About Us

Our agency team of writers, developers, designers and amplifiers raise the voice of client brands every day and move the mountains in their way.

We are curious. We are creative. We are courageous.

Meet our Leadership Team

Kathy McCuskey

Chief Executive Officer

Celebrated as one of the 10 most admired CEOs by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Kathy has helmed the Yamamoto ship since 2011. Her extensive client experience spans CPG, financial services, healthcare, retail and essentially everything else.

Seth Rockers

Chief Financial Officer

A banking background, a marketing mind and a farming work ethic combine to make Seth’s approach to finance and operations uniquely well-suited to the agency experience. He now acts as CFO for multiple agencies in the MDC family.

Jon Trettel

Chief Digital Officer

Jon is a champion of purpose-built digital strategies that create transformational results. Driven to deliver meaningful outcomes, his leadership and vision afford a sustainable digital presence for stakeholders and their organizations.

Chris Rahill

Chief Strategy Officer

Chris has a talent for taking complex marketing problems and breaking them down into concise solutions. So much so that we created a department just for him: Insights and Innovation, which has grown into the strategic heart and soul of Yamamoto.

Andy Ross

Director of Client Experience and Growth

Andy is a strong, seasoned, strategic leader who brings a collaborative approach to relationships. Through his passion and expertise, he delivers transformative results to clients that increase brand performance and elevate the client experience.

Lori Sharbono

Director of Business Development

Lori is a master of new business development and relationship management, and has experience growing and galvanizing many of Minnneapolis’ most well-known agencies.

Thako Harris

Director of Resourcing and Operations

Thako leads the agency’s project management and production operations department. For him, every day begins on the ground floor, with the finish line at the top. It's his vision — be it timing, accuracy, consistency or relationship-building — that sets him a part.

Matt Morano

Managing Director, Chicago

Matt runs Yamamoto’s Chicago office, bringing nearly 30 years of experience leading agency teams on brands like Home Depot, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. His passion is building deep, meaningful partnerships with clients, centered around growth.

Shawn Pals

Executive Creative Director

Shawn is a creative leader, mentor and inspiration to his creative teams. He’s a thoughtful creative director with design roots, leading all major brand work at Yamamoto. Shawn has been the creative heart and soul of our body of work at Yamamoto. Everyone appreciates Shawn’s collaborative nature and immense talent. He’s highly driven to find smart, creative solutions that solve real business problems.​

Framework for Action

Our People

Reach more people. Hire diverse talent. Do the work to recruit and invest in places we haven’t before. Work with Universities and organizations dedicated to supporting diverse talent. Raise awareness of opportunities broadly within advertising. Create internship and career positions within Yamamoto that both access and amplify diverse voices.

Our Clients

Treat clients as true partners in every way. Support their goals beyond business. Reach diverse audiences with our work on their behalf. Work with minority and woman-owned businesses to create partnerships that bring more voices to the table.

Our Work

Ensure our work is the product of diverse people with diverse talents. Elevate the impact, creativity and relevance of what we create by embracing the diverse perspectives of our creators. Encourage diversity among the vendors and partners that we work with as extensions of our team. Be ever conscious that the work we create is a reflection of the world we want to help create.