Meet our awesome team
The New York Team
Chad Stoller
Global Chief Innovation Officer, UM.
Chad Stoller is the head boss of the Lab and also managed a little league tournament district champion team. He started off at the Arnell Group, where he spent an eternity “powerbranding” before moving to Organic.com, where he created an emerging platforms practice. Onward and upward to BBDO, Chad started a digital strategy group. With over 25 years of brand building experience, Chad really knows his stuff. Really. Except when it comes to sports. He’s a Mets fan.
Adam Simon
Managing Director
Say hello to Adam Simon. This entrepreneur is passionate about over-the-top television, and the potential for new kinds of contextual computing enabled by smartphones, wearables, and the Internet of things. Fresh out of NYU’s cutting-edge Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), he founded Socialbomb in 2008, and worked with the likes of HBO, Red Bull, Technicolor, and the BBC building breakthrough mobile social software. Adam joins the Lab bringing innovative-driven solutions and a love for exercise. He once rode a bike 500 miles across Alaska, from Fairbanks to Anchorage. No joke.
Chelsea Freitas
VP Partner, Strategy & Innovation
Chelsea joins the Lab after leading strategic development across fashion and beauty brands at UM. She brings excitement and curiosity to her work in understanding shifts in human behavior and how they inspire innovation with purpose. Chelsea brings an expertise in research and trend forecasting to help brands identify how they can create relevant and meaningful connections in culture. Driven and innovative, she was recognized by The Drum’s “50 Under 30 women to watch in digital media” in 2017. Above all, her favorite things to strategize are National Park trips and her vegetable garden.
Josh Mallalieu
SVP, Group Director
With more than 13 years building global strategies and integrated planning and buying practices at UM, Josh joined the Lab to help expedite clients’ exposure and adoption of innovative-driven solutions. With a deep knowledge of the luxury and retail spaces, he also serves as a fashion consultant to anyone who will listen. He has a black belt in both snacking and power napping, and has been blessed to rep the D-A-D area code to sons Noah (8) and Jude (5), and daughter Emory (7).
Katy Geisreiter
Associate Director, Strategy
Katy joined the Lab’s strategy team after 6 years at J3, where she led day-to-day media planning for Johnson & Johnson’s skin health brands. A (begrudgingly) true millennial, Katy is fascinated by the proliferation of DTC brands and cautiously optimistic about their potential to disrupt entrenched industries. When she’s not researching the next big thing in digital health or honing her skill of data-driven storytelling, you can find her taking the A train to Rockaway Beach or plotting her next stick-and-poke tattoo.
Richard Yao
Associate Director, Strategy and Content
From Shanghai to NYU, with an M.A. in media study, and a passion for trendspotting is Richard Yao. You’ll find him in the Lab curating content and writing original prose. Before coming to the Lab this young wordsmith worked in audience research for CBS. Richard’s quick wit and unassuming demeanor make him exceptionally good at “Cards Against Humanity.”
Ryan Miller
Director, Partnerships
After honing his expertise across various IPG Mediabrands agencies over the last half decade, Ryan decided to take his unique talents to the IPG Media Lab. A former journalist and corporate comms specialist, Ryan has a keen ability for storytelling, communication, and sifting through the noise to unlock unique opportunities for his clients; skills that will serve him well in his role as Partnerships Manager. When Ryan is not evaluating startups and meeting with potential partners, you can find him cheffing up the spoils of his garden and panicking over Arsenal results.
Thomas Trudeau
Director, Innovation Partnership
Tom learned about business, media, and technology while working for MLB and the NBA, where he cut innovative licensing deals on social media and emerging tech. Tom is an efficiency nut and is always looking for novel solutions to clients’ challenges. A podcast and sports data junky, Tom has a cheeky propensity for cutting off his bios before the sentence is fini-
The San Francisco Team
Kara Manatt
SVP, Intelligence Solution
Meet the queen of advertising, Kara Manatt. She hails from the south, earning her BA from Arkansas Tech University. Yearning for a change she moved to San Francisco to get her MA in Social Psychology. She then landed at Dynamic Logic doing advertising research, and absolutely loved it. She’s been in advertising ever since including a stop at Yahoo AdLabs before coming to IPG. When she’s not analyzing advertising effectiveness you’ll find this dog-lover hanging out with her 150lb, disabled Mastiff.
Jonathan Jusczyk
Associate Director, Intelligence Solutions
Jonathan Jusczyk hails from Warwick, RI and graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a BS in Physics and Mathematics. This avid outdoorsman uses the latest technology to turn seemingly complex problems into simple solutions. He ran the Data Analytics team at Dynamic Logic before moving on to a research position at Millward Brown working in CrossMedia research for 7 years. When he’s not making things better in the Lab, you might find this NH state certified firefighter and wildland firefighter, doing wilderness rescue for lost or injured hikers or saving lives. All in a days work.
Lena Phalen
Research Analyst, Intelligence Solution
Meet Lena Phalen, research analyst extraordinaire and double bass player. She has mad quantitative and qualitative skills and she’s not afraid to use them. Passionate about data, technology and the great outdoors, Lena worked as a programmer and researcher for the Center for Elementary Math and Science Education (CEMSE) at The University of Chicago where she earned a BA in Public Policy. But don’t let her love for analytics and mathematical modeling fool you. When she’s not in the Lab, you’ll find her running around the city, hiking or climbing mountains. Yodelay-hee-hoo.
