Our curious name: In the English sporting world, a “famous victory” is a win for the ages, a victory over an esteemed opponent or difficult circumstance. For both their performance and tenacity—preserving nerve and focusing as a team—the win is held in high regard by fans, and equally respected by rivals, for all time.
We like this idea, and have built a skilled team of professionals worthy of the challenge.
Kiley Ruggiero
Partner, Creative Director
Kiley began her career in New York working in design and advertising for small, high-intensity agencies focused on branding within the fashion, beauty and music industries. From there, she returned to her home of Chicago to earn recognition and awards from her work at a multi-faceted marketing agency on brands such as Allstate, BMO Harris Bank, Northwestern Medicine and non-profits such as Common Threads and Casa Central. With a sharp eye for the details that make a brand sing, Kiley infuses a sense of emotional distinction to every project she encounters. Throughout her career Kiley has proven that re-imagining the rules, and taking the side of wide-open-potential is the route to break-through ideas and strategic brand leadership.
Ryan Carpenter
Partner, Creative Director
Ryan has worked with brands of all sizes to achieve goals of evolution, reinvention, refreshment or from-scratch development. The diversity and range of experiences encountered throughout his career has proven to be a distinct advantage. This has enabled Ryan to bring a wealth of perspective to bear for both established and new businesses, including Cars.com, Delta Institute, Bank of the West, General Growth Properties and DeVry University. Strategically minded by nature, Ryan has a proven ability to constructively challenge assumptions, achieve change while preserving brand equity, and employ creativity to solve business challenges both large and small.
Dan Lewis
Copy Director
As an award-winning copywriter working at some of advertising’s biggest agencies, Dan helped develop campaigns for iconic brands such as Corona, Modelo Beer, Capital One, Jeep, State Farm, Kellogg's, McDonald's and Disney. A storyteller at heart, Dan is inspired by how a brand’s story can become a legacy within culture, drive change and get people to sit up and notice. Always thinking strategically, Dan pulls from human insights to help develop a brand’s character — defining what it sounds like, how it acts and what its story will be, making it more than a product or service by giving it meaning and value to consumers.
Jana Schroeder
Art Director
An extremely experienced design professional, Jana has been a key part of a number of creative teams during her advertising career. As an Art Director at prestigious large agencies, she was a core contributor to brand development, production and management for national brands such as McDonald’s, Red Lobster, Walgreens, First Health and Carrier. Exceptionally skilled at design strategy and long-term production planning, she’s consistently two steps ahead of the curve, solving problems before they impede progress or impact the project budget. A tireless explorer and detailed perfectionist, Jana frequently embraces new technological tools to continually perfect her craft and sharpen delivery.
Ashley Chitwood
Project Manager
Bringing a breadth of experience in project management within the healthcare, education, non-profit and social services sectors in New York and Chicago, Ashley is focused on smooth execution and precise, timely—not to mention friendly—communications. Having implemented a number of project management systems, as well as overhauling company procedures, Ashley has delivered efficiency beyond expectations in each of her roles, resulting in better work and more successful operations.
Jack Freund
Researcher
Jack brings fourteen years of experience as a researcher to Famous Victory. He began his career in the DC area with a focus on transportation research, working with agencies such as Amtrak and the MTA (NY). Since then, he’s worked in the healthcare space at Highmark BlueCross BlueShield and most recently, he led the consumer, brand, and user research function at Gopuff, a leader in the e-commerce space. Inquisitive and thorough, Jack utilizes a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to measure customer perceptions and brand equity and uses these insights to help brands evolve.
We each come from backgrounds requiring us to think on our feet, visualize a project from every vantage point and most importantly, create big brand impact for any type of business; from large corporations to solopreneurs to nonprofits, and everything in between. We build memorable brands—with sound strategy—that unlock the potential of our clients’ businesses.