The Team

Doug Sappington

Founder / Operations and Sales

Doug has held many titles during his storied career: COO, Vice-President, Director of Operations, and National Sales Manager, just to name a few. Entrepreneurism is in his blood, having been involved in building several successful organizations from the ground up before founding Brand Neue Company. He has extensive experience working in consumer goods, telecommunications, business-to-business, business-to-consumer, retail, financial, and education.

Doug understands the importance of having the right product/service, the right people and culture, and the right plan. He focuses on efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, profitability, team building, and exceptional client service. He values honest communication, the ability to recover from deficits, making good decisions quickly, and delivering results. He is a tireless learner, constantly working to find new ways of doing things and his mantra is Do. Better. Always.

A Birmingham native, his deep roots in the community help him build relationships with partners and vendors that help save clients time, reduce costs, and improve outcomes. Doug has a degree in Accounting from Auburn University and is a Member Beta Alpha Psi National Accounting Honorary.

Roger Ellenburg

Founder / Creative

With more than four decades in the industry, Roger is an experienced and enthusiastic brand storyteller. He believes it is crucial to humanize a company and make it more relatable and memorable. In a world saturated with products and services, Roger knows a compelling story distinguishes a brand from its competitors by creating an emotional connection with consumers. He believes people make decisions with their hearts — not their heads — and when we connect emotionally with the consumers, we speak the “decision language.”

Before founding Brand Neue, Roger worked in the advertising agency and corporate in-house spaces. He credits his experience on the client side (in-house) with giving him a more intimate understanding of what it takes to build successful client-agency relationships.

Roger has extensive experience in healthcare, financial, telecommunications, and pet-related industries and specializes in branding, employment branding, and internal communications.

He has worked with many well-known brands including Mars Petcare, Mars Inc., Royal Canin, Verizon Wireless, Regions Bank, Chick-fil-A, National Veterinary Associates, Chesters International, Royal Cup Coffee & Tea, Landing, and Southern Living/Southern Progress. He has won hundreds of ADDY Awards, including Special Judges Awards, and Telly Awards.

Aaron Gresham

Executive Creative Director

Aaron Gresham is a marketing executive with 20-plus years of experience building, advising, and leading some of the world’s most well-loved artists and brands. He is one of the most decorated creative directors in the South: three-time winner of the American Advertising Foundation (AAF) Creative Director of the Year, nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards, and earned more than 140 ADDY Awards. Aaron’s contributions to the creative community in Alabama earned him Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC) Outstanding Service Award.

His work has been featured in One Show, Communication Arts, HOW, and Logo Lounge. A multi-disciplinary creative with a strong background in branding, visual design systems, and positioning, Aaron uses his wealth of professional experience in digital marketing, consumer behavior, and organizational design to create work that challenges convention and embraces the new.

He has created brands and campaigns for many Fortune 500 companies including Apple, Google, Mercedes Benz, Verizon Wireless, and Valvoline. On a state and local level, he has developed brands and campaigns for Alabama Power, We Teach Alabama, Alabama Gulf Seafood, Made in Alabama, EdFarm, IN Birmingham, and the BHM brand. In the music world, Aaron has created multi-platform art including albums, posters, merch, and videos for bands like Lady Gaga, Vampire Weekend, St Paul and The Broken Bones, Eric Clapton, Mavis Staples, Dr. John, and Lonnie Holley.

Aaron is an active mentor and speaker and leads workshops across the country.

Joey Graddy

Partner / Creative

With nearly 25 years of experience, Joey is a national award-winning creative director passionate about building strategic, powerful brands that captivate, engage, and deepen customer loyalty.

Joey began his career in design at o2ideas. He quickly rose from intern to Senior Art Director serving as the creative design lead for a vast array of clients and industries. From working on brand creation for startups to million-dollar brand activations for Verizon Wireless, Joey built a strong business acumen and a deep understanding of brand strategy during his eleven-year tenure. Notable clients include Honda, Books-A-Million, Chester’s Chicken, Alabama State University, and a host of grocery store brands including Bruno’s, GIANT, Food World, BI-LO, and Stop & Shop.

In 2013, Joey became the third partner in an emerging creative agency, Brand Neue Company. At Brand Neue, Joey serves as the Executive Creative Director, guiding the creative vision for the agency and overseeing the development of talent, processes, and product.

At Brand Neue, Joey helps lead a wildly talented group of people with a wide range of creative expertise, including brand development and stewardship, web design and development, digital marketing design, traditional and new media advertising, environmental design, video, and animation. Brand Neue’s client relationships include Books-A-Million, 2nd & Charles, Mars Petcare, Royal Cup, Chester’s International, Bobby’s Burgers by Bobby Flay, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Tidal Wave Auto Spa, and Highlands College.

Brooke Smith

Executive Creative Director

In her 20-plus years of professional experience, Brooke has learned that the expression of simple truths, in their economy and elegance, will deliver the most powerful and satisfying creative solutions. She has also learned that nothing great ever gets accomplished outside of a trusting, mutually beneficial relationship.

Brooke has extensive experience stewarding national brands and speaking to diverse audiences (business to consumer, business to business, employee engagement/employee experience) in a broad range of industries: fashion, retail, lifestyle home retail, editorial/publishing, pet care, education, food and beverage, finance and the non-profit sector. She has worked with well-known brands including Saks Inc./Parisian, Frontgate, Health Magazine, Cooking Light Magazine, Mars, Inc., 2nd & Charles, Books-A-Million, Chester’s International, National Veterinary Associates, Royal Cup Coffee & Tea, Highlands College, Southern Research, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

She has expertise in experiential design, environmental design, digital native, UI, UX, brand strategy, brand identity, SEO, brand planning, social media, creative direction, campaign strategy and development, content marketing, direct mail, editorial design, website design, and photo and video art direction. Brooke has won many national, regional, and local design and advertising awards.

Grace NeSmith

Director of Operations

When asked to describe her role at Brand Neue, Grace called herself a relationship builder, strategic thinker, leader, collaborator and motivator. She genuinely has her hand in many aspects of the business, including account service, business development, digital strategy, and production, social media strategy and production, print strategy and production, management of creatives, and much more. Grace says: “I am always in motion, looking for ways to help my team and my clients achieve their goals.”

Grace has 12-plus years of experience in client services and project management. She started in healthcare benefits consulting, managing clients with more than 50,000 employees, and transitioned into account and project management in the agency world in 2018. Since joining Brand Neue, she has spearheaded efforts for clients including Mars Petcare, Royal Canin, Express Oil Change, Royal Cup Coffee and Tea, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Bobby’s Burgers, Books-a-Million, 2nd and Charles, Chester’s International, Highlands College, and Southern Research.

Grace has a Master of Hispanic Studies with an English Concentration from Auburn University and a dual Bachelor of Arts Degree in Spanish and Journalism, also from Auburn. She was on the Dean’s List every semester and a Student Marshall at graduation. Grace also completed coursework in advanced photography and advanced feature writing. She studied abroad in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, writing for and organizing the student magazine Alcalá a tus pies. She also completed Spanish conversation and phonetics courses in Salamanca, Spain, and was a Transient Student in San Luis, Costa Rica where she completed community outreach coursework, including working at an English camp for local children.

When not at work, Grace and her husband Neal enjoy spending time with their three children — biking, hiking, swimming, traveling — really doing anything outside, together.

Hayley England

Senior Art Director

Hayley is a national award-winning designer with more than two decades of experience in corporate identity, packaging, print collateral, direct mail, and advertising. She specializes in conceptual design and is known for her intense attention to detail. She’s passionate about designing logos and invitations and book/editorial design.

Hayley is methodical and carefully studies each project to find the most effective and creative solution. With many of her clients, she is the keeper of the brand and works tirelessly to ensure brand standards are not only met but are the solid foundation upon which a brand is reinforced, promoted, and amplified.

Hayley was heavily influenced by her high school art teacher who was a typographer. She earned a BFA in Graphic Design from Auburn University. She has worked at several Birmingham-based creative companies including o2ideas, EBSCO, and Reflex Blu. She has worked on many well-known brands including Verizon Wireless, Home Depot, Mars Petcare, Buffalo Rock, Honda, Captain D’s, Chester’s International, Tidal Wave Auto Spa, Highlands College, Books-a-Million, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Hayley’s work has earned her numerous ADDY Awards over the years.

Jenny Bryant

Account Executive

Jenny is keenly focused on client communication. During her years of experience in account and project management, she has learned that to build a strong, productive relationship with clients, it’s key to understand their communication style and meet them where they are. She knows many clients come to her and her team for guidance on finding their brand voice and direction and being heard and understood is a critical part of that process. Over the years she’s found her most valuable skill is listening and understanding the situation and challenges from the client’s perspective.

She is also passionate about being more than just a creative order-taker. Her role is to bring value to the client-agency relationship by offering innovative ideas and finding new opportunities so her clients can greatly expand their marketing efforts and grow their brand.

Jenny graduated from Jacksonville State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Public Relations. Her class was observed as part of the accreditation process for the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC). Jenny has worked with several marketing companies including BRK Global Marketing in Charlotte, and Mer & Co., Reflex Blu, and the EPPG Division of EBSCO in Birmingham. She has worked with Bank of the West, Regions Bank, Food Lion, American Family Care, and Express Oil Change, among other leading brands. In 2023, her team won a Hermes Creative Award for the comprehensive redesign of Cotton Incorporated’s Lifestyle Monitor website from both a user experience and visual design perspective.

Andrew Handley

Senior Art Director

Andrew has always had a passion for creating, from drawing to painting, web coding, and animation. He grew up in a family that encouraged his creative endeavors. Since graduating with a degree in graphic design from Auburn, he has continued to hone his creative and development skills and gain new ones along the way. In 2017, he was recognized as Web Designer of the Year by the American Advertising Association Birmingham.

Andrew approaches his work by thinking of fun and creative ways to help the end user understand the value of a product. He specializes in illustration, After Effects animation, premier video editing and sound design, and web coding with HTML, CSS, and WordPress.

During his career, he has worked with numerous agencies in Birmingham including Lawler Ballard Van Durand, Zeekee Interactive, o2ideas, and as a freelance illustrator for Bassmaster magazine. He has worked with national and local brands including Verizon Wireless, BBVA, Honda, Mars Petcare, Buffalo Rock, Chester’s International, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Brian Handley

Senior Art Director

Brian grew up with a passion for all things creative. This led him to Auburn University’s well-respected Fine Arts program, where he earned a BFA in Graphic Design in 2005. After graduating, he went to work at a small agency that needed someone to “step up” into the role of web designer/developer, so he taught himself how to code and design websites from scratch using tables and later CSS.

He considers himself a results-oriented creative since SEO and analytics play a huge role in web design. Brian enjoys the technical aspects of building websites as well as the process of designing with the user experience in mind. He also enjoys finding solutions to client problems; from building an e-commerce site to a simple static site that needs some CSS or Javascript animations to make it stand out.

Hailing from Houston but growing up mostly in Alabama, Brian has worked for several small agencies as well as Birmingham-based o2ideas and BBVA Compass. He has more than 20 years of experience and a strong understanding of HTML, CSS, and javascript as well as experience with several CMSs (Content Management Systems) like WordPress, Expression Engine, Woocommerce, and Shopify. He is also skilled with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. He has worked on McDonalds, Verizon Wireless, BBVA Compass, Honda, Mars Petcare, Books-A-Million, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Brian has earned multiple ADDY Awards during his career.

Alex Kistler

Account Director

Alex works closely with clients to understand their needs and bring fresh, new ideas to the table. Ultimately, his goal is to be a valuable extension of his client’s team, boost all aspects of their business, and cultivate and grow strong, lasting relationships.

To this end, he loves rolling up his sleeves, doing his homework, and gaining a strong understanding of the client’s industry, business personality, and objectives. Alex’s keen attention to detail allows him to design and carefully monitor processes to make sure BNC delivers services that are on point, on time, and within established budgets.

He has experience bringing together multiple teams — strategy, media, production, management, and creative — to foster and promote collaboration and mutual support. Alex believes the role of the account team goes way beyond servicing the client to supporting the entire Brand Neue team and enabling them to do their best work. He believes in leading by example and getting to know his team members well. This allows him to facilitate communication that, again, empowers everyone to work at their most productive, creative, and efficient level.

With 13 years of agency experience, Alex has spearheaded multiple ADDY-award-winning integrated campaigns for Valvoline, Jack’s Family Restaurants, and UAB Callahan Eye Hospital. Alex has worked with national and local clients including ADECA (2020 Census for the state of Alabama), AmFirst Federal Credit Union, Southern Company Gas, Nicor Gas, and Birmingham Legion FC. He earned his PMP® (Project Management Professional) certification in 2015.

Before joining Brand Neue, Alex worked at Birmingham-based agencies Big Com and Telegraph Creative. He graduated Cum Laude from Auburn University with B.A. in Communication and Media Studies.

Lane Mullins

Art Director

Lane lived in Manzini, eSwatini, a small landlocked country in Southern Africa, during his high school years. While in Africa, Lane became the designer for the local church and community center where he lived. Throwing himself into the challenge, he eventually led a creative team of 10+ at age 16 and also managed the design and website production for a purse company run by and benefitting women in eSwatini.

This experience gave Lane insight into how people from different cultures and viewpoints prioritize and interact with design in everyday life. It also taught him that it is crucial to understand the viewpoint of your audience when working on any design project. This insight brings meaning to the decision making process, rather than making arbitrary design choices.

Lane has experience in business to business, business to consumer, retail, financial, healthcare, outdoors, tourism, recruitment, and architecture/interior design. His passion is working with non-profit organizations that positively impact the community. He has worked in experiential design, environmental design, digital native, UI, UX, brand strategy and identity, SEO, social media, and content marketing. Lane has won two Graphic Design USA Packaging Design Awards. While at Auburn, he received the Auburn University President’s Award and W. James Samford, Jr. Award for the College of Architecture, Design, and Construction, the top graphic design award given each year, and was named a “GDUSA Student to Watch” by his professors.

Rachel Carney

Art Director

Rachel focuses her passion on experiential design and, as she puts it, “creating special moments with design.” She is specifically interested in systems-based design, brand identities, the evolution of print and manipulating paper. Rachel is also studying environmental wayfinding and other practical applications of good design. While in college, Rachel studied signage in London and became particularly interested in deploying design to “get people to the right place” and making design that serves the user.

After graduating from Samford University with a degree in design, Rachel was an honorary fellow at Food and Wine magazine for two years and then worked at Lewis Communications as an Art Director for several years. She joined Brand Neue because the firm offered her an opportunity to explore a new direction in design, which is exciting to her, and also because she was attracted to the smaller team and more collaborative atmosphere. Her client experience includes Launchpad AL, Tidal Wave, Autotec, and MARS Petcare.