Focused on Your Success. Seriously.

Welcome to Commit Agency! We appreciate your visit. It is hard to believe that we started the agency 20 years ago already and there is no question that every day has been filled with a different adventure (or ten). “Evolve or die” is the mantra that drives us. And it is a good thing because when we started our agency email was new, social media didn’t exist and Google was just a word babies said while slurring.

I am a numbers guy that has strategic vision to see opportunity for our clients. Opportunity that grows their business. It is the thing that drives me…finding the why for our clients to make a meaningful difference in their business makes me proud of our work, our team and our agency. We don’t settle for just ok and we constantly watch our client’s back. This philosophy has allowed me to build many friends in this business that were clients first. It really is those relationships built on trust with great people that make this business rewarding and fulfilling.

When not running the agency, I am spending time with my wife Deborah and two sons and a significant amount of my spare time is spent supporting charity boards including the Chandler Compadres and Phoenix Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix. I have been recognized by the ASU Spirit of Enterprise Center with the Monster Entrepreneurial Award and was named one of America’s top 25 Most Influential Minds in the Hospitality Industry by HSMAI, the Hospitality, Sales and Marketing Association International and was recognized by Phoenix Business Journal 40 under 40. I am blessed to have been afforded the opportunity to get my MBA from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.

My client industry experience includes healthcare, hospitality, home building, retail, government, and nonprofit. Brands I have worked on include Destination, CIGNA, The Phoenician, Canyon Suites, Luxury Collection, Maracay Homes, Health Net, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, Camelot Homes, Harrah’s Ak-Chin, Paddy O’ Furniture, Shasta Pools, Magnolia Hotels, NextCare Urgent Care, Santé, State of Arizona Department of Health Services, Aetna, Forever Resorts and many others.

“Everything will be alright in the end so if it is not alright it is not the end” — The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel….. favorite quote of mine from the movie. As a co-founder, I get to support our team and work with leadership development plans that allow them to stretch and grow and be their best for each other and for our clients. I love how forward-thinking Commit’s team is, and that we have built so many long term and meaningful relationships with our team members, our clients and in our community.

My dissertation research was on measuring the effectiveness of marketing and advertising. At Commit, clients are committed to their own growth, actively involved, and crave results. Just like us.

Personally, I serve on the Pacific Southwest BBB and Bank 34 boards, support leadership development in the community, and enjoy living my “One Big Life” with friends and family.

For over thirty years, Stan Yamamoto has built his marketing repertoire of skills so fully, he is considered by many as the Swiss Army Knife of advertising. An exceptional brand strategist, an experienced agency leader, and a trusted partner to clients are just some of the tools Stan brings with him every day. His approach is one of a creative, cool-headed problem-solver; a steady force who brings calm and expertise to chaos. No small task in the ulcer inducing world of advertising.

A snapshot of his business experience highlights Stan’s impressive background:

• Managed the day-to-day operations of two separate Phoenix advertising firms
• Worked on major national and regional brands, such as KFC, The Flamingo Hilton, The Dial Corp, American Honda Motor Corporation, Northern Automotive (Checker Auto), Del Webb, U-Haul International, Bank One and Motorola.
• Appointed to the launch team for the Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks, Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field), and the National Hockey League’s Phoenix Coyotes
• Helped Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona (the fastest-growing Goodwill in the World) attain a 317% increase in annual donations and a 452% increase in annual revenues from 2002 through 2012

The strategy and judgement Stan brings to organization makes him an invaluable confidant on issues that often reach far beyond marketing and communications. His insights have impacted stakeholder issues, legislative outreach and long-term growth in industries like mining, healthcare, retail, non-profit, water utilities and sustainability. Being such a multi-tooled marketing executive, Stan is up for any challenge you want to throw his way.

If you ask anyone in my circle what they’d say about me, I think they’d say I like to think big.

Big ideas are what come naturally to me after more than 20 years of account management experience, primarily in the casino, hospitality, automotive and quick-service / fast-casual restaurant industries.

Over the years, I’ve been proud of my ability to create and cultivate high-performance teams with a personal focus on developing long-lasting client relationships and loyalty.

When I’m able to turn off the switch for a bit and focus on non-work fun, I enjoy wine tasting (especially in central California), traveling, golfing (but not during the Arizona summers) and spending time with my husband and two teenage children.

After having studied photography and graphic design in college, I began my career as a designer and illustrator for a local newspaper. I went on to work for/with some of the top ad agencies in the Southwest—building and leading various teams of writers, designers, developers, photographers and others toward the best work possible. What I love most is working with clients to discover or rediscover the heartbeat of their brand. Even as a child, I remember being compelled to take my toys apart to see how they worked. I believe this innate curiosity has shaped who I am today. I love getting to the bottom of things to better understand how it works (or not). This ultimately ends up showing us what direction to point the ship. When not in the office, I love spending my time with my wife and kids, writing/playing music, or riding my motorcycle—all the while trying to learn how to live in the moment.

As someone who wrote her first “book” at age 8 and dreamt up a fictional superhero called Banana Man who went on wild escapades every Christmas Eve (honestly, I don’t even know), I get to tell stories for a living. Real stories that matter…and aren’t about weird banana-yielding superheroes. How cool is that?!

With stints as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor and PR gal, my 25-year career has taken lots of twists and turns. Just like a good book, one might say. From covering grisly crime scenes as a police reporter to attending a presidential inaugural ball in our nation’s capital, my career path of finding and telling stories has taken me from Phoenix to Washington, D.C., and back again.

Today, I guide brand strategy at Commit—alongside an uber-talented group of creative geniuses. Along the way, I’ve been able to work on some amazing brands including McDonald’s, Pfizer, Make-A-Wish America, UnitedHealthcare, Nationwide Insurance and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

In my downtime, you can find me curled up with a good book (shocking, I know), hanging out with my kids or enjoying a leisurely brunch with my better half.

With more than 15 years of marketing and advertising experience, mama bear-in-residence, mercenary contract negotiator and client advocate, I oversee Commit’s account services team to keep projects on track, on budget and moving through the system to ensure client satisfaction. I also work with the media team to ensure analytics are always utilized to provide maximum return on investments. My hospitality expertise has been utilized for clients such as Two Roads Hospitality, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, Bedford Springs Resort and Costa d’Este. An avid DIYer, I have been known to spend my off-time remodeling bathrooms and even building a swimming pool when not running my daughter to dance class or off-roading with my husband.

Food, travel, writing, design, social media—my life splashed across a six inch bumper sticker would likely include a few of these words.

From senior publicist to account executive, in-house hospitality marketing leader to freelance creative consultant, I’ve been fortunate to live a life full of experiences that have allowed me to arrive at where I am today here at Commit. A writer to the core, I’ve also been fortunate enough to have my byline appear in outlets like Phoenix Magazine—where I enjoyed the unique pleasure of being the publication’s dining critic, 2014 to 2015—to Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine, Modern Luxury Scottsdale, Java Magazine, and many others.

As Commit’s Director of Social Media and Content Strategy, my job is to set the tone and strategy for my department. From the content we develop and manage for our clients, to the data we analyze and build upon, I benefit from the best of both worlds—not only do I get to work in a field that distills everything I love, but I also get to lead an incredible team of creatives, enthusiasts and data wonks, constantly looking for new ways to learn and grow.

Born and raised in Phoenix, with a brief detour in New York City and extensive travels in between, in my free time you can track me bouncing around town with friends on a never-ending adventure to find the best food (and cocktails), traveling to fun and far off new places, cooking at home, and or frankly, recharging at home in my sweats with DoorDash at the ready. (Don’t repeat that last part.)

Starting my career in account management, I live and breathe client support and am passionate about helping Commit’s clients execute against the goals of their campaigns. I’ve since transitioned to the dark side digital department where I’m involved in all stages of digital projects and campaigns from initial market research, trend and competitive analysis to plan execution, campaign management, testing, optimization and – my personal favorite – reporting!

Call me a nerd, but I love numbers as much as Count von Count from Sesame Street, AH! AH! AH! I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves to analyze the performance of social, programmatic, organic and paid search campaigns to see which tactics are performing best for each audience. Once I’ve teased out the campaign insights, I communicate them to our team and our clients in a meaningful way by telling stories through data. Basically my job is one-third psychology, one-third data analysis, and one-third storytelling. Told you I loved numbers!

As our resident Commit Coloradan, you can find me exploring my new home in Fort Collins hiking, biking, touring breweries, and enjoying the rarely-above-90-degree weather. My Phoenix-based coworkers love me.