The Seedling Team
After years of bouncing ideas off one another, this husband and wife team decided to create an agency where they could serve clients and give back to the community at the same time. By fostering personal relationships with clients, Seedling Communications creates individualized plans designed to produce positive change.
Jennie Whitaker
Public Relations & Media Strategy
Jennie's fascination with words began at an incredibly young age. At five years old she became a tenacious reader, following along to the pre-recorded bedtime stories her Dad narrated on cassette tape. He did it to save time, but for her it meant never having to wait for a good story. Through the years her sense of urgency has molded her into a strong communicator with an innate ability to craft messages and distribute them with a moments notice.
From local museums to worldwide brands, Jennie has a proven track record of understanding the media and placing stories where they belong. It's a simple concept to her, backed by years of education and experience.
Working for clients such as Ronald McDonald House Charities, St. David's HealthCare, Cirque Du Soleil, Long Center for the Performing Arts, Concordia University, Maine Maritime Museum, McDonald's, Medical City Hospital, ClubCorp, Boy Scouts of America, Abilene Christian University, Texas Beef Council and Plains Capital Bank she has executed hundreds of plans from tiny outsourced projects to intensive in-house work. Moving like wildfire, she's gained experience in nearly every major industry over the last decade. With a keen ability to develop stories that will make your audience listen, Jennie believes in her clients and loves to see them succeed.
Happily married to her best friend, Jennie and her husband live a stones throw away from the lake in Austin, Texas. Jennie has a bachelor's degree in public relations from the University of Texas and a master's degree in journalism and public relations from Texas Christian University.
Likes: hot tea, porch swings, writing, the ocean, citrus fruits, Indian food, media relations,University of Texas football, local newspapers, picking wildflowers
Dislikes: caraway seeds, airplane turbulence, walking outside after dark, traveling with an itinerary, saying goodbye
Marcus Whitaker
Branding & Business Affairs
No one has ever had to tell Marcus to use his imagination. With a knack for all things creative, Marcus consistently produces brilliant ideas and artwork resulting in heightened awareness and positive change. Over the years, Marcus has earned the reputation as a "jack-of-all trades" making his experience a perfect fit for Seedling Communications.
Serving as a social worker for several years, helping people all over the country with a varying degree of needs, has given Marcus strong experience in crisis communication and strategic planning. Due to the unique nature of his non-profit based career, past positions have allowed him to create short and long-term strategies for nearly every circumstance imaginable. His ability to listen to others and respond with individualized plans is arguably unmatched. Having worked in a myriad of client relationships, he understands what it takes to change perspectives, raise awareness and share information with others.
Marcus has been a beacon of light to others, identifying areas of change and helping them to implement those initiatives. Always prepared to produce clever plans that influence others, Marcus works as the branding strategist at Seedling Communications filling a dual role as the head of business affairs.
Born in Kentucky and raised to uphold the stereotype of a true southern gentleman, Marcus now considers himself an Austinite. After moving across the country twice and settling in Austin, he finally understands why everyone loves it here. Marcus earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Georgetown College and completed his master's in business administration from Liberty University.
Likes: black coffee, University of Kentucky basketball, social media, graphic design, horse farms, golfing, fishing, german chocolate cake, reading, Maine
Dislikes: sour cream, traffic, getting a haircut every month, Texas heat, cottage cheese, laying inside of a fully zipped sleeping bag
Casey Creamer
Web and Graphic Designer
Casey grew up in a family full of artists. From an early age, he knew he was destined to make art. This foundation led Casey to explore his passion through fine woodworking, sewing, knitting, painting, drawing and digital forms of illustration and design.
Casey began to refine his skills in college, where the code languages he learned allowed him to expand and develop websites for others. Casey spent the next few years educating himself and honing his skills, learning new program tricks and becoming a more effective web and graphic designer.
To put his education into practice, Casey began working for a large print shop as the lead designer and web master. Here he completed projects for many of the large colleges in Austin, their sporting teams and for several of Austin's music festivals.
Over the past four years, Casey has expanded his portfolio as a freelance graphic and web designer. During this time Casey has worked with churches, nonprofits and local companies to expand their web presence through different creative mediums. This has allowed Casey to provide and produce an array of services, including branding packages, website design, website maintenance, graphic design, digital illustrations, video production and animation for videos. Casey completed a bachelors degree in interactive specialization from Austin Community College.
Likes: really old Volkswagens, any type of tea, well-designed patterns, backpacking, rock climbing, snowboarding, spending time with my wife and daughter, traveling over seas
Dislikes: traffic, the way horses smell, traveling in the rain, text messaging