About Us
What Does 26 Characters Mean?
Twenty-six characters form the alphabet. Everything that we can do with language – convey emotion, demonstrate respect, bridge divides – boils down to these twenty-six characters, which we use to tell the story of your company. Add in world class design, photography and videography, and your clients have a powerful story about what you stand for, where you’re headed and why they should follow you there.
Great work doesn't
happen by accident.
It stems from great talent, sharp minds and deep experience. We’ve worked at pioneers like Apple and Digitas. We’ve contributed to stalwarts like The Wall Street Journal and McKinsey & Company. We’ve won Emmy’s and other big industry awards. We’ve ghostwritten for Fortune 500 executives and we’ve worked with top brands: Google, Salesforce, Accenture, William Blair, Spencer Stuart – the list goes on.
Thomas is a former senior columnist with the Wall Street Journal, a communications writer for JPMorgan Private Bank, and founder of the prestigious wealth-management trade journal, Family Wealth Report. He graduated with Honors from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. As a B2B writer, Tom draws on a love of hard work, deep analytical acumen and a clear and engaging style.
Shawn is an award-winning graphic designer. He is a former art director at Apple Computer and the founding designer for Dwell Magazine. His work includes everything from branding to illustration, and has been recognized by prestigious design competitions, magazines, and books. In addition, Shawn has taught courses in publication design, typography, and identity design.
Sarah has 25 years of experience working as a writer in marketing and research. She has worked with large technology companies as well as startups targeting B2B audiences in a variety of industries. She enjoys helping clients with thought leadership and go-to-market strategies while providing guidance for unique messaging. Her life’s philosophy is “If you don’t take a chance, you don’t stand a chance.”
Jenifer is a B2B writer, editor, and strategist who specializes in technical and marketing content. Her expertise is built on a 20-year career with IBM and several years with global teams from Microsoft, Google, and small-to-medium-sized companies. Jenifer transforms complex concepts into clear and compelling information, keeping in mind the strategic role and needs for each piece.
As the managing editor for multiple global consulting firms, including McKinsey & Company, Kathy has edited everything from risk management thought leadership to rock and roll books. Known for having high quality standards, she keeps one eye on the details and the other on the big picture. A Grinnell College grad, she’s from Iowa, but Chicago is home.
As a writer and editor, Joslyn helps create content for entrepreneurs, B2Bs, startups, and enterprise organizations. Digital content marketing is her comfort zone, and she’s written for technology companies big and small, as well as those in the finance, manufacturing, real estate, and health/wellness orbits. Her writing has been published on Google’s blog, TechCrunch, Venture Beat, McSweeneys, and the New York Times.
Bob is a content strategist and copywriter with nearly three decades of experience in financial services, insurance, health care and medical device marketing. He knows his way around these highly regulated industries and has produced compelling content for dozens of exacting clients. His strengths include bringing a distinctly creative approach to marketing, writing effectively and intelligently in a range of styles.
John is a veteran marketing content manager, senior-level copywriter, content and messaging strategist, and SEO keyword researcher with over 25 years of experience in providing award-winning services for a wide variety of leading B2B companies. John’s strongest specialties are in technology, financial, and healthcare.
Andy is a LinkedIn marketing and professional branding coach, he runs a popular LinkedIn centric blog which attracts thousands of monthly visitors. His focus is on helping individuals to present powerfully via the LinkedIn platform. A lawyer by training, his multi-skilled experience includes recruitment, HR consulting, career transition coaching, teaching and lobbying.
Emily received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design. She has worked for multiple Chicago based Architecture/Interior Design firms in various branding strategy groups. She focuses on print and experiential graphic design and helping companies communicate within their workplaces to convey messages, tell their story, and engage employees and visitors.
Corrie brings 20 years of well-rounded marketing communications experience, not to mention a great deal of enthusiasm, to her content marketing strategy and copywriting work. With a multi-channel portfolio including countless blog posts, direct mail kits, white papers, web pages, emails, social posts, and more, Corrie’s industry specialties include financial services and insurance, healthcare, and enterprise technology.
With nearly two decades of experience, Matt’s wealth of advertising and marketing knowledge is almost as impressive as his fervent passion for caffeine, music, literary fiction, sneakers and cynicism. When it comes to copywriting, he's known to borrow a Method actor's approach, fully immersing himself within a brand to ensure the most impactful language has been articulated.
Dan is an art director and branding designer working predominately in digital marketing. His approach to problem solving is firmly rooted in minimalism, relying heavily on the core semiotic elements of a given project’s messaging and imagery. Along with logos and identity items, his strength lies in micro web content that utilizes animation, film, and photography.
Doug has a masters degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison. He teaches part-time at Columbia College Chicago and lives in a quaint burg just outside the city limits of Chicago. He's worked for companies as large as International Paper and as small as some local free newspaper you find in a coffee shop. And he loves anything that gets him traveling.
Lisa is a writer, editor and consultant focused primarily on the investment management industry. She has nearly two decades of experience in financial services. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Claremont McKenna College with a B.A. in Economics and Literature. Lisa began her career working in advertising agencies, specifically in account planning and consumer research.
As much as he adores beautiful design that is digitally rendered, handmade works have a huge influence on his design process. Handmade gives everything a more intimate feel. Everything from pencil renderings to hand crafted woodworks; he will use these skills whenever possible. Ryan is classically trained in Visual Communications from the Art Institute, Chicago.
Eliot is a Minneapolis-based writer focused on connecting professional service marketing to industry trends and developments in the world at large. As a ghostwriter, he helps dozens of clients make professional connections through thoughtful, polished, attention-grabbing copy on a wide breadth of platforms. ELiot has an MA in English Literature from the University of Chicago.
Alex is an award-winning playwright and published arts critic, with an MFA in dramatic writing from Florida State University. Combined with a decade of copywriting and social media experience, she brings a unique narrative perspective to content creation, focusing on development of brand voice, authentically engaging clients and community through storytelling.
Bill has worked for 35+ years in the editorial field, ranging from editorial planning, publishing to management. For the past 12 years, he’s worked in B2B content marketing and copywriting. In his spare time, he is a passionate advocate of kettlebell training. He has a BA from Seton Hall and a MA in English from Temple University.
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Who Started This Thing?
What do you call a guy who likes to mentally solve brain teasers while physically training for marathons? You could call him a glutton for punishment. Or you could say he’s always on the lookout for the next big challenge. In fact, it’s the appeal of these sorts of challenges that led Steve Goldhaber to found 26 Characters.
Breaking down a complex problem into parts that can be simplified, solved and conquered – that’s the kind of thing Steve lives to do. After 20+ years of marketing experience, Steve knew there was a better way to approach the core problems that marketing addresses.
Especially when it comes to the unique marketing needs of professional service organizations, Steve was convinced that this commitment to problem-solving is the key to better marketing. Thus, 26 Characters was born.
This philosophy, combined with the corporate experience where he was in charge of global digital marketing and content for 2 Fortune 500 professional service forms, and his agency experience as VP at Digitas, gives you the best of both worlds: a seasoned marketing expert who understands that an idea has to be more than just “cool.” It has to work.
These days, Steve finds nothing more satisfying than taking the problems facing B2B professional service companies and transforming them into modern, sustainable marketing solutions that get results. He takes special pride in being an “accountable marketer” – that is, someone who is ready to back up his work with metrics showing the desired impact.
In addition to being a contributing writer for The Content Marketing Institute, B2B Marketing and The LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Blog, Steve is the author of What’s Your Problem?, a book that breaks down the concrete problem solving tools that should guide every good marketer’s perspective. He’s also a worldly guy who has visited over 50 countries.