About

Mara started her design education at the age of 11 when a hand-me-down computer loaded with Adobe programs entered her home. Mara fell in love with her new creative tools and spent countless hours tinkering, experimenting, and making weird and wonderful things. She created websites and zines about her favorite things (tributes to a wide variety of embarrassing interests such as 90's grunge, Harry Potter, and boy bands). She was the only student in her class with elaborate visuals to accompany her assignments (and the only one repeatedly reprimanded for refusing to use Times New Roman).

This set the stage for an illustrious career. Moving to San Francisco to work in the energetic and fast-paced start-up scene, which she found to be the perfect environment for her figure-it-out and get-shit-done work ethos, she built brands as they grew from 30-person operations to international organizations with over 300 employees.

Today, Mara—now a design professional with over 15 years of industry experience under her belt—lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her fiance and her son (a Chow Chow/German Retriever mix, named Fozzie). She enjoys cooking, traveling, and the great outdoors. She has lost interest in boy bands (mostly).

Nice things people have said about Me

• “Mara had a transformational impact at MANTL, building our team and elevating our brand almost literally overnight.
   
  She approaches her work with authority and grace. She sets reasonable expectations for hitting deadlines, and then consistently delivers her projects on time. She generates thoughtful concepts and is open to collaboration and feedback from other team members.
  
  She takes a practical, results-oriented approach to prioritizing, organizing, and delivering her work. And she has a charmingly chill, low-key demeanor that brings a sense of lightness and ease to every interaction.
  
  I would absolutely work with her again.” - Chris Jensen, Writer
  
  
• "Mara is someone who cuts through the unnecessary details and gets straight to the project at hand, doing what is most efficient while maintaining a strong loyalty to the brand.
  
  I’ve often found myself in briefings impressed, and perhaps a little envious at the great solutions she comes up with for projects right on the spot. She’s been a true asset as a Creative Lead and mentor and has propelled the Clover brand to what it is today." - Hollye, Senior Designer
  
  
• "I can’t imagine what our marketing design would look like without Mara (actually I can - and it would be awful) Mara came in and from Day 1 was driving our designs - and our brand - forward. Mara has had an absolutely HUGE impact at Udemy." - Archie, Director of Growth
  
  
• "As a copywriter, I had the pleasure of working closely with Mara on many creative projects. I found her to be an extremely talented designer with a firm grasp of our brand (in fact, as one of ModCloth's earlier employees, she was partly responsible for building the brand's image), and someone that others on her team gravitated to for mentoring. Mara has both the skill set and the natural leadership abilities to flourish in a directorial role." - Richard, Senior Copywriter
  
  
• "Mara is a wonderful creative talent and I enjoy working with her. She is very reliable and is an awesome teammate. She has that rare ability to mix an aesthetically pleasing design with one that can also lead to conversions." - Jen, Marketing Manager