Our team
Alana Csaposs
Content Operations Project Manager
Alana is a Content Operations Project Manager on the Operations team. She joins Message Lab with a love for process and a career in both editorial and technical content management. She was the online editor for the literary magazine Tin House, graduated from the University of Oregon Data Analytics bootcamp, and worked in AI content QA for the astrology app Co–Star, along with various experiences in SEO, digital marketing, and communications. In her free time, you can find her writing poetry and solving puzzles in Portland, OR.
Allegra Poggio Rector
Head of Client Services
Allegra is Head of Operations at Message Lab. She has more than a dozen years of professional experience building operational success within agencies. Her focus on people and process, and experience in communications, technical project management, business development, and integrated marketing, has helped create high-performing cultures and grow long-term partnerships. She is also a lover of trail running and a comprehensively certified pilates and yoga instructor.
Becky McMillan
Senior Project Manager, Content Operations
Becky is a Senior Project Manager on the Operations Team at Message Lab. She has more than a decade of professional experience in advertising, marketing and communications. Focused on developing positive client engagement and successful partnerships, Becky has worked with companies across diverse industries like hospitality, tech, finance, higher education, telecommunications and more. From startups to Fortune 500 companies, Becky navigates each project with strategic organization and creative sensibility.
Ben Worthen
CEO
Ben is CEO of Message Lab. He has spent the last several years combining journalism, data and design to help organizations create content that resonates with real people. In 2007, he joined The Wall Street Journal, where he covered the tech industry and wrote more than 50 Page One stories. Before Message Lab, Ben was editor-in-chief at Ready State and head of content at Sequoia Capital.
Dan Redding
Senior Visual Designer
Dan Redding has more than ten years of experience in visual storytelling and editorial experience design. His multidisciplinary skills include visual design, UI/UX and digital graphics. Dan has worked with brands in industries including publishing, consulting, education and nonprofits. He is also a published author and podcaster with a passion for journalism and interviewing. Dan holds bachelor’s degrees in illustration (Parsons School of Design) and creative writing (The New School).
Danie Taylor
Director of Delivery Operations
Danie joins Message Lab with nearly 20 years’ professional experience in project & process management, video production, and digital storytelling. She leads ongoing optimization of process management systems as well as day-to-day delivery of client projects. Danie has produced videos for a number of technology companies and also criss-crossed the country as a television news producer. She’s ended up near where she started, with an Emmy®️ Award, a passion for building community through storytelling, and a deep appreciation for the beauty of process.
Daniel Salters
Web Analytics Specialist, Strategy & Insights
As a natural go-getter, Daniel brings a wealth of experience in data analysis and app development. He has developed a strong understanding of the various types of data points that can be analyzed, ranging from; digital marketing, political campaigns, civil unrests via social media, and Experian consumer marketing. While strong on initiative and creativity, Daniel also has a unique history developing Augmented Reality applications in Unity for storytelling, education, and digital product marketing.
Emily Gonzales
Strategic Activation Project Manager
Emily is a Northern California transplant, currently calling Southern California home. Her background in writing and editing comes from a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Studies from CSU Chico, and those skills were honed for years on the product content team at TripAdvisor Experiences (Viator). Here at Message Lab, she provides internal organization and project management to the Editorial and Strategic Activation Teams. When she’s not behind the computer, you’ll find her cooking up sweet treats in the kitchen.
Eric Xu
Content Strategist
Eric is an Associate Content Strategist on the Strategic Activation Team. He joined Message Lab after earning his master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Prior to that, he spent time in the disparate worlds of B2B enterprise software operations, local news and museum exhibit planning. Outside of work, he enjoys taking pictures, road-tripping and having strong opinions about coffee.
Isaac Sultan
Associate Content Strategist
Isaac is a recent graduate of Northwestern University where he studied journalism, marketing, and design. He has a passion for researching unfamiliar topics, asking hard questions, and helping craft stories about the world around him. Prior to joining Message Lab, he held roles as a brand strategist, editor, and local reporter. Outside of work, Isaac enjoys mentoring high school students to improve their writing, watching his favorite soccer team Liverpool, and finding new running routes.
Jim Impoco
Head of Editorial
Jim Impoco, Message Lab’s head of editorial, is the award-winning former editor-in -chief of Newsweek who returned the publication to print in 2014. Before that, he was executive editor at Thomson Reuters Digital, Sunday Business Editor at The New York Times, and Assistant Managing Editor at Fortune, where he edited among other stories the first article by Bethany McLean that helped expose the fraud at Enron. Jim, who started his journalism career as a Tokyo-based reporter for The Associated Press and U.S. News & World Report, has a masters in Chinese and Japanese History from the University of California at Berkeley.
Jeff Jensen
Director of Growth Marketing
Jeff is a digital marketer with a wide berth of skills. Working at various agencies he’s helped all sizes of companies, from mom and pop shops to Fortune 500 corporations, drive growth in traffic. With experience in SEO, analytics, content marketing and social media he uses the best tools at hand to help his clients be successful. When he’s not running marketing campaigns, Jeff enjoys spending time with his wife and three children.
Kendra Aquino
SEO Specialist
Kendra Aquino is an SEO and digital content specialist based in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. She has a multidisciplinary background in marketing and communications, digital media, writing and editing, website management, and magazine publishing. Kendra’s breadth of experience across the digital spectrum has fostered her passion for delivering meaningful content that resonates with readers and drives organic growth. Kendra has a dual Bachelor’s degree in English & Sociology from Cornell College. In her free time you can find her exploring the outdoors, writing, and spending time with her husband and three pets.
Laura Rich
Editorial Director
Laura Rich has spent her career focused on creating content and community for business audiences. She is a former New York Times freelance columnist, author of the Paul Allen biography “The Accidental Zillionaire,” and a former editor at Condé Nast Portfolio, Fast Company, Inc., The Industry Standard and others. As an entrepreneur, she has built three digital media and events brands, including Street Fight, a site for hyperlocal technology professionals.
Maury Boswell
Senior Project Manager
With a background in video editing and graphic design, Maury has spent twenty years managing creative output for a wide variety of B2C, B2B and nonprofit clients. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, teenage sons, Labradoodle and chickens.
Miguel Helft
Managing Editor
Miguel is an award-winning journalist who has covered the tech industry since the birth of the internet era at publications including The New York Times, Fortune, the Industry Standard and the San Jose Mercury News. Most recently, he was the Technology Editor at Forbes. Before becoming a journalist, Miguel was a software engineer at Sun Microsystems. He also worked as a professional mountain guide, leading climbing expeditions around the world.
Peter Burrows
Editorial Director
Peter covered many of Silicon Valley’s biggest stories and personalities for Business Week and Bloomberg News. Since 2015, he has written for publications including MIT Technology Review and Wired, while also helping a range of companies hone their content marketing efforts. Peter wrote Backfire: Carly Fiorina’s High-Stakes Battle for the Soul of Hewlett-Packard.
Rachel Kirkwood
Content Operations Project Manager
Rachel is a Content Operations Project Manager on the Operations Team. They come to Message Lab with experience in project management, communications and a history of collaborating alongside creative teams. From large companies like Airbnb, small grassroots organizations, and nonprofits like Year Up, Rachel has experience in a diverse range of environments focused on building community connections. Rachel practices painting and drawing outside of work in order to keep their creative spirit alive. They bring a balanced approach of creativity and experimentation mixed with tight organizational skills to each project.
Remy Cuesta
Senior Visual Designer
Remy has creative experience in a multitude of industries ranging from digital advertising, automotive, sports, architecture, tech and more. His many years of design experience that includes digital graphics, branding, advertising, motion graphics and editing led to work with substantial companies like Google and Univision that had to rethink how they standardize creativity on an everyday basis. Aside from creative, Remy is a gadget pro and runs a tech and gaming website doing consumer tech product reviews for some of the biggest brands. How far technology and design has come is what really fascinates him as he’s always eager to learn new things.
Samantha Ekeledo
Finance & Operations Manager
Samantha is a New York City transplant who specializes in finance and business operations. She has worked in events focused public relations, planning fashion shows for NYFW, celebrity product launches and movie premieres; all while maintaining the agency operations. Following PR, Samantha joined an international BioTech start-up to cultivate and develop its East Coast branches. After some astounding growth, she opened two new offices and was promoted to lead the Internal Communications Department.
Stephanie Cuenca
Visual Designer
Stephanie is very excited to be a part of the Message Lab team. She is based in Brooklyn, New York and holds a BFA in Graphic Design with a minor in Art History from SUNY Purchase. She’s worked primarily in the art and auction world for almost a decade, volunteering at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and holding various titles including Art Director, Senior Designer and Production Manager.
Taisha Heimberg
Head of Business Operations
Taisha is Head of Business Operations at Message Lab. She has spent more than a decade driving intelligent growth while leading finance, strategy, and operations. She spends much of her time focusing on the connection between finance, operations, and business strategy to build productive and scalable teams, improve company-wide efficiency, and improve the bottom line. When she’s not heads down on business strategy, Taisha enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and attending live music and spontaneous events.
Tyler Moss
Director, Strategy & Insights
Tyler Moss is the Director of Strategy and Insights for Message Lab. He is an audience engagement specialist, brand storyteller and magazine writer/editor with a decade of experience. At Message Lab, he pairs analytics with editorial instincts to draw deep content strategy insights. His freelance work has been published by Condé Nast Traveler, The Atlantic, New York, Outside and others. Tyler’s previous roles include editor-in-chief of Writer’s Digest magazine (where he remains editor-at-large), and content director for the travel tech startup Wanderu. He holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Will Sullivan
Chief Strategy Officer
Will is the Chief Strategy Officer for Message Lab. He has 17 years’ experience in brand positioning, content strategy and digital marketing. He directs Message Lab’s efforts to focus strategic narratives, identify and grow audiences, and align improvements to customer experience with measurable business outcomes. Previous positions include Vice President and Editorial Director at global communications firm Fleishman-Hillard, and Chief Editorial Strategist at cause-marketing agency Visceral. He earned his master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.