MonkeyThat™

Originally from Kansas, Kristi ditched Dorothy for the lights of the Big City. Her path took her through Rhode Island and Boston where she picked up a BFA in Graphic Design at RISD, fell in love with creative writing at Brown and kicked it with a cool group of branding specialists at Catapult Thinking that put her through naming and positioning boot camp and taught her a thing or two about compelling design and get noticed packaging. Then, her mom fell ill and she went back to the OP to care for her full time and embarked on a year long journey of a different kind. A story not with lights and logos but one that taught her patience, empathy, relentless questioning and determination. Oh, and introduced her to enough characters to fuel a lifetime of stories that you couldn't make up if you tried. Cocktail party topics? Check that off the list! Just like Stella got her groove back, Kristi found her voice. One full of compassion, sarcasm, spunk and biznass. Above all she had a clear idea that time is uncertain and shouldn't be wasted and it was her time to get a move on.

After Momma Nellor got on the mend and grandma and pa told her she was cuter than a bird called a tumbleturd and warned her not to take any wooden nickels she kept on traveling and finally landed in Brooklyn with her too-cool-for-school design extraordinaire fiancé and their neurotic hunting dog, Brandolicious or Buddacus or Sackajololly... Snoopers for short. You see, dogs just can't be branded and certainly not this crazy one. Lucky for the pup, they live by a great big ol' park that rivals the Kansas flatlands so she can live out her 50+ personas with the other pampered Park Slope canines every morning, noon and night.

Since arriving here in 2004, Kristi has branded airplanes, designed bottles of booze, positioned luxury living in Mexico and designed cool, top secret labs for companies she can't note. She likes to think she's a ninja but really she's just some country girl that likes to make cool-looking, relevant designs that change lives or perspectives... or just make someone smile. Those two paths brought her right here where she serves up ideas full of Midwestern charm and ass-kicking wit... and really can't decide which she likes best.

As for Big City lights...Between flying to Boston regularly to get her hair dyed 7 shades of red and organizing her bigger than a New York boutique closet room categorized first by type of clothing (we're talking heavy weight, medium or lightweight sweaters) and then by shades of color... she's doing alright. And don't even get her started talking about renting an elephant or closing down a street for her upcoming urban East meets West wedding...