The Stories We Carry Forward
One moment, you’re a child on the floor near the Christmas tree, surrounded by siblings, wrapped in the quiet certainty that someone older and steadier is holding everything together. Next, you’re grown—trying your best to recreate the magic, exhausted, determined, and hoping no one notices how tired you are because the moment matters more than you do.
Delivering Data (and packages) this Holiday Season
If you spot a UPS truck racing against the holiday clock this month, there’s a chance Matt Abramowski is behind the wheel.
During the busiest season of the year, Matt pulls double duty—serving as a seasonal UPS driver while continuing his work at MARQUEE Creatives as our CRM and Data Systems Specialist. It’s a demanding schedule, but one that perfectly reflects Matt’s work ethic, reliability, and willingness to step up when things get hectic…qualities our nonprofit clients benefit from year-round.
Looking Back – Your Year-End Marketing Review
As one year comes to a close and another begins, it’s natural to look back at the previous year to review your successes and, yes, your failures. For example, in 2025, I was able to stay fairly consistent in posting to my Substack, with over 40 published posts! Woohoo! That said, I only added 78 new subscribers, which is 4,922 short of my goal for the year. Oh, well. At least I learned a valuable lesson: I need to lower my expectations.
Art that lives with you—literally.
I’m excited to share one of my most enjoyable, creatively freeing projects: a landing page for the local tattoo shop Upper Level Tattoo. This project was a fun departure from my usual work, giving me the chance to break the mold and lean into something truly playful. I’ve been contemplating my first tattoo for years, and while I’m still deciding, I’m pretty sure I know where I’d go—the talent at Upper Level Tattoo is exceptional.
The Write Gift – A Holiday Gift Guide for Writers
Well, it’s November. And you know what that means: TIME TO PANIC ABOUT CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!!
Relax. There’s still plenty of time to get everything on your list! (Unless, that is, you need something that’s made in China. Then you’re plumb out of luck.)
Gratitude, Growth & the MARQUEE Way
When you run a business—especially a small, community-rooted one—you don’t often stop to reflect. You’re moving, planning, responding, juggling, dreaming, managing, and delivering… sometimes all in the same hour. So when VoyageOhio reached out for an interview about my journey and the evolution of our firm, I did something I rarely do: I paused.
Why Great Packaging Demands a Second Look
I’ve always been fascinated by the world of package design—the kind that makes you stop, pick something up, and admire it before you even know what’s inside. Those clever details, bold colors, and unexpected textures have a way of telling a story on their own, and that’s what first drew me into design.
Meet Kim Dobrzynski: MARQUEE’s Director of Client Success
At MARQUEE, we’ve always prided ourselves on strong client relationships. As our work has grown in scale and complexity, we recognized the need for a dedicated role focused on ensuring clients feel supported every step of the way. That’s why we created the Director of Client Success position—and why we’re thrilled that the perfect person for the job turned out to be an old friend.
When a crisis hits, reputation is onlyone of the things at stake.
As a proud Youngstown advocate and the parent of an Ursuline alum, I’m heartbroken by the recent allegations coming out of Ursuline High School. I’ve walked those halls. I’ve cheered at those games. I know the strength of that community—and I also know how devastating it is when trusted institutions fail to act swiftly and transparently.
Video May Have Killed The Radio Star, But Good Writing is Alive and Well
TikTok. YouTube. Snapchat. Instagram Reels and Stories. For someone like me, who writes for a living and has no other marketable skill (unless you consider being able to whistle and hum at the same time a marketable skill), the dominance of video content can be disconcerting, to say the least.