Professional Services 2025: ROGISH, ALISON
In 2021, Rogish became the first woman to lead Big Four global accounting firm Deloitte’s Central Virginia market. Rogish joined Deloitte in 1998, specializing in human capital services for clients in the financial services industry. She became a relationship leader for several clients in the Washington, D.C., metro area in 2005. In 2015, she was […]
Professional Services 2025: RYAN, PATRICK
In July, Ryan became KPMG’s national managing partner of advisory strategy and markets. He’s responsible for building a profitable growth strategy for the Big Four accounting firm’s advisory business. Ryan remains D.C. metro office managing partner and U.S. federal business leader, roles he has held since June 2024. He has more than 4,000 employees in the […]
Professional Services 2025: SPROUSE, LAURA
In 2024, Sprouse was named CEO of Brown Edwards, the accounting firm where she has spent more than 25 years of her career. She succeeded Jason Hartman, who retired after 38 years. Sprouse’s expertise focuses on accounting information system services. She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance and decision support systems from Ferrum College […]
Virginia Business sales manager named sales professional of year
Virginia Business won 12 awards in the Virginia Press Association‘s 2024 News & Advertising Contest, and Sales Manager Toni McCracken was named Outstanding Sales Professional of the Year, the state organization announced during an awards banquet held Saturday at the Omni Richmond Hotel. “Toni’s career in Virginia media sales is remarkable. She is a mentor, a […]
CarMax leaves Martin Agency, transfers ad account to L.A. firm
Fortune 500 used car retailer CarMax, headquartered in Goochland County, has chosen a new creative agency of record, leaving Richmond-based marketing and ad firm The Martin Agency, which held the account since 2019. The nation’s largest used car retailer announced Wednesday it has appointed 72andSunny’s Los Angeles office as its creative AOR “following a competitive […]
Virginia 500: The 2024-25 Power List
Who are Virginia’s most powerful and influential leaders in business, government, politics and education this year? Find out in the fifth annual edition of the Virginia 500: The 2024-25 Power List. Read more about how we assembled the Virginia 500 from our editor. Executives are listed in alphabetical order by industry. Below you will find links […]
VCU revives Atlanta’s Creative Circus ad school
Editor’s note: The print version of this story in the May 2024 issue of Virginia Business incorrectly reported the amount of Virginia Commonwealth University’s purchase of the Creative Circus. VCU acquired Creative Circus’ branding and intellectual assets from Texas-based Ancora Education for $75,000. The potential bottom line wasn’t the sole motivator behind Virginia Commo[...]
The insiders
The new leadership of The Martin Agency, a nationally prominent Richmond-based ad agency that counts GEICO and UPS among its clients, isn’t so new. Danny Robinson, who has been with the 400-person agency for 20 years and served as chief creative officer for the last three, succeeded Kristen Cavallo as Martin’s CEO this year, but […]
Cavallo announces retirement
MullenLowe Global CEO Kristen Cavallo, formerly also CEO of Richmond-based marketing and advertising firm The Martin Agency, is retiring from her role to pursue political and social activism, MullenLowe and Martin parent Interpublic Group of Cos. (IPG) announced Monday. Cavallo became CEO of MullenLowe Global in November 2022 and continued to lead Martin until January, […]
2023 Virginia Business Person of the Year: Kristen Cavallo
In 2017, Kristen Cavallo and her son, Matt, then a student on spring break from James Madison University, set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with a seven-day window to summit. Statistics from Kilimanjaro National Park, last updated in the 2000s, show a correlation between a route’s duration and success rate: Climbers on seven-day routes have […]
‘Smokeless’ Snoop Dogg ad is Martin Agency creation
Known as much for his love of weed as for his music, celebrity rapper Snoop Dogg posted Thursday on X that he was “giving up smoke,” an announcement that raised eyebrows among some fans, while others figured it must be a marketing ploy. To be blunt, it was the latter, and Richmond’s The Martin Agency […]
Professional Services 2023: WILLIAM ‘DANNY’ ROBINSON
The Martin Agency’s chief creative officer since 2020, Robinson oversees ad campaigns for big-name clients like Geico, UPS and Old Navy and was named Ad Age’s 2022 Chief Creative Officer of the Year. It’s no coincidence that during his tenure, Adweek named Martin its Agency of the Year for three consecutive years, from 2020 to […]