enjoying the evergreen state’s wonderful environment until moving to Kettering, Ohio and graduating highschool. After graduating, he attended University of Cincinnati for International Business, Economics, and French. While at university he took part in various organizations such as Delta Sigma Pi, intramural soccer, club fencing, and a city clean up project. During his studies he had the opportunity to live in Caen, France and take a summer semester of courses in the school’s international program. Despite being Puerto Rican himself, he only speaks English and French funnily enough. After completing his degree in 2019 he worked for Total Quality Logistics as a Finance Analyst while pursuing his MBA, and found a strong interest in Digital Marketing. Following his time at TQL he worked for PPD as a Finance Analyst working alongside their Clinical Trials, completed his MBA this past April, and moved to Austin. Some of his hobbies include language learning, science fiction novels, computers, and board games.

Fun Fact

I’ve been to impressionist painter Claude Monet’s house at Giverny.

About Rohena Farooqi

Rohena is a recent graduate from the University of Texas. She enjoys celebrating new experiences, creating adventures and has a passion for learning.

Fun Fact

I had the opportunity to work for 3 designers backstage during New York Fashion Week!

About Brooke Ray

Brooke joined the Effective Spend team this year to help expand our programmatic services. She was born and raised in central Illinois and studied Advertising and Public Relations at The University of Nebraska. She has over 7 years of programmatic media buying and planning experience in a variety of verticals, including High End Retail, Travel, Auto, Hospitality, and Healthcare.

Fun Fact

Brooke has been an avid skier since she was 2 years old.

About Will Concklin

Will is a graduate of the University of Texas, where he received his degree in Advertising as a member of the Texas Media & Analytics program. He has worked in Media ever since graduating, exclusively in Programmatic roles at various agencies around Austin, and just joined our Programmatic team this year. He is originally from San Antonio, but fell in love with Austin after moving here for school. Will is a massive Longhorns sports fan, particularly with Football, Volleyball, and Basketball. Every Fall, but especially this one, Texas Football consumes his personality entirely. Hook Em!

Fun Fact

I planted some of the first vines at my family’s winery in Dripping Springs.

About James Hall

James is an Illinois native who moved to Texas to expand his career in digital media and to escape the Midwest winters. After completing a bachelor’s degree in film at the University of Illinois, he changed career focus and entered the world of digital marketing. James’s hobbies are watching movies, going camping and on hikes, and spending countless hours “catching up” with youtube.

Fun Fact

I have an encyclopedic knowledge of horror movies. If it’s creepy, I probably know about it!

About Ryan Barry

Ryan was born in Ringwood, NJ which is a small burrough roughly thirty minutes from downtown Manhattan. He moved to Austin back in 2000 and has been living here ever since. After graduating high school, Ryan got a job managing a vinyl record store in Round Rock called Piranha Records where his love for music and collecting vinyl grew. He later graduated from Texas State University with a degree in Business Management. During his time at Texas State, he got his start in marketing working for a local Austin startup company called Cutting Edge Gamer which leases high-end graphics cards for gaming computers. Ryan currently lives with his girlfriend of 4 years (Kailey), two dogs (Zappa & Lola), and various birds and reptiles. He is an avid sports fan and enjoys playing as well as watching.

Fun Fact

My girlfriend works in Wildlife Rehabilitation and we often have different species of local wildlife living with us at a time.

About Chris Cargill

Chris is a graduate from Belmont University where he studied Music Business. He has spent his time since graduation working in marketing at a music venue and managing a wine shop. Chris moved to Austin in 2019 where he loves to hike, fish, write music, read, and kayak.

Fun Fact

I’ve recorded songs in a studio Johnny Cash has recorded in!

About Tyler Gillis

Tyler is a Digital Media Specialist and double graduate from Texas A&M. WHOOP! Outside of work he is an avid aquascaper and amateur mixologist. He loves to talk about his hobbies so be ready for an earful if you are curious!

Fun Fact

When I was more into keeping shrimp colonies (small freshwater shrimp) I had a cherry shrimp colony that was approximately 75 shrimp. The more impressive part was that the colony was started with only 4 cherry shrimp!

About Mat Parker

Mat was born and raised in Southern California. He graduated from San Diego State University and then went on to get his Doctorates degree in Physical Therapy. He had his own physical therapy clinic for 5 years and utilized digital marketing to grow his practice. He has now begun a new chapter in Austin putting all his efforts into digital marketing. When he’s not working he’s traveling, golfing, or reading a book.

Fun Fact

I wrote a book called Aging Smarter (available on Amazon) to help older people live more active & healthy lives

About Maddy Whiteman

Though born in Southern California, Maddy lived in Dallas for most of her life. She made the move Austin to get a degree in Advertising at The University of Texas at Austin. She joined Effective Spend as a Digital Marketing Specialist right after graduation in 2022. In her free time you can usually find her making art in all its forms whether it’s painting, rug making, lighting design or anything in between.

Fun Fact

 I used to be neighbors with Travis Barker, the drummer for Blink-182

About Enrique Pellegrin

Enrique is originally from San Antonio, Tx. He graduated from the University of Alabama. ROLL TIDE! Then decided to move to Austin, Tx as he always dreamed. He had been working as a tennis professional before joining the digital marketing world. Outside of work he enjoys taking his dogs for walks, traveling, playing golf, pickleball and of course tennis!

Fun Fact

I am a very big San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Cowboys fan!

About Abigail McClain

Abigail is a recent grad from Texas A&M with a business degree in marketing. She grew up in Liberty Hill, TX and likes the balance between city and country-life. In her free time, she loves watching interesting documentaries and taking her dogs on walks. Career-wise, digital marketing is a perfect fit because it lets her embrace her creative and analytical sides.

Fun Fact

Abigail loves thrifting and upcycling clothes to increase the longevity of clothing and create one-of-a-kind pieces.

Paid search was our first love. We go way back and we’re committed as ever. Though we’ve grown to support many more digital acquisition channels, paid search continues to be the cornerstone of our PPC marketing services.

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