Markstein

Crisis communications and branding formed the discipline Markstein was built on in 2003, and that grounding still informs how the agency handles complex, fast-moving challenges. Alongside that heritage, the agency has built out a dedicated focus on workforce issues: shaping career pathways, training pipelines, and recruitment and retention strategies for clients under pressure to find and keep talent.

Five practice areas organize the work: Brand and Creative, Content and Messaging, Digital Experiences, Public Affairs and Media, and Talent and Workforce Marketing. Messaging and voice, media relations, digital PR for SEO, and corporate communications sit within these groups, giving Markstein reach across both brand-building and public-facing communications. Two named offerings sit alongside the core practice areas — BrandLab, described as a fast-track branding engine, and TalentWise, a podcast built around workforce solutions.

Leadership pairs creative and operational roles: founder and CEO Danny Markstein, Chief Creative Officer Chris Hoke, Brand Director Angela Thomas, Creative Director Pat Daugherty, Director of Content Katie Doyle, Director of Digital Marketing Jo-Leigh Underwood, and Director of Project Operations Sarah English Fields. That mix reflects an agency that moves between two connected lines of work — telling a brand's story and building the pipelines that move people into careers — using its crisis and branding roots as the throughline between them.