Mixed handed
About
From Hawaii
to the Mainland
Mixed Handed began in 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Our founder, Rob, worked to help local businesses succeed for two years before moving back to the Mainland and settling in Eugene, Oregon.
We still work with some of those original clients, but since then our client list has grown to include clients all across the United States!
Building Brands That Break Boundaries
Our Mission
For us, helping our clients market and grow their businesses is the real goal. We understand that we can only thrive if you do, and that's why we work hard to develop comprehensive strategies and stunning brands.
Meet the
Marketing Dream Team
Our team is small but growing! Get to know the minds behind the Mixed Handed team down below.
Rob Reilly
Chief poncho wearer
After graduating with a degree in design and advertising from Iowa State, Rob left his homeland of Iowa for the PNW, landing first in an advertising role at The Seattle Weekly. From there he worked in higher education, advising college media at the University of Hawaii, then at the University of Oregon, until it finally came time to build the unique, client-focused creative branding and marketing company he’d always dreamed of.
In March of 2019, that dream became reality and Mixed Handed Branding was born! Rob loves generating creative, results-driven solutions for businesses that are ready to grow and then seeing how our work at MHB helps them realize that growth, continuing to collaborate with clients as their brands evolve. In our sweet little office sitcom, you might call Rob “The Wisecracker”, always tossing a bit of humor into meetings and our daily routine. When he’s not here being the wisecracking “Chief Poncho Wearer”, he’s outside hiking, running, disc-golfing, body surfing, and generally keeping things active.
kylie jess
creative director
In 2015, Kylie made her way down from her hometown of Portland to study Art at the University of Oregon, which she immediately followed up with three years of professional design and web development experience before landing at MHB.
Now our Creative Director and a highly-skilled graphic designer, Kylie specializes in brand development and custom web design. Her passion for branding lies in taking each client’s goals and ideas and using them to generate a professional, cohesive, powerful aesthetic that elevates their brand’s identity across all platforms.
Her other official title here at MHB is “The Deadpan Snarker”, and we’re happy we can count on her to deliver sarcastic, sometimes cynical but always clever little asides to keep us on track. When she’s not here directing and snarking us to our goals, she’s at the river rockhounding with her adorable dogs, attending local shows, and generally arts-and-crafts-ing her way through life.
Lazaro Llanes
Strategist
Hailing from Miami, Laz came to work with Mixed Handed by way of electricity. That is to say, he worked for years as a licensed electrician, knowing it wasn’t truly his calling, until one day a light bulb turned on – he was meant for marketing! So, he studied up, re-skilled, and now he’s here at MHB lighting up our clients’ social media campaigns like a pro everyday.
What you’d call a “big picture guy”, Laz also plays a substantial role in designing each brand’s overall marketing strategy and loves thinking up new, innovative ways to reach clients’ target audiences. He’s our in-house “Goofball” with plenty of “Wisecracker” tendencies to boot, and that’s because what he loves most is entertaining people – our clients’ customers most importantly! When he’s not doing that, you might find him out in the world tackling creative projects, trying on new hobbies, and making people laugh.
BEN cadd
SEARCH MARKETING MANAGER
Having worked for years as an SEO specialist in a remote position, Ben decided it was time to rejoin society and dive into the exciting world of real-life coworkers and in-office antics – and we are so glad he did. As our SEM/SEO manager, he has taken MHB’s marketing capabilities to a new level. This is not only because of his vast knowledge of the complicated mechanics of SEO practices, but because he truly loves learning about our clients’ businesses and helping them realize their ultimate brand vision.
On the surface, you might consider him “The Dork” of our little MHB sitcom, but we suspect he’s secretly “The Sage”, just waiting for the perfect day to dispense of his wisdom. Until that fine day comes, he’ll be spending his free time playing the guitar and singing his original songs, working on his (probably sage-like) novel, and occasionally visiting his hometown of Portland.
TIM RUSSELL
GRAPHIC DeSIGNER & print boss
One of our few Eugene natives, Tim began his marketing journey with a local family-owned business, where he worked his way up from farm grunt to Director of Marketing.
In 2022, he returned to college to complete a graphic design degree, in service of his true passion: visual communication. Much of his 20 year marketing career has focused on printed materials, including everything from bumper stickers to full scale catalogs with mailings in the millions, mostly geared toward generating sales and conversions.
Now at MHB, Tim loves working with our varied client roster, finding creative ways to elevate each unique brand with attractive, innovative, accessible designs that effectively communicate their intended message. Being a wheel-throwing ceramicist and a voracious lover (and critic?) of music, art, and global cuisine, we feel he’s earned his title as “The Snob” in our office sitcom, but like a lovable snob – exactly the breed of snob you want as your brand’s designer.
HOPE MESSNER
graphic designer & Photographer
Originally from Coos Bay, OR and newly graduated from Oregon State’s graphic design program, Hope brings a fresh artistic perspective to our team at MHB. Not only is she specialized in web design, but in photography as well. In fact, outside of work you’d struggle to find her without a camera in her hands. She harbors a deep appreciation for traditional film aesthetics and the most contemporary trends in digital photography, both informing her daily design work for our clients.
Also holding a great appreciation for small businesses and entrepreneurs, what Hope loves most about working at MHB is creating unique, highly tailored designs that effectively represent each of our clients’ brands and help them reach their potential. She’s proudly our sitcom’s “Näive Optimist”, always focused on the positive and looking for the silver lining of difficult situations – like when we run out of gummy bears.
Liz yandel
copywriter
Originally from Chicago, Lizabeth completed a graduate degree in creative writing at University of California-Irvine before returning to Oregon and deciding her years of freelance copywriting experience would be better utilized in a collaborative, creative team environment – enter Mixed Handed Branding.
A widely published poet, Lizabeth is a total nerd about creating concise, image-driven copy that surprises the reader while always staying accessible, inviting, and true to the unique voice of every brand. She loves generating high-quality content that captivates the target audience while highlighting each business’s strengths and personality, then watching that content translate into real, organic growth.
As nerdy as she may be about things like grammar and syntax, she serves as “The Trickster” in our little sitcom, always looking to make situations more amusing – often at her own peril! When not in the office, Lizabeth is either working on her novel, writing a new song on her guitar, or doing the sound design for her and her husband’s latest independent film.
YEATS GOODWIN
WEB DEVELOPER
Yeats landed a job as a Web Developer right out of college and has been honing his specialization in website development and creating custom coding solutions ever since. These impressive technical skills are only strengthened by his artistic sensibilities, which manifest these days in writing and performing of electronic, punk, and experimental music around South Florida, where he lives.
He says it’s hot there, but he’s also “The Eccentric” of our sitcom experiment, so we can’t be certain if he means literally, figuratively, or both. More importantly, what Yeats loves most about his work is capturing the essence of a brand and effectively bringing that to life through a web experience.
BEN ACkerman
summer '24 intern
As our Summer 2024 intern, Ben A. (Beignet!) came to MHB by way of the graphic design program at Lane Community College. While most of his experience thus far has been in the design and layout of printed materials, his interest in web design continues to grow. Ben loves finding the most engaging ways to visualize information for our clients and the inspiration he takes from working in a collaborative environment of fellow creatives.
He’s currently “The Precocious” (which, in sitcom terms, is the young, cute, innocent one) but he is working diligently to evolve his character into “The Goofball” – a noble goal, we think. When he’s not here designing, you’ll find him out exploring Oregon’s wilderness, or reading a great book, or sketching up a new comic idea. While we’ll miss him, we’re all very excited for his next grand adventure at Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand where he’ll continue his design education next year!
