About Your Team

Your Pros, Ready To Help You

Kristi Hagen

Kristi Hagen

Founder & CEO

Since the early 2000s Kristi has been a pro-active student, teacher, editor and curator of all things search-related! For 2 decades she has shone the light on what works and what is hype. A data geek to her core, Kristi questions everything until she sees actual results in real-time in the real world! Kristi leads the KristiJane team with a tireless drive to show measurable results to clients that stand both the test of time and changes in the search engines! Sitting on the cutting edge of search she was the Chief Editor for Search Engine News (SEN) for over a decade she was personally responsible for over 120 issues of SEN. Kristi lead and organized Certified Professional Training Courses since 2006 on topics ranging from Local Search to Master’s Level SEO Strategies. With an eye for customer care and a passion for growing businesses, Kristi is the one you want focused on your business!

Matt Summers

Matt Summers

Web Development Director

With a background in all aspects of development covering everything from desktop applications to mobile apps, databases, e-commerce and network security, websites small and large. Matt brings technical agility balanced with exacting site performance and technical SEO to our client’s online businesses. He brings decades of experience to the table and we have yet to see a technical challenge Matt can’t overcome. As one client put it… “Matt is amazing!!!!!!! He saved so many hours of work (and tears) by taking this project out of my hands and giving us such brilliantly executed solutions. I can’t ever thank you enough. The KJ team is amazing.” – Kendal Rudolph, COO of Todoos.com

David Lockard

David Lockard

SEO Director

David is KristiJane’s SEO Director and has a relentless passion to combine proven foundational optimization approaches with cutting edge strategy to give our clients a serious edge in notoriously competitive industries both locally and globally. With almost two decades of experience working deep in the SEO industry, he’s not surprised by trends and won’t be taken off guard by the next (or any) Google Algorithm update. His ‘Data First’ approach to your website’s optimization leaves nothing up to chance or interpretation. David is who you want on your team as he continues to drive results for KristiJane clients that are leaving their competitors in the dust.

Wes Straub

Wes Straub

Creative Director

Wes is KristiJane’s Creative Director, and prides himself on creating and designing intuitive and efficient user-focused experiences that allow customers to easily engage with the client’s brand truth, essence and story. With over two decades working in the digital realm, he has designed immersive user experiences for clients across an array of industries, while also having led the charge for major brand development projects. His ability to map out the smoothest, most logical path to conversions is unmatched, and ultimately drives real results for any client he works with. Wes is the guy you want deep diving into your website and brand experience because when it comes to results – there is no one better!

Emma Spindler

Emma Spindler

Marketing Director

Emma brings a wealth of design and marketing skills to Kristi Jane, and currently leads the creation, execution and management of many online and social media campaigns for our clients. She has a diverse combination of skills between the creative – graphic design, motion graphics and video – and the organizational – coordinating and managing multi-platform campaigns such as social media advertising. Emma brings a fresh perspective and hard-working, honest approach to any project or client thrown at her, and is fearless in navigating a constantly changing creative landscape. She is a critical pillar within the Kristi Jane design team.

Sara Hagen

Sara Hagen

Operations Director

Sara has been pushing paper in both administrative and customer facing roles for 20 years. Her happy place is researching and implementing ways to make a work day more efficient. Her philosophies for success are: always do your best, every mistake is an opportunity to improve, and shout your appreciation for everyone you encounter at work. She worked behind the scenes at Search Engine News for 15 years but it was her time working in real estate with two different top-producing teams, that gave her the clearest perspective on growing and maintaining a loyal customer base. A team player to her core, she knows we’re not succeeding, unless every teammate looks good.

Heather Sams

Heather Sams

Organization Development Auditor and Recruitment Liaison

Heather got her first taste of leadership at 17 when she joined the US Army, served for over 12 years and continues to work within the US government today. She has spent nearly 30 years developing as a leader and coaching and mentoring other leaders. Heather has developed award winning internal leadership development teams for large organizations as well as coached and mentored 100’s of leaders and executives at all different stages of their careers. Known as the ‘fixer’, Heather has a passion for helping companies develop their organizational culture and develop authentic leaders that are committed to their company’s vision.

Karen McDonnell

Karen McDonell

Paid Ads Expert

Karen has had a passion for staying on the cutting edge of all things search for decades. She’s a highly experienced Internet Marketer who specializes in the management of paid advertising campaigns. This allows her to see your marketing plan in its entirety to ensure your paid ads compliment your existing marketing plan in a way that most PPC experts can’t Karen is methodical in her execution of setup, tracking and delivering results for our paid advertising clients. She keeps a constant flow of communication with clients to ensure they are informed and have the option to actively participate in all aspects of their paid campaign strategy. With Karen you can be sure you will never overpay for your leads or sales again, she delivers results to both the top line and bottom line for our clients and they love her for it! She has paid ad experience in everything from huge e-commerce websites to small law firms. See what Karen can do to improve your ad spend.