Timmothy Merath

Took over for our retiring CFO after years of working together on the partners team. A blended role of operations and financial management.

• Manages corporate financial operations — monthly reporting, cash flow, forecasting, debt service, banking relationships, corporate governance and equity management, benefits and 401(k) administration, insurance, and major client procurement systems.
• Currently building Epic Traffic Control (ETC) — a bespoke, AI-assisted traffic management application replacing a legacy system that had hit its limits.
• Wrote EPIC's first AI policy in September 2023 and the full governance framework in February 2024—including legal and privacy vetting for every AI tool the agency considers.

Led day-to-day operations of a growing creative agency through a decade of significant change — a full leadership transition, a pandemic, and sustained growth from 31 to 55 people. Oversaw operations (including traffic management), project management, web development, video/motion/photography, and IT/technology.

• Built a mature organizational structure from a flat agency model — defined leadership roles, reporting lines, and the corporate governance infrastructure to support it: shareholder governance, annual reporting, equity management.
• Developed the agency's performance reporting and analytics infrastructure — measuring staff, department, client, and agency-level performance and trends. Structured department supervisor reporting to give leadership the context behind the numbers, and worked with the CFO to connect operational data to financial outcomes.
• Created agency-wide workflows and SOPs across departments, built to make the work easier, not to add process.
• Led implementation of ChatGPT and Claude across the agency and formed the AI Steering Committee.
• Managed through a complete leadership transition in 2019 and full partner restructuring — then navigated the pandemic, including legal and government matters, without a loss year.
• Carried direct client relationships throughout — serving as a working account manager alongside executive responsibilities.

Led a growing creative department spanning design and web through a period of significant technological change — including the agency's final transition away from physical media to web-based delivery. Remained hands-on across design, web development, and video production and direction. Served as account lead and strategist for clients in specialized markets. Bridged the gap between partners and creative production, and stayed involved in operational work at both the department and company level.

Managed a growing creative department while remaining active in production — designing and building websites, print and brand work, and 2D and 3D animation. Led the implementation of Workamajig as the agency's core management platform, replacing a bespoke legacy system. Created operational templates and processes to support how the department ran.