Verdin Prepares for Future Growth With Addition of New Partner

Verdin recently announced that Operations Manager Michelle Starnes has become a partner in the company. Starnes joins President Mary Verdin and Vice President Ashlee Akers as part of the 100% women-owned business, effective April 1, 2015. She will join Verdin, Akers and Adam Verdin on the company’s Board of Directors as Treasurer. Starnes will continue to help develop business direction and strategy, while developing her leadership role within the company and within the community.

Starnes, who graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in graphic communications, started her career in the printing industry, acting as a project manager and customer service representative. She moved to Verdin in 2012 as production and trafficking coordinator, and has excelled in this role, being promoted first to production manager and then most recently to operations manager. She oversees Verdin’s design team as well as supervises the strategy and administrative teams.

“Michelle exemplifies our core values. She loves what she does and does it well, and has always given her time and energy to the company and our clients,” said Mary Verdin. “Now she has made a financial investment as well, and will continue to be a key part of our success in the years to come.”

Over her years at Verdin, Starnes has been involved in many projects in various capacities. One of the recent projects that stands out for her was the award winning UCSB “Keep Isla Vista Safe” campaign, which urged visitors to stay away from Isla Vista during the infamous Halloween weekend and Deltopia beach party. The campaigns for Halloween and Deltopia were hugely successful, reducing arrests by 80% for Halloween and reducing the number of visitors to Deltopia by 50% from the previous year.

“I love being able to see such successful results from a very strategic campaign that we managed from start to finish,” Starnes said. “I look forward to building on the traction we got this year and seeing things continue to improve this Halloween and also next year during Deltopia.”

Starnes is a member of Leadership SLO Class XXIV and also volunteers her time to various local causes. “If a friend needs help, Michelle is there,” Verdin added.

As a partner, Starnes envisions continued growth for the company through maintaining the reputation of doing successful work for clients and for being a company that genuinely cares for their clients and the community.

“There’s no place like Verdin,” Starnes said. “I really value the dedication that our team has to their clients’ success. It is amazing when you find a job where you can’t wait to come to work, and that’s what I have here at Verdin. I feel so honored to be a partner here.”