Principals.

Experience counts. And we have 20+ years of it. We’ve worked with leading Silicon Valley icons, and top design firms. And, have won numerous awards along the way.

Nancy Tomkins

“I always see a creative angle in everything in life. So that’s where I start when crafting messages, developing concepts, managing campaigns, and writing for a broad range of clients. I’ve been doing it for more than 1,200 weeks, 7,000+ days, 56,000 hours, but who’s really counting.   My clients? Visionaries. Upstarts. CEOs. CTOs. CFOs. You may know them. I’ve helped tell their stories. An upstate New York transplant, with a BS from Cornell University (communications and consumer economics), I started as an editor for a San Francisco-based magazine publisher, and then worked as a financial reporter covering the Bay Area banking and financial markets. With some 250 business articles behind me, and hungry for more, I leaped from journalism to PR, the money helped. I rose to VP/Creative Director at a leading Silicon Valley PR agency, traveled to Holland to write an advertorial for Forbes on investing, worked with companies that have since become technology icons, did a three-year stint with a Paris-based magazine, and, oh, started Words By Design. Fast forward, I bought a condo, sold a condo, bought a home, remodeled my home, and am now raising my third Eskimo, dog that is.”               

Sharon Patin

“I lo

ve the big picture, making the complex and muddled clear. And I love working with groups to channel and focus ideas into a cohesive story. That’s why I often become part of the extended team, brainstorming concepts, serving as a sounding board, managing initiatives and writing. I’ve helped launch internal and external communications programs, managed virtual teams, and created collateral, content and copy for scores of companies. Two decades of experience, I’m a California native (with a lengthy Minnesota layover). I earned a BA from Cal State Long Beach (economics and journalism), and then began my career as a journalist working for technology magazines. I joined Nancy at a Silicon Valley PR firm, working with the leading technology companies of the time. When Nancy left, I took her role, and then had an epiphany — start my own business, surely the lack of regular income could be softened by a lavish vacation policy. So true. I’ve traveled the world, gotten married, had a daughter, joined a school board and added a dog, rooster, and two hens to the mix. And, still, I love the big picture and knocking about the world with my little family. “      

1. ➡  What’s our thinking? How do we work? Hoping you’d ask. Find out here.