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Meet the Team

Kendra Wright<span>Founder</span>

Kendra WrightFounder While she's not "founding" companies, Kendra loves to travel, discover marginal pastries and bet her business partners to do something foolish for $5.

Aaron Pederson<span>Partner, President</span>

Aaron PedersonPartner, President A hopeless idealist, Aaron already knows the next project will be a raging success. He can memorize ridiculous amounts of numbers and bake a mean soft pretzel!

Jeremy Emerson<span>Partner, Creative Director</span>

Jeremy EmersonPartner, Creative Director If he's not bending your ear with a super fun story, he's probably dreaming up something beautiful to add to the world. Maybe a logo, a rack of ribs or a new secret Negroni recipe!

Cassie Dispenza<span>VP of Strategic Partnerships</span>

Cassie DispenzaVP of Strategic Partnerships You probably just saw Cassie at her 273rd conference of the year, where does she get the time?! Besides being Saffire's brand MVP she regularly performs cookie magic with the UT game on.

Chris Lugar<span>Technical Director</span>

Chris LugarTechnical Director If it's ours and you've used it, Chris the O.G. most likely made it work. Powered by pallets of Coke Zero. He spends spare time teaching his two sons to wave Terrible Towels, while booming old school Boyz II Men.

Jessica Bybee-Dziedzic<span>Director of Client Operations</span>

Jessica Bybee-DziedzicDirector of Client Operations Jessica is the ultimate teammate, having worn nearly every hat there is at Saffire! She loves dance and taking her bosses to racy and inappropriate concerts on 6th street.

Jodi Buresh<span>Director of Partnerships</span>

Jodi BureshDirector of Partnerships Go Bison! Jodi's a North Dakotan and a former high school hockey cheerleader who's all our first choice to bring the fun to any event. She's in charge of hiring the beer garden workers. She'll probably even marry one of them.

Amy Pelzl<span>Senior Manager, Strategic Support</span>

Amy PelzlSenior Manager, Strategic Support When she's not taking the ticketing world by storm, Amy is perfecting the next character accent for a play. Or shopping for earrings. But she might just be happiest sliding behind the wheel, just to see where the next road takes her.

Ashley Leopold<span>Senior Manager of Client Experience</span>

Ashley LeopoldSenior Manager of Client Experience In addition to her ninja coaching skills at Saffire, Ashley is a black belt in Taekwondo, and she knows everybody. Everywhere. She loves a good local craft brew and singing along with 80's hair bands!

Phil Thompson<span>Client Experience Manager</span>

Phil ThompsonClient Experience Manager Not only is Phil a team member, he's a former client! He has a dreamy coaching phone voice (Phil's a former voice actor) and he'd rather be exploring exotic Topeka, KS or in his backyard doing some more gardening.

Claire Wright<span>Client Experience Manager</span>

Claire WrightClient Experience Manager Claire's an event junkie with just the “wright” eye for beautiful photography. She's an “old soul” trapped inside a young person, and somehow manages to consistently show up with the one thing you never knew you needed. Except a car… she doesn't drive!

Austin Castaneda<span>Senior Manager of Ticket Experience</span>

Austin CastanedaSenior Manager of Ticket Experience Austin’s left turn in native Albuquerque landed him in Portland where he fearlessly builds seat maps, tames ticketing wild fires and charms crowds with his euphonium.

Rayce Clemmer<span>Ticket Experience Specialist</span>

Rayce ClemmerTicket Experience Specialist When he's not meticulously building a seat map or ticketing support plan, he's re-alphabetizing his classic Nintendo and Gameboy cartridge collection. Rayce is your typical bilingual home-brewer who dreams of winning the Scotland Highland Games!

Emily Richardson<span>Senior Cashless Operations Manager</span>

Emily RichardsonSenior Cashless Operations Manager You'll find Emily rocking BlastPass events for Saffire's clients, fusing her passion for live events with technology. She can also kick your butt at a video game, watch out!

Michaela Liebl<span>BlastPass Experience Specialist</span>

Michaela LieblBlastPass Experience Specialist Michaela grew up around fairs and events, and never met a gate or box office operation she couldn't wrangle!

Daniel Bunn<span>Senior Software Engineer</span>

Daniel BunnSenior Software Engineer How many software engineers do you know who used to live on a house boat, and would rather be out taking amazing HDR photography. We thought so. Dan can build robots, websites and ginormous sand castles with his kids.

Katie Bobzien<span>Designer</span>

Katie BobzienDesigner Passionate about the Pacific Northwest, Katie balances a love of Portland and Seattle by running half marathons in Vancouver, B.C. When she's not designing, she's designing! Custom stationery, that is, aided by her puppy and kitty at her side.

Jeff Seymour<span>Front End Developer</span>

Jeff SeymourFront End Developer What? A developer who loves video games? Jeff takes it a step further with a passion for digital art, fine Japanese cuisine and a mastery of the IKEA floorplan. He just wishes they stocked more hot sauce!

Katrina Hirsch<span>Front End Developer</span>

Katrina HirschFront End Developer Always dreaming of her next trip to Iceland, Katrina cultivates code and fills her workplace with plants. She collects antique cameras, tattoos and tarot cards. Step inside…

Sam Youngs<span>Junior Software Developer</span>

Sam YoungsJunior Software Developer Sam is a Portlander who dreams of his next trip to Japan, and slings code to help support all of Saffire's beautiful custom websites and keep the platform running smooth.

Grace Jackson<span>Marketing Coordinator</span>

Grace JacksonMarketing Coordinator If she isn’t already impressing you with her “out-of-nowhere” hip-hop dance moves inside a random photo booth, Grace is busily marketing Saffire and being a brand champion for clients! Can she top off that Saffire queso for you?

Kris Boehm<span>Ticketing Key Account Manager </span>

Kris BoehmTicketing Key Account Manager Kris is a ticketing and client support rock star ready to bring his talents to the rescue of any Saffire client!

Brandy Humphrey<span>Ticketing Key Account Manager </span>

Brandy HumphreyTicketing Key Account Manager Brandy's a native Washingtonian and veteran box office manager for some really cool venues who's lived in six different states, ready to tackle any ticketing need!

Tina Shoemaker

Tina ShoemakerTicketing Key Account Manager Tina is based in southern California and has an impressive background in ticketing, having ticketed everything from New Kids on the Block and The Eagles to Harry Styles and the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association!

Stacy Klobe<span>Executive Sales Assistant</span>

Stacy KlobeExecutive Sales Assistant Hailing from Austin, Texas, Stacy comes to Saffire after an illustrious career as an educator, ready to help Saffire's super-powered sales team become even more super!

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