Over the past several years, Oakes Creative House has been blessed with gradual, but immense growth.
We’ve seen new clients, served recurring clients, attended networking events and expanded our services. But, one area of growth we’ve been particularly proud of in the last year is expanding our full-time team.
As my own family grows this spring (eek! 🎉), I thought it was about time you got to know the incredible Oakes Creative House team that will continue taking care of you while I’m behind the scenes.
Crystal Oakes
Owner, Creative Director, Graphic Designer, Strategic Coach
Yep! That’s me. I technically started the foundation of Oakes Creative House while I was in college, and oh boy what a joy it has been to watch it grow!
I’ve spent 5+ years in the corporate world working with business leaders, developing strategies and leading marketing teams so that I could apply the skills and lessons learned to small business owners.
I understand what you struggle with, what keeps you up at night and how you sometimes feel you didn’t get invited to the “Club” that knows everything about running a business… especially when it comes to marketing! That’s where we can make your life a lot simpler.
As your trusted guide, I assemble your “Dream Team” to join me in giving you professional looking, effective marketing that works and a brand you can be proud of. That’s what we call a Win-Win all around.
And, I’ll be taking maternity leave likely in March/April. But don’t worry, I plan to be here until then, and will be back and better than ever (just likely a bit more tired) later in the year. In the meantime, you are in the hands of my dream team, and I couldn’t be more confident in them.
Owner of Barrier Consulting, Virtual Assistant, Project Management
Evonne Barrier
Evonne is our virtual assistant and project manager. I met her years ago, and she knows the details of my business inside and out.
Evonne is actually a part-time member of our team, as she owns her own virtual assistant agency. But, she puts in full-time effort! I have never been short of amazed at how much Evonne can get done in a short amount of time. She is the master of efficiency, and the mastermind behind many of our business practices.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that Oakes Creative House would not be the same without Evonne. We certainly would not have grown as much as we have. She’s smart, funny, and has no shortage of advice. I’ve never tried, but I bet she’d make a great trivia partner – there’s no telling how she retains so much information!
If you’ve worked with us, you’ve worked with Evonne. She sees every project, makes sure we’re meeting deadlines, and attends many of our meetings. Evonne will be keeping things moving here at OCH, and it’ll be just as nothing has changed.
Mandolin Skipworth
Content Creator
Mandolin joined our team back in May of 2022 as our first full-time copywriter! She is a skilled writer and somehow manages to swap between social media content to newsletters to blogs to websites without hesitation.
While not a business owner herself, Mandolin joined the OCH team with a background in non-profits, previously working for a private university. She quickly jumped into client calls, took over our social media clients, and has grown into the OCH voice.
If you’ve been following us for awhile, you might know that I used to do some of the social and blog writing myself (with the help of some incredible freelancers). But, let me tell you – it felt SO good to put that in the hands of an experienced copywriter. Now, we’re able to take on more writing projects, helping small businesses like you grow your digital presence.
I’ve also appreciated Mandolin’s willingness to listen and communicate with our clients. She has a heart for helping others succeed, and has no shortage of empathy. It’s been a pleasure to have her on our team!
Elizabeth Potts
Junior Graphic Designer
Elizabeth is the newest member of our full-time team!
I am SO excited to have her here. She’s got a great eye for design and is a fantastic asset to our team. Her illustration abilities and creative mind are exactly what I needed on my team!
Elizabeth joined OCH looking to expand her marketing and design knowledge as well as share her creative talent with our clients. She enjoys exploring graphic design’s unlimited possibilities and showing others the beauty of design all around them.
Elizabeth puts her creativity to good use through her OCH client projects, by always learning new techniques and experimenting with different mediums at work and in her free time. Plus, I have the pleasure of teaching her web design! With her incredible talent, I can’t wait to see the sites that she creates for our clients.
And – she has big dreams – a designer after my own heart! One day, she may just run her own graphic design business!
Elizabeth has a fantastic heart and is a great addition to our creative team.
And there you have it! Our primary Oakes Creative House team! Of course, we couldn’t do all the amazing work we do without the help of our many freelancers, but if you work with OCH, you’re bound to work with the team above. I’m grateful for their talent and the ease I feel knowing the business is in good hands when I head out on maternity leave.
And hey, while I have you (thank you for reading this far!) – assemble a team. Whether you’re a one-person show or a growing team, invest in the people who help you. It’ll make all the difference when necessary personal-time comes up – and it will, trust me!
Cheers,
Crystal