With a passion for design and 25 years’ experience in brand development, Tony has a keen sense of the relationship between brand strategy and creative aesthetic. To put it mildly, he’s obsessed with brands and how they communicate and interact with customers.

After attending California State University, Long Beach, Tony launched a career in graphic design with Sideout Sport, where he got his first taste of the behind-the-scenes world of action sports apparel. Years later, after serving as Art Director of several more well-known brands, Tony set out on his own as a freelancer. Successful partnerships with names like OP, Quiksilver, TYR Sport, Vans, Reebok and a long list of industry startups honed his creative skills and convinced him that a guiding vision and creative consistency are critical to brand success.

With this clarity, Tony has since brought his unique talent and experience to an array of industries, especially the tech arena. He continually helps companies from small enterprises to Fortune 500’s better understand their brands and effectively communicate with customers.

When he’s not in the office, Tony enjoys surfing, standup paddleboarding, hiking and most outdoor sports. He also likes serving at church and volunteering in his community. A dedicated family man, Tony and his wife are raising two teenage boys in Orange County, California.

Dara is a woman of words. Many, many words. But fortunately, when it comes to bringing brawn to your branding project, they’re only the words you need. She writes copy for a diverse group of industries—travel, legal, sports apparel, commercial real estate and more—and business articles and blogs for clients ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies. Dara also ghosts for CEOs, attorneys, marketing directors . . . pretty much anyone who needs to communicate effectively, but lacks the time, talent or patience—sometimes all three—to grapple with words and string them together in ways that entice you to read them.

Born and raised in SoCal, Dara has a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Davis (where she also studied writing), an MBA from the University of Texas, San Antonio and a corporate background working for Toyota, Lexus, Neiman Marcus, Kia and Mercedes-Benz. She’s passionate about learning and communicating, especially when they intersect to create authentic branding—the kind that moves people and brings true connection between product and customer.

Dara is married to her best friend and has three teenage children. She credits her faith, family and furry babies with keeping her sane . . . and fueling her joy.

Matthew is a professional photographer, entrepreneur and self-described “lover of things old and appreciator of things new.” As a successful portrait and commercial photographer, he’s traveled the country to shoot noted athletes like Shaquille O’Neill, Drew Brees, skate legends Duane Peters and Jason Adams and a host of Olympic medal contenders. His work has been featured in several major print and online publications, including Martha Stewart Weddings, Elle Magazine, Huffington Post, Vice Magazine, Brides Magazine, The Knot and more.

After earning a Business Management degree from Pepperdine University, Matthew spent time in the corporate world before launching and quickly growing his own photography company. Over the last decade, he’s refined his craft and become increasingly expert at high-level photo production as well as outdoor, natural light and lifestyle photography.

When he’s not taking pictures of an NBA superstar, fabulous wedding or other subject of intrigue, Matthew prefers the company of his best friend and wife, Ashlee. A native Southern Californian and “graced one,” he also enjoys thumbing through theology books, surfing and playing beach volleyball, listening to all kinds of music, watching films with subtitles, eating Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and sipping a really good scotch.

Guy is B&B’s resident “computer guy,” our guru of all things code who saves the day through massive IT knowledge.

Guy’s 30-plus years in computer science began at the age of ten, when he became obsessed with the newly-released Commodore VIC-20. From there, he moved on to the Commodore 64 before attacking his first PC—a Zenith!—around 1986. Thus began a lifelong journey that’s taken Guy from computer-crazed kid to coding rock star.

Today, Guy’s extensive experience in the computer industry includes everything from building PCs to writing software and creating networks for small to large companies. This means he’s fluent in many languages no one will ever speak, such as C#, JavaScript, Python, PHP, SQL and more. In short, Guy is the behind-the-scenes guy you need to make your website, apps and all things digital live long and prosper.

Guy grew up in SoCal, but has a bit of southern drawl he picked up while once living in Mississippi. When he says “ray row,” he actually means “railroad.” Plus, he might refer to you as “y’all” even if you’re standing there alone.

When Guy’s not knee deep in writing code, he’s knee deep in reading books, constructing Legos, or playing an RPG video game. He also loves spending time outdoors, especially with his wife and three dogs.

As someone who’s passionate about helping others share their gifts with the world, Danny and website development are a natural fit.

Through years spent creating cool, highly functional websites for many churches and businesses, Danny has become more and more passionate about website development and its interrelation with graphic design. He’s also built a valuable skill set that allows him to deftly transform concept into reality. Similar to how he taught himself to play guitar in uniquely expressive ways, Danny approaches every project with a nimble and creative mindset. His work makes all the difference for B&B clients looking to establish a compelling online presence.

When Danny’s not bringing his magic to websites, he’s spending time with his wife and two sons: the true inspiration behind everything he does. Danny and his wife—who, like Danny, is a local pastor—care deeply about seeing people thrive spiritually. It’s this keen focus on people, combined with his other talents, that enables Danny to come alongside others and help them achieve their visions.

Besides website management and family, Danny also loves playing guitar, reading, coffee, biking, surfing and anything else that gets him outside.

Emile’s native language is not, in fact, English, but Video-Nerd. You might not notice at first, but you’ll soon realize at least half his vocabulary is technical jargon:

“Push it to 3200, it’s got dual native ISO so the noise floor is the same. Swap out the CFast cards and set the Atomos to 4K CinemaDNG. We’ll key out the green in post and warp stabilize the shaky bits.”

Suffice it to say, Emile loves video and, more importantly, what you can do with it: tell a story.

With a background in narrative filmmaking and a degree in Film Production from San Diego State University, storytelling has always been front and center in Emile’s work. He knows that for people to connect with a film, a concept, a product, a brand, it has to have a story — one that people stop scrolling and turn up the volume to watch. And telling that story with a camera, well, that’s where all the technical jargon comes in handy.

Even though he’s a self-proclaimed geek, you won’t find Emile sitting in front of the computer all day. When he’s not running around with a camera in his hands, you’ll find him climbing boulders, carving waves, floating through powder, and flying across the desert on two wheels — though he’ll still probably have a camera on him. Or two.

When it comes to data, math and analytics, Sandi is a certified geek. Born in Honolulu and raised around the country, Sandi has her BS in computer science from Cal State Fresno and has been thriving in the digital world for years.  Her passion for digital media shows in the enthusiasm she brings to each project, and she has “the numbers” to prove it.

At BNB, Sandi provides strategic direction for client digital marketing campaigns and works collaboratively to develop social media geared towards specific business objectives.  To say she enjoys building game-changing digital campaigns is an understatement. During work hours, she loves to construct strategies, formulas and campaigns that blow up her client’s metrics.

Sandi also acts as lead strategist for BNB online marketing, managing BNB’s digital programs and organic social media efforts. In this capacity, she has led programs in web design, web development, SEO, pay-per-click advertising, online marketing campaigns, social media marketing strategy and online initiatives.

When Sandi’s not wrangling and driving numbers, she’s either serving others, doing something water-related, walking the dog, or riding her Peloton. 

Sandi and her husband live with their two daughters in beautiful San Clemente, California.

Albert brings a unique blend of tech, entrepreneurship, and communication to the team at Brands and Brawn. Leveraging the latest tools available, Albert enjoys connecting the dots between AI applications, no-code platforms, and a variety of databases. When you meet Albert, you’ll see a natural charisma, excitement and passion brew for new technological solutions.

As a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, Albert was recognized as the 2022 UT Austin Chapter President of the Year, 2021-2022 Representative of the Moody College of Communication, City-Council Liaison and was the runner-up for UT Student Body President. His working experience originally stems from being a freelance social media manager, then moving into a three year role as an associate with digital asset hedge fund, Tradecraft Capital and his recent project, Blueprint Knowledge.

Ali, like most of Gen Z, is absolutely obsessed with social media. While she does love mindlessly scrolling on TikTok, she’s also fascinated with the power social media has to make real, positive changes in the world. Because of this, she’s spent the last several years studying algorithms, trends, and social psychology to delve deeper into social media and digital marketing.

Ali studied communication and psychology at Wake Forest University. She has worked with various companies on their marketing and social media teams, as well as built up a personal social media brand (@alioof) which has amassed over 300k followers. She also created and organized a charity event called Beds for the Blade, which raised over $14,000 for the Cancer Research Institute.

At B&B, Ali is spearheading Crashing Success, which aims to both demonstrate to people the real process of building a brand as well as provide a wealth of information for aspiring entrepreneurs. Her goal is to demystify the path to success and empower others with the knowledge and tools they need to forge their own paths in the digital world.

Outside of work, Ali loves to sing and dance in musicals, play video games, and cuddle with her dog, Teddie.

At her core, Karla is a lover of people. She is passionate about fostering connections by sharing stories through all different types of mediums.

Her desire to deeply understand the intricacies of the human experience stems from growing up as a performing artist. She has been singing, acting, playing, dancing, writing, directing, performing, and creating for as long as she can remember, and hopes to continue pursuing all types of creative performance outlets throughout her life. Karla then got to merge her creativity with her intuition for business strategy when she started her professional career in sales. She quickly expanded her skillset, transitioning to roles in management, content creation, marketing, event planning, and “creative problem-solving” (or whatever the corporate term for that is).

Karla is a 2023 graduate from New York University Shanghai, where she studied Interactive Media and Business, a crossroads major of art, technology and business. Her time spent as a NYU Shanghai student also rekindled her travel adventures. Karla’s global travels started from a young age, when her family moved to the US from the Philippines when she was four years old, and continued when they moved around the US every couple of months throughout her childhood. Then, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and not being able to return to her home campus in Shanghai, she studied at six of NYU’s global locations throughout college. She calls San Antonio, Texas “home”, since that’s where her parents have settled down, but you can never really keep up with where Karla is around the world.

As the B&B Brand Manager, she gets to tell her story on the B&B platform and share her life “as it is”, hoping to encourage others to also share their stories with authenticity and vulnerability, and for B&B to create deeper connections with people and among people.