BIOS

Katherine Jones

Principal and Founder

Katherine has more than 20 years of experience in designing brands, experiences and storytelling. Katherine founded Milkshake in 1999. Katherine is recognized as a leader in branding and community and speaks regularly at industry and client conferences. In 2005, she was awarded the Austin Ad Fed’s “Ad Woman of the Year.” That same year, Milkshake received the American Marketing Association’s Marketer of the Year Award. Katherine’s received the Austin Business Journal “Profiles in Power: Futurist” Award and in addition to community service for many organizations, she has served on several boards, including the Austin Children’s Museum, The Seton Forum, GENaustin, and American Youthworks.

Trained as a medical illustrator, she entered this world through 3-D computer visualization via her medical imaging work with the Visible Human Project at the National Library of Medicine. For five years, Katherine served as creative director at Engineering Animation, Inc., where she produced animations, illustrations and CD-ROMs for clients such as The Smithsonian, Time Warner, Merck, Glaxo, Hasbro and Mattel. Her direction on top-selling Barbie Magic Hairstyler CD-ROM lead to her next position as senior vice president of creative development at Girl Games, Inc., where she designed and produced original and licensed interactive entertainment products for teen girls. Just before starting Milkshake, Katherine worked on several films including the title sequence for Fight Club, and concept designs for The Cell and Minority Report.

Raised in the Washington, D.C. area, Katherine graduated from University of Michigan with a BFA in Fine Arts and a BGS in Zoology and earned an MA from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Biological and Medical Illustration.

Heather Beckel

Managing Director

As Managing Director at Milkshake, Heather oversees operations and client service with presence, diplomacy, and stylish efficiency. Heather brings more than 15 years of political, public affairs, and marketing experience, and is an expert at creating cohesive marketing campaigns that bridge all sectors of PR and message development, including branding.

Beckel’s career in politics began working for George Stephanopoulos first on the Clinton presidential campaign, then in the White House in 1993. She is featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary The War Room and was the inspiration for the character “Donna” on the NBC drama The West Wing. Heather is also the author of Be a Kickass Assistant: From Grunt Job to Great Career (Time Warner 2002) about her experiences as an assistant in the White House.

Most recently Heather was the managing director at I&O Communications, a full-service marketing firm based in Austin, Texas. Her clients included Daimler’s car sharing program car2go, the Texas horse racing industry, Zio sports apparel for kids, and The National Arbor Day Foundation.

Before joining I&O in 2006, Beckel was the marketing director at Waterworks in Danbury, CT- the luxury bath design & retail company- where she oversaw all advertising creative and media buying, sales tools including the website and 250-page catalog, PR and store openings. Subsequently as the vice president of sales and marketing for the home furnishings design and manufacturer America Retold in Hudson, NY Beckel again oversaw all marketing and brand and managed a large team of sales reps and the in-house sales department.

Previously, Beckel was director of marketing at Polo Ralph Lauren in NY, where she was responsible for a $13 million gift from Mr. Lauren to the Smithsonian Institutes to restore the Star Spangled Banner- the flag that inspired our national anthem. She also launched the RX Sport brand, managed the PR around the company’s IPO, and managed all the PR for international licensees.

Heather graduated from Arizona State University with a B.A. Art History.

Shannon Ratliff

Senior Strategist

In the role of Senior Strategist, Shannon guides key strategy engagements and delivers core strategy insights and recommendations. His particular passion lies in the creation of brand strategies that connect individuals in communities for social change. Shannon combines a wide-ranging inquisitiveness with over 15 years of experience in law and public policy at national law firms and at his own consultancy to bring a unique perspective to client work. As a result, his strategy insights are informed by an understanding of complex business issues as well as the social and political forces that shape the environment in which our clients operate.

Shannon has broad experience working with both public and private sector clients in diverse fields such as renewable energy, financial services, technology networking, healthcare and local government. An Austin native, Shannon is actively involved in the community having served in leadership roles at the Austin Children’s Museum and the Seton Forum. Shannon is currently a member of both the Austin Area Research Organization and the St. David’s Foundation Community Health Access Committee.

Shannon graduated from Haverford College with a BA in Philosophy With Honors and earned a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.

Brandt Parker

Technology Director

Brandt provides technical leadership at Milkshake. In this role, he oversees the architecture, design, development, integration and execution of all Milkshake web solutions — encompassing everything from document and content management systems and online stores to highly collaborative social networks and tools. In addition to traditional technologies, he has extensive experience with a variety of open source approaches including Linux, Apache, Mysql, PHP, Python, and Ruby on Rails.

Brandt has over twelve years of interactive experience. Prior to joining Milkshake, he launched the Golfsmith.com initiative as part of Golfsmith International, Inc., a worldwide leader in the golf component and retail industry.

Brandt earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Houston.

Brian Auderer

Creative Director

Brian brings creative leadership to a mix of Milkshake’s clients including Whole Foods, Populous, Trek, National Cooperative Grocers Association, John Wayne Brands and the creation of LIVESTRONG. From listening for insights about brand truths, to concepting authentic, nontraditional expressions, Brian adeptly guides the creation of compelling design solutions.

Brian has over 15 years of design experience. Prior to joining Milkshake in 2003, he held design positions at Metrowerks Corp., University of Texas, Tocquigny Advertising and Design Edge, as well as doing freelance work for clients including Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top and Texas music landmark The Continental Club. His love of music and old cars led him to be a founding partner of the Lonestar Round Up, one of the largest traditional hot rod and custom car shows in the country.

Brian earned a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas.

Taylor Lyman

Account Director

As an Account Director, Taylor ensures Milkshake efforts provide sustainable results for all clients. Taylor brings a wellspring of communication and planning skills in handling and serving Milkshake clients with excellence.

Taylor’s career began at Mullen’s home office in Wenham, Massachusetts, where he worked on national accounts such as LendingTree.com and Federated Investors. Before coming on board at Milkshake in 2007, he was an account manager at GSD&M, and his clients included On The Border Mexican Grill and Norwegian Cruise Line, a multi-million dollar account for which he oversaw the development and execution of over 50 branding projects simultaneously.

Taylor received a BS in Mass Communication with a concentration in advertising from Boston University’s College of Communication.

Stephanie Leach

Account Director

As an Account Director, Stephanie handles key client accounts with precision, warmth, and best-of-class organization. Stephanie has a diverse background that spans design, project management and client services.

Early on as retail designer in Atlanta Stephanie focused on creating experiences that connected brand with sales. As a project manager she has worked on several corporate accounts including The Home Depot for whom she successfully oversaw the execution of multi-million dollar point of purchase campaigns. Her experiences also include unifying branding efforts for a national buying group of over 3,000 locally-owned appliance, electronics, bedding, home furnishings and floor covering stores.

Stephanie came to Milkshake from fd2s in Austin where she managed environmental graphic design projects for clients that included the health care industry, retail developments and civic projects. She leverages a keen understanding of both design and client relationships to facilitate lasting solutions.

Stephanie has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design from The Georgia Institute of Technology.