Meet The Team
As a professional services firm, our product is only as good as our people. Fortunately, our people are awesome! We’re not the largest SEO agency you’ll find, but that’s not our goal. We feel we’re the perfect balance of size and speed. Large enough to benefit from specialization and efficiencies of scale, and small enough to remain agile and flexible. Learn more about our team below:
Jon Payne, MBA
President & Founder
Jon Payne is part “SEO Guru” and part savvy entrepreneur/businessman. He’s also a living example of why you should probably cut back on those highly-caffeinated energy drinks. Wow. Anyhow, Jon created Ephricon way back in 2003 (that’s like 1842 in “internet years”) and continues to steer the agency’s direction today. In addition to serving as a SEO strategist, sales guy, bookkeeper (and even janitor), Jon still finds the time to get in the way stay involved with just about every client account.
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Corey Creed
Director of Client Services
Corey Creed is a rare breed – part strategist and part operations specialist. He was raised in Massachusetts (wicked cool) and claims that many of his fondest memories involve either his Atari 2600 or his Commodore 64 (cough geek cough). Knowledgeable on all things internet marketing, Corey has a high energy style and a strong passion for helping people. At Ephricon, Corey is responsible for ensuring that our team has the processes, tools and training to kick butt for our clients.
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David Zimmerman
Campaign Manager
Whether it’s Tweetups, Star Wars or local taco joints, Dave Zimmerman knows where it’s at and has probably even lectured about it at BarCamp or Ignite. Dave is an SEO strategist and true renaissance man. He can help you code PHP, optimize your website, translate Greek texts and even grow a radish in your backyard.
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Korey Kashmer
Campaign Manager
Underneath that burly beard is a big SEO teddy bear. An “organic” SEO teddy bear, of course. Korey Kashmer has been doing online marketing since Al Gore invented the internet, if not before… so he’s got plenty of experience. He’s also a task-master and works hard for his clients.
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Joe Restivo
Campaign Manager
Forget Bo… Joe Knows! Joe knows SEO, PPC, social media marketing, local search and more. He even knows how they filmed the fake moon landing. (Wait, was that really faked? No way…) Anyhow, Joe Restivo is an experienced SEO pro with a strong business background and a “can do” attitude, which makes him highly-valued by his clients and also easy to boss around here at the office!
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Scott Hepburn
Campaign Manager
Scott is a yankee. But not like a “Yankee” yankee, he’s a Bills fan so it’s not so bad. Well I guess that is actually bad for him. Anyhow we were willing to overlook his sports team allegiances as all of his fancy talk about ROI through SEO and PPC with CR, DR, SMO and ORM is OK from our POV. Acronyms aside, Scott fits the profile here as a smart business guy who understands how to cut through the hype and produce real results for his clients.
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Alan Rosinski
Campaign Manager
Alan looks like he’s about 13. He’s actually 14. Well not really. That said, he’s no rookie when it comes to SEO. Alan is a pro with both on-page optimization and link building, and also has “mad skillz” when it comes to Google Places pages and local optimization. Our young prodigy is quickly developing into a veteran SEO and internet marketing consultant, helping our clients realize strong gains in rankings, traffic, conversions and ROI. Doogie Howser has nothing on this guy!
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Markelle Harden
Campaign Manager
Markelle arrived in the marketing field the ‘hands on way’, she was self-employed for over ten years, and if her marketing campaigns didn’t produce results, she starved to death! We’re glad she didn’t wither away and landed here at Ephricon. Her passion for business and growth translates into successful strategies and campaigns for all of her clients.
Lee Price
SEM/PPC Consultant
Lee Price is all about data-driven marketing, and has been analyzing data patterns and optimizing campaigns for the last 10.5 years. Make that 10.587 years to be precise, adjusted for leap year of course. Lee also has self-proclaimed a love affair with Microsoft Excel, but we ask that you keep that confidential – don’t post it online or anything. When it comes to PPC, Lee is your man.
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Garrett Tichy
Web Developer
Garrett’s love for lines of code and a nicely designed site are what makes him so special. Not very often do you find a Web Developer with an eye for design. Fresh out of Full Sail University with a desire to expand his knowledge, he hopes to learn the ways of SEO and implement these strategies when developing new projects.
Ashley Boswell
Online PR Specialist
Ashley has managed to stick around despite the constant barrage of Nerf darts that fly past her desk. She’s our specialist when it comes to PR (read: begging bloggers for links and pickups), article marketing and all that “social media stuff” that all the kids are so interested in.
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Nicole Barbato
Internet Marketing Associate
Nicole is a pro when it comes to getting things done. Whether it’s updating product descriptions, building links or building relationships with bloggers she sure knows how to knock things out. Literally. Well, actually she doesn’t literally “knock out” the bloggers when she is networking with them. That wouldn’t be good. You get the idea though.
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Michelle Rojas
Internet Marketing Associate
Michelle joined us as an Intern prior to her graduation from Winthrop University, and was recently promoted to a position as a full-time internet marketing assistant following her graduation.
Cameron Murphy
Internet Marketing Associate
Originally from the Great White North (some may know it as Canada), Cameron came to Ephricon following his graduation from Winthrop University. With a background in business marketing, a secret passion for web design, and as the undisputed office cornhole champion, Cameron brings great energy to the Ephricon team.
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Zack Kirchin
Internet Marketing Associate
“Zack enjoys noodling for catfish in local waterways. When he’s not noodling, he’s an avid QVC shopper.” That’s what Zack wrote about himself. We like to say this is a sign of just how “creative” he is. Yes, let’s go with “creative”. In all seriousness, Zack is a great young PR and marketing pro who will impress you at every turn. Well, at most turns anyhow.
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Kelsey Lee
Internet Marketing Associate
Unlike Peter from Office Space, Kelsey always remembers to put the new cover sheets on all TPS reports before they go out. In fact, there’s not much you can get past her. A young marketing and PR pro, Kelsey possesses the thoroughness and acute attention to detail you need for a successful, long-term web marketing campaign. Top-notch, mmmkay?
More about Kelsey
Our Interns
We offer exciting internships to college students in the Charlotte metro area. Want to learn more?
Visit our internships page
Our Partners
Our full-time team is currently 17 talented professionals strong, but we also have close working relationships with several partner firms. The vast majority of true “SEO activities” are handled in-house by our team, but when it comes to copywriting or graphic design, for instance, we can leverage one of a number of partners to ensure the success of a campaign or project. Most of our partners we have daily communication with, and have worked with for several years.