Steve is advertising’s version of a Swiss Army knife. He went through the creative sequence at UT Austin and initially tried his hand at copywriting. He then had careers of over a decade each as both an account guy and a strategic planner. Since joining Firehouse in 2006, Steve has built and shepherded the growth of Firehouse's media and strategy disciplines to be one of the most awarded in Dallas. In fact, his idea to combine our planning, media, PR and social media disciplines into a single strategic team was not only ahead of its time, it helped Firehouse earn AdAge’s Southwest Small Agency of the Year in 2010. Today he draws on all of these diverse skillsets to effectively run Firehouse as Chief Executive Officer. Steve also serves as the agency's unofficial bartender and resident foodie.

Prior to becoming Firehouse’s Executive Creative Director in 2007, Tripp’s award-winning career included stops at The Martin Agency, Riney & Partners, Fallon NYC and GSD&M, working on celebrated brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Wrangler Jeans, United Airlines, Time Magazine and Land Rover, to name a few. Over the years, Tripp has collected Cannes Lions, D&AD Pencils, EFFIE Awards and produced one of USA Today’s Top 100 Super Bowl Commercials of all time. Under his creative leadership, Firehouse has been recognized by The One Show, The Webbie Awards, Communication Arts, The OBIES and was named AdAge’s Southwest Small Agency of the Year in 2010. Tripp also spends some of his spare time restoring old Land Rovers, and then paying someone else to do it correctly.

When we say that Erica is a driven, motivated and organized person, we’re not just blowing smoke. She’s the kind of person who makes normally driven and organized people feel like sofa-surfing slackers. From running multi-unit brands like Texas Dairy Queen, Nothing Bundt Cakes and Baxter Auto to translating brand strategies across national, local and promotional levels, she does it all with the style, grace, flexibility and work ethic you’d expect from a former professional ballet dancer. In fact, she may be the only person at Firehouse who can, quite literally, bend over backwards for our clients.

Megan has over 16 years of experience and a wealth of knowledge and expertise in process development, resource management and creative production. Megan led the charge in developing and implementing a new project management discipline and agency process that allows for efficiencies to better manage client projects. But on top of being the most organized person in the agency, Megan is also the keeper of the Firehouse culture, helping to meticulously plan every major event we’ve had since the day she arrived.

Phil has 11 years of experience and expertise in production for print, OOH, digital and broadcast. But Phil's secret strength is his innate ability to see the future. He's an incredibly intuitive team player, always sensing what the team, and our clients, might need. On top of making sure the trains run on time and that our work gets done and done well, Phil is always there to raise his hand, jump in, volunteer and add value. He's also the first to ask if a client or co-worker needs anything. At all. He cares about Firehouse like an owner and is selfless in his dedication to making sure our people, not just processes, are working well for every client project.

When you can draw upon 20+ years of advertising and marketing experience like Emily can, there’s virtually no challenge she hasn’t faced. Whether it’s her extensive CPG, retail or B2B experience on both the agency and brand side, or her passion for understanding consumer attitudes and behaviors, Emily’s ability to navigate her clients to great success is a hallmark of her impressive career. Less impressive, however, is her musical ability. This is plainly evidenced by her acoustically talented husband and two children relegating her to tambourine duty during family jam sessions.

Tara believes every project can be improved with a well-formatted spreadsheet and color-coding system—that love of organization probably has something to do with being an Air Force brat. Given her impressive amount of agency- and client-side experience, she brings a much-welcomed balanced perspective to whatever you put in front of her. Brands like Nike, Lennox, The United Methodist Church and AmeriSourceBergen have benefited greatly from a steady dose of Tara. Outside of the ad world, Tara is prone to fits of adventurous travel (again, Air Force brat) and selflessly donating her time to cancer patients in need of a supportive sounding board.

Since beginning her career in the audit department of a Big 4 public accounting firm, Marla has gone on to become a CPA and held a number of positions as both financial controller and consultant. And while she insists that “being boring is an amazing trait” for her position, it’s hard to reconcile that with her participating multiple times as a cyclist in the “Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred” bike race. Every summer. In Texas. Somehow also being a “cat and crossword puzzle lover” doesn’t seem to balance that one out.

Krista is a committed extrovert who leverages her big personality and bold perspective to craft extraordinarily creative and compelling work. In fact, she’s spent her career of 20+ years creating remarkable and highly successful advertising for clients like American Airlines, Texas Tourism, Marriott Hotels, Nationwide Insurance, Toyota, Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group and many more.

But don't let her penchant for taking risks, pushing boundaries and never settling (creatively speaking, of course), fool you. More than anything, Krista is a champion of awareness, inclusivity, acceptance and empathy for people who don’t always have a voice of their own. In other words, her own brand of "softie."

Unicorn somehow fails to adequately describe the rarity of a creative like Carlos. His decade spent designing, illustrating, creative directing, ideating and creating award-winning work is littered with clients and co-workers who absolutely love him. In the multi-unit/franchise space alone, brands like Chili's, On The Border, Fuzzy's Taco Shop, Uncle Julios and Hooters have seen him work absolute creative magic at the speed of retail.

His uniqueness and passions extend beyond his professional life as well. From being a native of Juárez, Chihuahua, in Mexico who aspires to learn Japanese, to his passion for the world of video games (despite being a well-adjusted, fully functioning adult), to embracing an upbringing immersed in the rich tapestry of US and Mexican cultures by proudly declaring himself "Mex-Tex.", we challenge you to find anyone else quite like Carlos.

Professionally speaking, Jason Heatherly is many things: designer, illustrator, multimedia artist, mentor and award-winning creative. Throughout his 15+ year career he's honed his skills and applied his craft on brands such as Nike, Sprite, Travel Channel, Samsung, Interstate Batteries and McDonalds to name a few.
Personally, he claims to be a pseudo musician, sneakerhead, basketball junkie, cycling enthusiast, critical cinephile and aspiring novelist. While none of these hobbies have been met with the same success as his day job, Jason remains steadfastly committed to at least showing up and looking the part for each of them.