the team
meet the team
the team
Your Team of Experts
James Ferguson
Founder and CEO
James Ferguson is a serial entrepreneur with over 36 years of strategic business and strategic marketing leadership. As an in-sourced Chief Marketing Officer and founder of several independent businesses including Big Idea Group, BIG ICE, and Monkey Puzzles Studio, James excels at creating and then implementing innovative strategic growth plans that challenge the status quo and motivate leadership teams and their employees to achieve the impossible. His true passion is being provocative in the marketplace from a positioning and messaging perspective without harming the brand. James is also an avid believer that Great People with Great Ideas can do Great Things!
Fun Facts: James was born in South Africa and has lived in Scotland, England, Tanzania, and Bermuda. He has three kids, two grandchildren and has been married for 35 years. And he is a private pilot and loves to fly Cessna aircraft.
Monica Caldwell
Senior Director of Client Services
Monica Caldwell is a seasoned strategic marketer with 25 years of experience in both agency and client-side leadership. She excels in blending brand and marketing strategy with creative thinking, offering clients innovative, insight-driven solutions that propel their businesses forward. Monica is a dedicated team leader who loves building a team of account service professionals and elevating the team around her. She is known for her positive, can-do attitude and her ability to build enduring client relationships. Her expertise spans strategy, research, innovation, digital marketing, and creative work for prominent national B2C and B2B brands.
Fun Facts: Monica is an avid gardener with a collection of over 150 exotic plants, as well as a dog enthusiast, she is passionate about training and competing in dog sports with her four giant dogs—two Belgian Malinois and two Rottweilers. Her previous Belgian Malinois held awards in canine frisbee in 10 states!
Karen Cornelissen
Senior Director of Content and Digital Strategy
Karen has always been passionate about storytelling. As a marketer and professional writer, she says that the difference between most communication and effective communication is closing the gap between how an individual or a company talks about things and how an how individual’s audience or a company’s customers talk about the same things.
And now at BIG, Karen helps our customers understand the importance of building a digital presence and leverage content to achieve their digital marketing goals.
Fun Facts: She’s good at baking pie and finding four-leaf clovers.
Christian Salzmann
Senior Account Manager
With a strong desire to serve his clients well, Christian focuses on developing quality business practices and coordinating solid solutions to ensure he meets their expectations. With an extensive background across many industries, Christian provides a wide range of knowledge, working with businesses of varying sizes and budgets to accomplish diverse organizational objectives. Diligent and organized, Christian is devoted to providing strategic business services that add value to any company and building strong, lasting relationships with his clients.
Outside of his professional life, he spends time with his wonderful wife and fur children, Teddy and Oscar, and enjoys fostering rescue dogs in search of their forever home.
Fun Facts: He’s a Skyline Chili partner, and has memorized Pi to the 50th digit.
Kim Wehby
Art Director / Graphic Designer
Kim Wehby is a versatile designer and art director with over 25 years of experience crafting marketing and brand identity materials across diverse print and digital platforms. Known for her commitment to delivering strategic and creative solutions, Kim excels at bringing ideas to life through graphic design. Her passion for detail is unwavering. With a rich career touching everything from consumer packaging and advertising to B2B marketing, signage, and social media, Kim continues to drive impactful visual communications in the ever-evolving design landscape.
Fun Facts: Kim loves experimenting with various arts and crafts – including drawing, painting, sewing, knitting, ceramics, and most recently, stained glass. She can also write entirely backward. Also, forwards with one hand while writing backward with the other. Ask her for a demo!
Jason Langdon
Creative Director
With over two decades of experience in design, advertising and branding, Jason is a master artist and storyteller. Through the use of compelling visuals and convincing language, Jason knows how to break through the clutter of daily life to persuade prospects and inspire behavior change.
Fun Facts: Jason created Cincinnati Maker Faire, an annual event that showcased creativity and invention. Among the over 100 attractions were power tool drag racing, drums that shot fireballs, circuit bending, and boundary-pushing live performance art.
James Ferguson
Founder and CEO
Monica Caldwell
Senior Director of Client Services
Karen Cornelissen
Senior Director of Content and Digital Strategy
Christian Salzmann
Senior Account Manager
Kim Wehby
Art Director / Graphic Designer
Jason Langdon
Creative Director
get in touch
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