Dee’s always been the one who draws the pretty pictures. She’s also one of those rare graphic designers who still believes in grids, has actually set type by hand, starts to sweat when she smells rubber cement, and was one of the first designers in the Rocky Mountains to use a Mac — which wasn’t that long ago. 

Meanwhile, what comes easiest to me is singing, but I never quite figured out how to make a living at it. In college I majored in opera, which turned out to be a misguided degree. After being cast in four consecutive operas as the whore (town whore, wharf whore, village whore and just a whore whore) I decided to raise my voice through advertising and development. 

In 1984, Dee and I were having coffee after church, and she had this great big, holy cow idea to start an ad agency. Lord only knows where the idea came from, literally. If the truth be told, we were dumber than a post about what that really meant.  

We already had years of experience in the industry and were passionate about our craft, but didn’t have any preconceived ideas about running an agency. But what we did have was an over-exaggerated sense of accountability, a German work ethic that had been pounded into us our entire lives, and the no-nonsense gift of understatement that says, “If you don’t have something good to say, don’t say it at all.” 

All of that translated into a success we had never anticipated. I think it’s also because we weren’t on our own agenda. We wanted to make our clients look good, help them make a good living, and serve great causes in the process. 

Our clients at Heintz-Barton ranged from big dogs like U S West, the State of Colorado, USA Today and Pay-Per-View, to closely-held businesses like The Brown Palace Hotel, Cook’s Smart and the Kit Carson County Carousel. 

By 1993, when we sold the agency to two creative guys, we were a AAAA, top-ten ad agency in Colorado. We were at the top of our game but wanted nothing more than to go home and be full-time moms. And we did just that. 

I had twins, David and Katie. Our staff referred to my delivery as “the executive pregnancy.” Little did we know that Katie would be called to communications and marketing as well. As you’ve probably already noted, she is now the President of the agency and is continuing the legacy of “Uniting people for a common cause.” 

When my twins were in preschool and after I had put contact paper on every conceivable surface in my home, I knew it was time to exercise my gift of gab once again. 

In 1995, I took our big agency know-how and created a new kind of ad agency. An agency that works exclusively for nonprofit organizations. Peers in the industry thought that was nuts because “there’s no money in it.” But we were confident that we had been blessed with our success and that we were now called to use that success to the benefit of organizations and ministries that were underserved by the advertising and marketing industry.  

So here we are, decades later, and still a closely-held family business. But throughout the years, we’ve worked with a great cast of characters. Coworkers who were also called and contributed their gifts to the benefit of those we served. Faith-based clients who believed that when you’re advancing the Kingdom, your communications need to be an excellent representation of the Good News. 

We continue to be absolutely dedicated to serving in Cahoots with the good causes that capture our hearts. But now, our goal is to teach you all the nuts and bolts of how to communicate your nonprofit’s mission with excellence. To show you how to actually do the work.   

Putting this training programming together is some of the hardest work we’ve ever done, but in our opinion, it doesn’t get any better than this. 

We’re honored you’re here.