About Us

Mark Baird

Founder

Previously, Mark formed and served as CEO of both The Marketing Resources Group, Inc. and BrandSource Marketing, LLC. For more than 25 years, Mark has served a diversified client base, offering a broad mix of results-oriented branding, co-marketing and advertising solutions. Mark has significant experience in all aspects of media advertising, marketing, merchandising and audio-video-film-print-multi-media production.

That said, Mark’s real expertise lies in working with retailers, buying groups and their supporting supplier partners to produce cohesive programs that generate results. In this context, some of Mark’s clients include BrandSource/Home Entertainment Source, Abbey Carpets, Armstrong, Wear-Dated, World Floor Covering Association, General Electric, Whirlpool, Maytag and Frigidaire. Throughout his career, Mark has developed a reputation for prompt response. In a competitive retail world, speed wins. Mark has long structured his business processes and conditioned those on his team to move at “retail speed.”

Mark’s most significant recent professional achievement has been the successful rollout and implementation of a national retailer group identity and branding campaign “BrandSource” for AVB, a large national buying group. Prior to Mark’s involvement with this group, each dealer operated and advertised under his or her store name. Now, the group is able to enjoy the benefits of unified group-wide national and local advertising under the BrandSource name. This campaign included all aspects of store identity/signage, national network and syndicated television, local/regional preprint, radio, television, in-store and direct mail campaigns.

Mark attended the University of Oregon in pursuit of a degree in Business Administration.

Tony King

Executive Vice President

Strategic Business Development

As the Vice President of Strategic Business Development for Torus Marketing, he is involved in many aspects of any brand evolution and the strategic integration of the brand promise into all aspects of any business.

Tony attended University of California at Davis and majored in psychology. After College, he made his living for a short while as a lead guitarist for a touring funk band. He has worked in all realms of customer service and service industries, from painting houses to hand-making bagels. Before he began working with Torus Marketing, he co-founded a regional literary magazine. Like most entrepreneurs, he wore several hats and served as an editor in chief, distribution manager, designer and ad salesman.

Kathryn Baird

Director Integrated Media Strategy

This media mogul has made the difference on everything from the launch of DirectTV to the turnaround of Tahiti Tourism. Kathryn has led the strategic media planning and buying process for countless clients, from launching multi-million dollar national buys to executing inspired, grass-roots campaigns. And of course, she owns the process on marketing to that key demographic: women.

Kathryn asks the smart questions of her team and her clients, derived from research and always aimed at results and growth. She developes her plans based on that one key nugget that will shape the over – arching media strategy like no other, and because of it she reaches the desired target with laser beam precision.

Avery King

Production Manager

Avery is the piece of the production puzzle that holds it all together. His working knowledge of production and design needs which enables him to allocate resources internally and guide projects through the production cycle. He also applies critical thinking and creative problem solving to the needs of new and prospective clients on a regular basis.

In order to be successful as a Production Manager, you need wear many hats and Avery’s past work experience clearly shows that he’s worn the hats from being a freelance artist to a book buyer to an assistant beer brewer to a coffee shop barista. Avery is most proud of the work he has done on the BrandSource Tabloid Program. He began at a time when it was embarking on significant growth as well as changes, and he was instrumental in its success. He takes pride in supporting the many people who still make that program a success as it continues to evolve today.

Avery attended the University of California, Berkeley where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. In his spare time, he enjoys playing with his kids, reading, writing, drawing, painting, making beer, drinking beer and visiting with friends old and new (increasingly old). You can find him on LinkedIn.

Jim Nelson

Director, Sales

Jim’s career in advertising spans two decades. His knowledge of marketing, media advertising, merchandising and audio-video-film-print-multi-media sales and production has proven invaluable to independent retailers who’ve turned to BrandSource Marketing for their advertising needs. Jim is noted among his clients for consistently providing excellent customer service. He is the recipient of 3 awards in this regard. Jim has been a BrandSource/AVB Advertising Executive since 1994.

In all relationships, including those with our clients, vendors and fellow employees, Jim adheres to the following mantra by Morihei Ueshiba: “Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment.”

Jim’s most proud of exceeding his clients’ expectations on a daily basis. He is also proud of his contributions to the BrandSource members in terms of administering hundreds of millions of “Free-Standing Inserts” via the Tabloid Program. He receives much gratification by helping BrandSource members succeed, and to achieve brand awareness, in a wide variety of markets across the U.S.

A native of Seattle, Washington Jim currently resides in Sacramento, California where he practices Tai Chi and Aikido (martial arts) in his spare time. He also enjoys fishing and hunting with Hermit the Vizsla.

Joette Lein

Website Sales

Joette raises the bar when it comes to women in business. A former business owner, she excelled in developing a new local brand through marketing and traditional advertising campaigns while establishing a high standard in customer service. Joette is well-versed in sales, advertising, digital media and customer service. As BrandSource Marketing’s Member Service Specialist, Joette focuses on moving the advertising initiate from traditional advertising to digital media through websites, online advertising campaigns, banner advertising and email marketing to reach today’s consumers.

Joette attended Kaplan University, graduating with a Bachelor of the Arts in Business Management.

Brian Wattier

Resource Manager

Brian is the “Go To” guy at BrandSource Marketing. He’s literally touched every department from Promotions to Customer Service to the Website Division and more. This is why he is such a unique and invaluable member of the BrandSource Marketing team. Brian’s specialty and passion is working with clients on their eCommerce websites. He has been recognized by BrandSource members as someone who delivers unparalleled customer service, and it shows daily in his dealings with members and clients. In his spare time Brian enjoys outdoor activities like: hiking, surfing, biking and skiing.

Jocelyn Parker

Customer Service / Operations

One of BrandSource Marketing’s newest team members, Jocelyn is a “Jill of all Trades” when it comes to her role as Account Executive; this gal can do it all! In her last position as an Associate Broker with Brown & Brown, Inc. she handled new business and the renewal of professional liability policies. Her responsibilities also included managing quality control; taking charge of policies and procedures, quarterly audits, and the reporting of any discrepancies. Jocelyn’s background in retail makes her extremely versatile. Her past experience includes: visual merchandising, training, recruiting, audits and contesting/promotions. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her friends, boating and wine tasting.

Sherry Barnes

Catalog Personnel

Before joining BrandSource Marketing, Sherry worked at a major repair facility for seven years. It is there that she began her education of appliances and electronics. She handled appliance and electronic repair requests and dealings with manufacturers on a daily basis. Other skills also include: accounting, human resources/benefits and office management. Currently, Sherry plays an integral role within BrandSource Marketing’s Website Division by spearheading the day-to-day management of the product catalogs.

In her spare time, Sherry enjoys the outdoors whether it be via scuba diving, quad riding or riding her cool motorcycle.

Jamie Cola-Bersamina

Designer

Art and design have always been a part of Jamie’s world; it’s engrained in her. So, it was no surprise that she ended up one of the designers at BrandSource Marketing where she specializes in direct mail and the BrandSource Tabloid Program.

Jamie has won local awards for her art work for the 2008 and 2009 El Dorado County Banners on Parade. Jamie attended American River College and received an Associate of the Arts Degree in Art New Media. Jamie spends her spare time outdoors rock climbing, camping, fishing, archery and gardening. She also enjoys tribal fusion dance, costume design and construction, painting, jewelry-making and spending time with her two dogs.

Lance Copeland

Lead Motion Developer

Lance has been a video editor, with a focus in animation and motion graphics for the past 16 years. His role as Lead Motion Designer is vital to the success of BrandSource Marketing’s 360 degree approach to marketing. Having served as a Sergeant in the US Army and spent nearly three years in the Republic of Panama, Lance adapts well to any situation. He attended the Southern Oregon University where he studied Fine Art and Computer Science. Lance is an accomplished painter, a bronze sculptor and a musician. He is also a graduate of the Defense Language Institute.

David Freerksen

Lead Developer

Born and raised in Texas, David comes to BrandSource Marketing’s Developer Team with the skills necessary to help bring this team to the next level. He specializes in jQuery, PHP and Codeigniter. David attended the Art Institute of Dallas and some of his clients include: Forde, Adobe and Clear Capital. An infantry mortar man in the United States Marine Corps., David’s proudest accomplishment to date has been serving his country. In his spare time, David goes to the gym, writes code and watches Netflix.

Ryan Grow

PHP, Lead Ecommerce Developer

Ryan started working with web design and hosting in 2001 while employed at EarthLink. He spent most of his time learning different web languages and mastering the basics. He then moved on to work at Apple for the next decade polishing and refining his skills. He spent his off- hours doing some freelance work on interesting PHP projects. Ryan joined BrandSource Marketing in 2009 and is currently the “Go To” guy for all Ecommerce projects. His weekends are spent in his car either auto crossing or at a track day.

Stephanie Jackson

Designer

Before joining Brandsource Marketing’s Design Team, Stephanie was working the night shift at the Pennysaver; her first full-time design job out of college. She always strives to improve on her artistic skills including: photography, web design, print design and illustration. When Stephanie isn’t busy creating, she enjoys going to concerts, movies and participating in outdoor sports like snowboarding and rock climbing.

John Ledyard

DBA (Database Adminstrator)

Prior to working at BrandSource Marketing, John has worked in the IT field for over 16 years. He started as a PC Analyst for California Trucking Association (CTA), and then became a Network Administrator. He was then promoted to MIS Manager overseeing all IT operations for the company. He engineered and designed a new network infrastructure from wiring to the replacement of all the network switches. While there he created and implemented a 5 year plan for servers, creating great efficiencies.

He took their membership application that was built on COBOL and converted it to a relational database running on a Windows platform. He oversaw and helped create a web based application that was integrated into the Membership Database. This was used for the sales staff to look up membership information and submit notes while traveling.

After leaving CTA after 9 years, John started his own consulting company at which time worked installing a Membership Application based on ASP.net and the database Microsoft SQL Server. He customized and integrated the websites and database to meet customer needs. During this time he received many referrals for complex customization of databases from a reseller of a Membership Application consultancy company.

John has installed, updated and customized countless Membership databases for 30 plus business in the Northern California region. Some customizations included the custom scripts, Stored Procedures and automation updates to website databases.

Delcie Ledyard

Customer Service Representative

Delcie comes to BrandSource Marketing with 20 years experience in providing customer service to a variety of industries including: trucking, telecommunications, medical, automotive, and retail. Along with her experience in customer service she also has a background in accounting, human resources, management and sales. Delcie currently heads up BrandSource Marketing’s Rebate Program in addition to providing unparalleled customer service to BrandSource members.

Delcie obtained a certificate in Management from California State University Sacramento with an emphasis in Human Resources. She is also working toward a Bachelor of Arts degree for Spanish and international development. She is fluent in Italian and Spanish and loves to travel logging Italy, Switzerland, France, Puerto Rico and Mexico to her list of places she’s visited.

Jeff McKenzie

.Net, PHP Developer

Before Jeff joined the BrandSource Marketing Developer Team he worked as Media Manager for the Placer Valley Tourism handling all web and print design. In addition to tackling IT tasks, he also developed custom software to suit the company’s business needs. Jeff’s past work experience as a Software Design Engineer had him developing mobile data and gaming applications, creating features of platform products and working with 3rd party development efforts to ensure streamline integration with the companies’ technologies. He also worked closely with Business Development and QA in order to support and develop web-based platform and field service products. Jeff specializes in mobile application development, 3D graphics and animation.

Emily Rangel

Designer

Emily has been a welcome addition to the BrandSource Marketing Design Team. Prior to joining BrandSource Marketing, Emily worked as Senior Designer at Morris Multimedia Inc., where she designed magazine covers and logos and created ads for businesses in the Northern California area. She also assisted in prepress work, and created flash banners and ads for the company’s website. Some of Emily’s clients include: San Joaquin County WorkNet, Stevenot Winery, BLD Big League Dreams – Manteca, LULAC – League of United Latin American Citizens and Manteca CVB.

Emily is proud of all of her professional designs that she has created, big or small, but the ones she is most proud of are the drawings that hang on her grandmother’s refrigerator – the self portraits she’s made for her family and the invitations/illustrations she designs for her friends. Emily attended both The Art Institute of California – Orange County and San Joaquin Delta College focusing on Graphic Design. In her spare time, she enjoys going to concerts, playing video games, hanging out with friends and family, going shopping, drawing and playing soccer.

Peter Rozental

Director, New Media

With a background in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and backend server automation client/server applications, Peter brings with him the knowledge and skills required of those on the BrandSource Marketing Developer Team. A software developer with emphasis on web development, he has developed, deployed and maintained network infrastructure to support client applications in a hosting environment. Peter’s expertise lies in integration and optimization of applications to maximize performance and availability. He attended the University of California, Davis and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science.

San Saetern

Administrator/IT Manager

San was born in Thailand, moved to the United States in 1992 and now lives in Sacramento. Prior to coming to BrandSource Marketing, he worked for California State University Sacramento’s school newspaper, “The State Hornet” and the California State Water Board. San’s specializes in IT, accounting and office management. He’s been working for BrandSource Marketing since 2007 and is a valued “jack of all trades” handling all IT requests that come his way in addition to daily administrative tasks and office management. San attended California State University, Sacramento and received a Bachelor of Sciences in Business Administration. In his spare time San likes to hang out with his son, sleep and then do some more work.

Mona Lisa Sana

Designer

Mona’s work as Graphic Designer at BrandSource Marketing has been integral for our clients and as well as our agency. She attended the University of California at Davis studying Design. In her spare time Mona likes to play tennis and video games.

Khasi Solomon

Rebate Processor

Khasi left the aromatic atmosphere of Starbucks to join BrandSource Marketing’s Rebate Team. Gone are the days of mixing up lattes and mochas, now she’s all about the money. Rebates that is. Khasi’s exceptional customer service skills and attention to detail made her a perfect fit for this position and her ability to multi-task and positive attitude make her a valued team player. In her free time, Khasi likes to read and work on her drawing skills.