About the Topdog handle, it’s really best not to ask.  If you must know, it actually has much more to do with the “dog” part, than with Melissa’s (albeit insane) need to be “on top”, “at the top” or “topping off” a drink at the local pub.  Melissa loves dogs, plain and simple.  (To prove this, click on Philanthropy at our Main Page to learn how you, too, can adopt dogs who wandered into the studio looking for her.)  Melissa is our (usually) fearless leader.  We like to think of her as a little over-the-top (see, there’s the “top” reference again), crazy (as seems appropriate for our leader) and cunning all at once.  Her keen use of the English language can be irritating, and is easily summed up by her overuse of the word “yummy” as noun, verb, adjective or adverb.  We have spelling bees around here; go figure.  (Hey, she may be an annoying wordsmith, but she’s our wordsmith.)  In addition to this nearly obsolete skill, Melissa is our scout, our sage, and, simply put, our reason for being.  She loves relationships, and works really hard at not running off clients.  She’s a mind-reader and can always (that’s right…always!) tell if you’ve been slacking (so we don’t engage in that behavior around here, unless she’s on another planet).  Melissa is a space planning genius, a design master and the guru of culture development.  She inspires us, coaches us and annoys us, sometimes in equal measure.  If you can somehow get past her perpetual use of the words “celebrate” and “fabuloso” (her word), she’s actually quite brilliant. 

We like to call her Super Sketch because she is…well…that good!  Susan apparently hails from another planet and was brought to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of other mortals.  As Super Sketch, she can change a blank page to a full rendering in a matter of minutes, blend pencils and markers with her bare hands and, even when disguised as Susan Doyle, mild-mannered designer for Studio West, fights the never-ending battle for truth, justice and a Better Design Way!  Let’s be clear. We all want to have Susan’s skills; we’re just not willing to work for them.  This is why she wears a cape around here while the rest of us wear caps.  Is it any surprise that she frequently drops names like “Super” Wal-Mart and “Super” Savers?  Susan is, as she describes it, visual and tactile, which really means she likes to look at and touch a lot of stuff (and then leave it laying around for us to pick up).  She can pull together an entire design concept at lightening speed, making the process look easy (as any good Super Hero would).  Whether it’s a whole new concept you’re rolling out, or merely the exterior of your building that needs a little splash, Super Sketch is your champion!  And her skills don’t end there.  She has the uncanny ability to seek out, and locate, all sorts of obscure information via the internet.  As you might guess, this seemingly useless skill often comes in handy around the studio.  With all this said, it is Susan’s unnatural reverence for celery that keeps her human to us.

It’s no accident that Rachelle’s title around here is Special Projects. She’s certainly special and we do have plenty o’ projects, so there’s the fit. Truly, this woman is a master of juggling projects…and more. (That could mean balls; more often to us it means tossing about tasks, time and talents.) On any given day, Rachelle bounces from marketing to administration to design documents, all with apparent ease and grace. Imagine the last time you really multi-tasked, add some additional projects to your own overdone list, and you’re where Rachelle is every day. Recently I found her navigating the web searching for a design solution, while at the same time sifting through files, adding fresh paint to a wall, answering the phone and assessing marketing leads. She’s like concierge meets office manager meets janitor meets project designer…all while sporting high-heeled boots and making it all appear too easy. Rachelle manages to keep us in line, primarily through the use of her magic calendar system and the occasional gentle, yet somehow threatening, remark. Because she contributes a tremendous amount in helping to make Topdog’s life easier, she is the other go-to person in the areas of accounting and administration. And even though we’re pretty sure Rachelle could whip us into shape if she needed to, the woman exudes a passion for giving. This shows up in all she does to assist our whole team, whether the need is project-related or philanthropic in nature. In summing up Rachelle’s ability to multi-task, one must remember her frequent use of the phrase, “So I guess that goes in your box?” Who else but one skilled at delegating could manage so much???  

We think of her as Bobby-licious not only because she always seems to have gum, but because her design solutions are, in our estimation, DE-licious!  Bobby is a designer extraordinaire and, for a woman of such small stature, is able to pack a whale of a design punch.  (We know of what we speak; we’ve been there when she’s “punching”!)  In combination with her design savvy, Bobby is a project managing whiz.  She knows how things need to flow, and she makes that sort of thing happen around here.  When she’s managing a project, you can absolutely count on things running smoothly.  The woman gets things done!  Bobby is a compelling mixture of creativity and professionalism, with a convincing aura about her.  She can make you believe anything…and we do mean anything!  Probably because she’s an overachiever, Bobby will take initiative before we even ask. This means that she ends up doing a lot of things none of the rest of us want to do anyway.  On a weird note, she would rather juggle sixteen projects at once than remove even one of our “science experiments” from the refrigerator. For this reason, we keep a lot of those experiments going, as a way of encouraging her current level of motivation.  Bobby is also one of our better story tellers, and she’s often responsible for the story that begins our creative process. One of her favorite phrases is: Make it happen.  (Just once we’d like to watch her “make it happen” while cleaning the refrigerator.)  Bobby is funny as heck, and less irritating to be with than most people.  For this reason, we are able to ignore the fact that she uses the word “buttery” more than any other person we know.