Meet Our NBMS Speakers

Annika Toernqvist has extensive experience in the web- and media industry as digital director, executive producer, product manager, online manager and GM at start-ups as well as Fortune 500 companies. During Annika’s 5 years at SMI she has helped grow the online traffic across the board by making sure the team has the best tools, continuous access to online metrics and deep social media knowledge that is required for a modern media company to survive. The team has received multiple awards such as CNPA Online Excellence, Outstanding News Coverage Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for PD’s online and print coverage of the Tubbs fire 2017. Before SMI, Annika worked for the San Francisco Chronicle between 2007 and 2015, most recently as executive producer and general manager of SFGate.com. She was responsible for content and traffic at The Gate, the fifth-largest newspaper website in the country with 170 million page views monthly.

Brandt started his company in the late nineties as a side project while working at a local winery and went full-time in 2002 with a focus on branding, packaging and design. In 2009 he saw the need to add research to the services offered and Brandt’s been learning how to use this information to develop brand building strategies ever since. Fast forward to today and Brandt and his partners lead a team of Sonoma County’s finest that rely heavily on the discovery phase of every project to make sure TIV Branding’s clients are strategic in all things and have a clear focus on how to build their brands.

Chris is a long time entrepreneur and business owner. After spending over a decade working with clients on their websites and marketing efforts, Chris began his own apparel company, Coastal Wilderness, a West Coast outdoor lifestyle apparel brand. To continue to hone his digital skills, Chris started Coastal Wilderness in early 2019. Coastal Wilderness quickly grew from a side project to a full-time company. Chris now continues to build the Coastal Wilderness brand by leveraging marketing efforts through social media, email funnels, and online advertising.

Chuck has transformed teams through organizational effectiveness, change management, strategic planning and professional development initiatives. His success reflects his commitment to leading through untraditional planning processes, managing relationships, improving organizational behavior and driving results. Formerly a senior human resources manager at Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies, Chuck managed major strategic and human resource projects across multiple geographic locations and cross-functional departments. In 2003, Chuck launched IMS Consulting and IMS TrackMeet™, management consulting firms focused on business management and collaborative technologies. In 2009, Chuck merged his business into Leap Solutions Group, Inc., formalizing a business partnership with Scott Ormerod started in 2004.

Colt specializes in high-impact messaging and market-disrupting marketing strategies.  He has facilitated triple digit growth for a broad spectrum of companies leveraging highly cost-efficient “lightning strike” and “gorilla” techniques.  Prior to hanging his shingle for ScrappyAF, he helped take a young startup company in Cincinnati to unicorn status in under 24 months.  Colt doesn’t think inside or outside the box, he prefers to blow up the box – he likes explosions.  His mastery of purpose-based messaging has helped his clients achieve massive market visibility and extraordinary levels of employee loyalty and commitment. 

Dina Kelly is a Digital Media Strategist with Sonoma Media Investments (SMI), working with businesses of all sizes on the strategy, development, and execution of their local and regional digital marketing campaigns. Dina has been working in digital media for almost 20 years, beginning before the dot-com bust of 2001. Prior to coming to SMI, she worked for ESPN.com/Disney for 15 years within their digital division. After many years of seeing what it takes to generate strong results for advertisers, Dina approaches digital marketing with a focus on building effective assets that meet her client’s needs and help them accomplish their business goals.

Hector Velazquez, President CEO for Nexo Media. Established an online radio station LatinX Radio and LatinX The Hub. It’s a business center where business advising, outreach and marketing for businesses that want to expand their reach to the Latino community and serving the Latino community with business needs. I am a Windsor resident but grew up in Napa. I have six kids, a wonderful wife that encourages me to make the best of each day. My team and I specialize in photo and video production, animations, social media content and creative in English and Spanish.

José C. del Castillo is the Chief Digital Revenue Officer of Sonoma Media Investments (SMI), where he is responsible for expanding revenue from the company’s digital products, as well as offsite products and services. SMI produces 5 publications and associated websites, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Press Democrat. Aside from heading up the digital advertising on the company owned and operated websites and newsletters, José has led the expansion of client services to include programmatic digital display advertising, sponsored content creation and amplification, targeted email, video, and social marketing. SMI now handles the digital media planning, buying, and ad creation for many of Sonoma County’s top businesses. Prior to coming to SMI, José served as director of digital sales at SFGate.com and North Bay sales manager for the San Francisco Chronicle. He also was owner, publisher and editor of El Mensajero, the largest Spanish-language weekly newspaper in the Bay Area. He operated the San Francisco newspaper for 11 years until he sold the publication in 2004. He then founded SpendLocally.com, an online marketplace of local merchants, where he learned about operating an under-funded digital startup. José holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, with an Advertising specialty, from Rutgers University.

Karleen Arnink-Pate is the Chief Revenue Officer for Sonoma Media Investments. Previously she served as the Vice President of Strategic Revenue at the San Francisco Chronicle and sfgate.com/Hearst, and prior to that worked in the Hawaii and Nevada markets as Advertising Director for Gannett Company (publishers of USA Today and over 100 Print, Digital, Television brands nationwide).

Recognized as an industry leader, Karleen is a national Folio “Top Women in Media 2019” honoree, where she was featured in the Change Maker category as “a woman who has successfully altered the course of their brand or the industry for the better.” With an innovative and creative approach, she has dedicated her extensive career, to funding local journalism and helping businesses thrive.

Kerry Rego is a social media trainer, technology consultant, author, and speaker working with individuals, businesses, government, and nonprofits since 2006. She educates people, implements tools, and trains staff on new media.  Kerry is a lecturer at Sonoma State University and adjunct faculty at Santa Rosa Junior College. She’s a recipient of the North Bay Business Journal’s 2011 “Forty Under 40 Award” and the author of The Social Media Starter Kit and What You Don’t Know About Social Media CAN Hurt You: Take Control of Your Online Reputation.

Even before he realized it, Matt has always been a marketer. He grew up as a skateboarder, traveling extensively while capturing photos, videos, and creating content to promote projects, products, and sponsors. Over the years, he’s translated that passion into a career working in various capacities from consultant and webmaster, to digital marketing manager and marketing director for national brands. Matt believes that growth is inevitable through quality and consistency. He focuses on generating long-term, sustainable marketing results through innovative messaging and visually engaging content.

Natalia is the owner and Director of Client Services for Lemonstrike Creative Studios. A marketer by trade and personality, her career spans several industries including radio broadcasting, edtech, cannabis, and working with creative & digital marketing agencies. She launched Lemonstrike in 2018 to support small businesses, locally and nationwide, in an effort to maximize their branding and marketing potential. Natalia loves travel, music, and tacos, and is a proud fur-mom to Henry and Pavel.

With over 25+ years in the marketing, PR, music, and entertainment industries, Roy is an educator and publicist for hire. He began his career at SF-based audio pioneers, Monster Products (Beats Headphones). As a musician and creative pro with an MBA, Roy was later recruited by the groundbreaking label, Windham Hill Records/A&M and served 11 years in numerous roles, most recently as Vice President of Marketing. After an acquisition by BMG/Sony Music, Roy moved to Capitol/EMI/Virgin Entertainment in Los Angeles as VP of Marketing. He lectures regularly at universities in the U.S. and abroad and chairs the business department at SRJC where he enjoys being a coach to the next generation of marketing professionals.

Sarah’s company, Provaro Marketing, helps local small businesses grow through custom local digital marketing strategies. As an industry expert with 20 years of experience in marketing, both in multimillion-dollar corporations and as the founder of Provaro, Sarah has a keen understanding of the value of a well-executed marketing campaign. Sarah and her team work to support small, local businesses to maximize their marketing dollars. When not working, Sarah spends her free time exploring the outdoors with her husband and daughter.

Scott launched Leap Solutions in 1998 to share and inspire creative, innovative business solutions based on organizational values, vision and mission. With more than 30 years of experience in people management, coaching, organizational development and human resources, Scott incorporates individualism, diversity and growth into organizations’ employee, staff, and management development programs. His vast background includes facilities management, risk management, administration, finance, nonprofits and higher education. Scott earned his masters of business administration in management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Sherry Huss is Co-founder of Maker Faire and a major advocate of “all things maker” in the global community. A former Vice President of Maker Media, her vision and passion have helped spark the maker movement. Sherry has recently joined The Freeman Company team as Innovator-in-Residence. She is a founding member of LIVE Labs Studio, focusing on the future of LIVE, and is part of the Decameron Row creative team. She has over 30 years of technology marketing, management and event experience at MediaLive International, Key3Media, Ziff-Davis and Softbank. Locally she focuses on food, education and making, and is on the board of Sonoma Family Meal.

Sofia Englund is a Swedish-born writer, editor and film producer. Her interest in culture and communications has taken her around the world: Stockholm, Paris, London, Barcelona, New York and San Francisco. She has previously lent her talents to British think tank The Centre for Social Justice, nonprofit EARTH University, global culture and current affairs publication Port Magazine, and the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce San Francisco/Silicon Valley. Currently, in addition to her Sonoma Magazine online editorship, Sofia collaborates with filmmaker Joshua Dylan Mellars on film and TV projects, which include Emmy-nominated arthouse film “Shakespeare in the Shadows,” now airing on PBS stations nationwide.

Stormy Knight began Net101.com in 1995 as a training company for small businesses and individuals interested in getting “up to speed” on using the internet, In 1997 she started bargaintravel.com and worked on ranking BargainTravel well in the highly competitive travel sector. As BargainTravel grew, she continued to work for a shortlist of clients from that time to the present, assisting them in their websites and online marketing. In 2011, she sold BargainTravel to return to consulting, adding marketing technology opportunities for small business to her consulting and training practice.

Passionate, energetic, friendly and fun – just a few words that describe the dynamic personality that is Sue Bonzell. With years of experience in radio, graphic design, marketing and hospitality, Sue brings enthusiasm, problem solving and creativity to every project. A visionary for positivity, Sue is motivated by helping others elevate themselves and their businesses for huge success. She is the best-selling author of The Respect Experiment and a contributing author of the international best seller, Wild and Wise Women Around the World. Sue is a judge for the San Francisco Chronicle Competition, enjoys photography, golf, wine, cooking and entertaining, yoga and meditation.