Our people

It’s the people of UP who make it so special. We have some of the most talented people in our business and they deserve the spotlight. Our global community of more than 200 like-minded individuals work together in cohesive, distributed teams. Sometimes our teams are located near each other, and other times they are separated by continents. But wherever they are, they bring expertise, diligence and creative thinking to their jobs.

Meet our leadership team

Adam McNaught-Davis

Creative and Art Director
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Adam McNaught-Davis

Creative and Art Director

Adam brings 25 years of experience in branding and communication across a wide range of areas and disciplines. His sweet spots are in life science, beauty and aesthetics and technology. Unusually he’s also a qualified journalist in the UK, which means he is able to collaborate with UP’s dedicated copywriters on level which always provides rich and winning concepts, fully integrated into the visual.


An example of this was when Sam (a senior UP copywriter) and Adam created a new ‘language’ for the Finnish ingredient brand ‘Re-connecting Nature’ which brought the native value of Finland to a global audience in a distinct and compelling way.


Sam and Adam also collaborated closely on the interactive Axelos report into the impact of covid on the IT service desk. 


This team also recently worked on a US-wide campaign for genetic screening brand Illumina, developing the concept ‘Venture into the Known’ to compel healthcare systems to invest in deeply understanding their patients through genomics.


Adam has built and refreshed many other brand identities for UP clients including Sphere Fluidics and Oxford Gene Technology.


Adam loves a spin class and a Downland walk.


Adam is:

  • A natural creative, fizzing with ideas and insights
  • An experienced creative director, leading branding and advertising campaigns for a variety of global science and technology organisations
  • A multi-skilled graphic designer in a broad range of complementary disciplines ranging from print to AI.
  • A qualified journalist with excellent skills in interviewing and narrative
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Adrienne Leussa PhD

Scientific Writer
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Adrienne Leussa PhD

Scientific Writer

Adrienne Leussa (PhD, MBA candidate) is a Scientist, Business Leader, Consultant, Podcaster and Speaker with over 20 years industry experience who helps leaders effectively communicate, cultivate trust, accelerate collaboration with key stakeholders, and build long-lasting relationships. She is currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Anne Burrows

Account Director, Brand Strategist, Brand Manager

Anne Burrows

Account Director, Brand Strategist, Brand Manager
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Asra Eftekhari

Brand Strategist
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Asra Eftekhari

Brand Strategist

Asra is a Marketing Strategist/Executive with 21 years experience in the MENA region across multiple industries (digital, retail, luxury, fashion, technology and management consulting) and across multiple marketing disciplines. She offers “digitally transformed” marketing savvy with a focus on customer experience design/management.

Asra gained a great experience and insight working with a wide range of marketing and brand strategy projects with companies such as: Al Fahim Holding, Dubai Tourism/ Festivals, Dubai Mall, Bentley, Embassy of Netherland, Galderma, Muscat Opera House, Dubai Airport, Dubai Economy Department/Retail, Aigner, Kilian Perfume, Roja Dove Perfume and Masdar Institute.

Her expertise ranges from drafting and implementing brand strategies, designing the customer experience journey utilizing a digital transformation approach, design thinking and product/service development, Inbound Marketing, both English and Arabic content production, brand launch campaign development and execution.

Today Asra works as a senior brand strategist for UP and runs a boutique brand consulting company in the UAE called Eight Luxury Marketing. 

Asra loves Dubai as a great example of place branding and strongly believes in the huge impact the right branding can have in bringing a place to life, creating value and attracting investors in a snowballing effect.

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Bethany Skinnard

PR & Content Strategist
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Bethany Skinnard

PR & Content Strategist

Bethany is a highly experienced  senior Public Relations and Communications

strategist with over 19 years of multi-sector experience (gained both in-house and

agency-side). Bethany’s diverse experience spans sustainability and social impact issues (now a key focus), government communications, health and social care, financial, retail, travel, charity and lifestyle brands. 

UP AREAS WORKED ON: Sustainability, Places, Tech, Life science, Health, Non-profit,

WHERE? EU + UK + USA

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Calum MacLean

Head of Post Production UK

Calum MacLean

Head of Post Production UK
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Cordell Burke

UK Creative Managing Partner | Creative Director | London, UK
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Cordell Burke

UK Creative Managing Partner | Creative Director | London, UK

UP Member Cordell is an experienced Creative Director and Art Director who has lead integrated creative departments at agencies such as OgilvyOne, Tequila (TBWA group), Saatchi & Saatchi and bigdog agency. Cordell's aim is to help solve complex marketing problems for clients with challenging products or services. 

He’s produced on and offline creative work for clients such as Aviva, Barclays/Barclaycard, American Express, Prudential, IBM, BT as well as Pret a Manger, Mazda and Rightmove. 

Also, he’s a member of the DMA Awards Committee, won many awards at Cannes, DMA (UK & US), Campaign, Brand Republic, Drum, Creative Circle, US Caples and been a regular judge at most of these events.

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Deborah Harris

Senior Global Strategist
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Deborah Harris

Senior Global Strategist

A high-achieving, internationally qualified, influential senior executive with over 25 years global commercial experience across several industry sectors – specializing in STM publishing, biopharma business, tech and SaaS. An expert in agile marketing, she has built more than ten products and start-ups from the ground up to acquisition. Deborah has had the pleasure of working with Science magazine, PharmaVentures Pharma Television, Wolters Kluwer, Elsevier, Mendeley, SSRN, Faculty Opinions, Steritas and Nuclera to drive rapid growth.

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Elizabeth Roquemore Wigham

Content Strategist Science Writer
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Elizabeth Roquemore Wigham

Content Strategist Science Writer
Liz Roquemore is a senior science writer and inbound content specialist based in Cardiff, UK. A curious scientist and born communicator, Liz enjoys exploring life’s mysteries and bringing their importance to light. As an inbound marketer, her talent is being able to cut straight to the heart of people’s needs and then create valuable content that resonates and inspires them to act. 

With a PhD in molecular cell biology from Johns Hopkins University, Liz joined UP FOR LIFE after a productive scientific career in academia and the biotech industry. This included 18 years as an R&D leader and technology manager at GE Healthcare. Her broad product portfolio included stem cell models, genetically engineered cell lines, fluorescent reagents, and high-throughput confocal imaging systems for research and pharmaceutical drug discovery.

Since joining UP FOR LIFE, Liz has been able to combine her two favorite skills: investigation and communication. She has written on topics as diverse as cancer therapy, regenerative medicine, multivariate data analysis, lab robotics, and regulatory compliance for medical devices—delivering lively content that gets results. Clients include Tecan, Leica Microsystems, GE Healthcare, PerkinElmer, Galderma, Sartorius, ThermoFisher Scientific, and many more.

If she’s not floating on the UP cloud, chances are Liz is still online, helping yoga students around the globe unleash their inner joy through breath and movement.

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Emma Greatorex

Communications Strategist, Account Director, Scientific Writer
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Emma Greatorex

Communications Strategist, Account Director, Scientific Writer

Emma is a life science strategist and product marketing specialist based in Cambridge, UK.


After a PhD at Imperial College and two post-docs in population genetics, she spent the last 20 years working for some of the top companies in the life sciences industry, eg Qiagen, Abcam, Affymetrix and LGC.


Since joining UP FOR LIFE in 2020, Emma has worked on projects such as rebrands,

website development, technical content development, and marketing strategy. Clients

include Sphere Fluidics, Precision Life, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Abcam, Congenica, Oxford Gene Technology, and Astrea Bioseparations.


Emma’s technical expertise spans genomics, molecular biology, proteomics, drug

development, bioinformatics, and agricultural biotechnology. She prides herself on keeping abreast of new scientific developments and leveraging her strong technical background to deliver high quality marketing projects.


When not working, you might find Emma travelling to UK music festivals in her camper van, or hiking remote mountain ranges further afield.

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Gerhard Pappert

Science Writer and Content Strategist | UP for LIFE Executive Team | Berlin, Germany
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Gerhard Pappert

Science Writer and Content Strategist | UP for LIFE Executive Team | Berlin, Germany
Gerhard Pappert specializes in communication and consulting for life science, health and technology, based on more than 15 years of experience as a researcher, writer, and project manager. Gerhard is a member of the UP FOR LIFE Executive Team and Senior Science Writer. He has created copy, content and digital solutions for clients such as Biotage, Congenica, EIT Health, ELGA Veolia, Tecan, Thermo Fisher Scientific and USP Biologics.
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Hannah Hutchins

Social Media Manager and Photographer
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Hannah Hutchins

Social Media Manager and Photographer

Hannah is a passionate Content and Social Media Strategist and an accomplished Photographer dedicated to elevating brands and breathing life into their online presence. She excels in crafting strategic plans that resonate with audiences and amplify brand visibility.


As a firm believer in the power of compelling content, Hannah goes above and beyond to create engaging materials that foster meaningful connections. Her passion for storytelling and meticulous eye for detail ensures that her work stands out and leaves a lasting impression.


Hannah embodies the UP way of working (e-ployment), embracing a lifestyle that allows her to seamlessly navigate between her roots in the UK and the sunny landscapes of Alicante, Spain, where she resides with her Spanish partner and their daughter. Her global perspective enriches her work, providing a nuanced approach to digital strategy and photography that sets her apart in the industry.

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Henry Bauke Gaastra

Design, Art Director

Henry Bauke Gaastra

Design, Art Director
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Kilian Palis

Creative Director | | Hamburg, Germany
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Kilian Palis

Creative Director | | Hamburg, Germany

Kilian Palis is specialized in the design of corporate and consumer brands. He forms the primary interface for all strategically based design issues and finds solutions to complex tasks your brand has to fulfill.

After his apprenticeship as a blacksmith and metal worker Kilian studied interdisciplinary Design at the Köln International School of Design (KISD, Cologne) and Design Management at the Hogeschool Inholland (University of Applied Science, Rotterdam).

At UP he was responsible for the rebranding of Jenoptik, VINCORION and PROTEROS.

Before UP for 13 years he worked for Interbrand. As a Design Director he was in charge of managing brands like Vattenfall, Olympus, LSG Sky Chefs, JTI (e.g. Camel), Melitta, Sika and Sandvik. In Cologne he took part in the development of brands like TUI, ThyssenKrupp, Sparkasse, LANXESS, Fraport and Koelnmesse.

Kilian is a member for the global cloud-based agency UP THERE, EVERYWHERE and is based in Hamburg, Germany.

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Linus Bergkvist

Art Director, Designer, Branding
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Linus Bergkvist

Art Director, Designer, Branding

Linus is a seasoned, yet playful Art Director and designer with over 30 years in the advertising business. Being firmly grounded in effective B2B marketing, well-founded brand strategies and brand design, with some additional experiences from the app industry and a couple of start-ups, his creative approach has become increasingly result-oriented and fairly unique. 

Previous experiences include working for agencies like SandbergTrygg, Dowell Stubbs, Cordovan and HelloSwe, and clients such as Volvo Group, Mölnlycke Healthcare, SKF, Stora Enso, Gambro, Schenker, Papyrus, Electrolux, Universal Music and Inwido. He was also one of the co-founders of Forza Football, a live score football app used by over 5 million football fans across the globe.

Most recently, Linus been working with MM Sports, a leading Swedish retail brand in sports nutrition, health supplements and sporting goods, helping them develop their brand communication, webshop and product brand portfolio.

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Lisa Baehr

Account Manager/Graphic Designer
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Lisa Baehr

Account Manager/Graphic Designer

A seasoned account director and creative, Lisa Baehr brings a wealth of experience to the organization paired with a commitment to excellence and dedication to helping businesses achieve strategic marketing goals. Lisa came to UP THERE, EVERYWHERE, with a background spanning over three decades across various industries, making her a versatile and insightful leader.

 

Lisa is known for her collaborative and team-oriented approach. She thrives in the dynamic and creative environment that UP THERE, EVERYWHERE offers, understanding the unique needs of a global collective that serves a diverse range of clients.

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Luca Marziani

Creative Designer | Senior Art Director | Rome, Italy
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Luca Marziani

Creative Designer | Senior Art Director | Rome, Italy

Luca Marziani is based in Rome, and he’s one of the first people to have joined UP back in 2011. Since then, he has worked on a number of successful marketing and branding campaigns for major clients such as Polaroid, Dako, AAA Science Magazine, Galderma, Ascom and many others.

With more than three decades of experience, Luca can take a project from the creative/design phase through to production. He finds working in an international community inspiring and firmly believes that different cultural perspectives bring added value to each project.

After graduating in 1991 from Communication and Graphic Design in Rome, he moved to London where he worked at Mighty Mouse Communications (MMC), Julian Stubbs and Eric Dowell’s first advertising agency (London Branch). He stayed in London for three years.

In 1994, he returned to Rome and for the next ten years he worked as a Senior Art Director / Creative at various advertising agencies and for major clients such as P&G, BMS, Johnson & Johnson, Playtex, Bulgari, Q8, AVIS and others. 

In 2005, he founded a freelance studio, DNA Comunicazione, and since then he has worked both for direct SME clients (national and international) and for advertising agencies.
In 2009, as Creative and Art Director, he was part of a European scientific project called Ristomed, creating the whole product image.

Luca likes reading, cinema, traveling, swimming, surfing and beach volley. He loves writing thriller stories and published his first novel “A Complici Passi di Lupo”.

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Mahlah Montgomerie-Browne

Account Manager
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Mahlah Montgomerie-Browne

Account Manager

Mahlah is an account manager with 5+ years’ experience, both client and agency side. She works across both B2B and B2C clients, most recently including Eurowings, Wallonia-Belgium, Markforged, and Harrods. Her strengths include a methodical yet dynamic account management approach. Her hobbies include travelling, CrossFit, low-budget horror films, and training two very crazy kittens!

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Markus Wohlfahrt

Art / Creative Director

Markus Wohlfahrt

Art / Creative Director
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Michael Zhou

Head of UP Asia
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Michael Zhou

Head of UP Asia

Michael Zhou heads UP FOR ASIA and is an international marketing and business development consultant, China digital marketing & P.R specialist based in Stockholm, Sweden. He has more than 20 years of general management, branding, marketing and international business development experience working across China and Asia, North America and Europe.

Before joining UP THERE, EVERYWHERE, Michael was co-founder of Fortune Media, a Shanghai-based PR, marketing and advertising agency. His previous experience included working for London-based insurance broker Willis in Shenzhen, Singapore-based DBS bank in Hong Kong, and China Ping An in Shenzhen in marketing and strategy roles. 

Michael holds an MBA in Marketing and International Management from Thunderbird Business School of Global Management, Arizona, USA, and M.A and B.A in English language and literature from Central China Normal University.

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Michelle Abreu

Account Director
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Michelle Abreu

Account Director

Born and raised New Yorker, Michelle has been on the grind since 2006. She worked in varying creative capacities, starting at a top B2B agency worldwide, gyro, later acquired by Dentsu, for 6 years where LifeCell and KCI were among their biggest clients.

She then went on to build, publish and market 12 mobile apps globally by managing 20+ employees from the US to China with ongoing projects. One of her biggest clients during that time became MAG Interactive, where she spearheaded a team to help revamp one of the biggest mobile games in the world, Ruzzle. Her efforts got it to number 1 on the charts in the US. Thereafter, she contributed her creative and sales expertise at several ad tech startups for 4 years and developed campaigns for the likes of Citibank, Sprint, Nissan, Universal Pictures, and Comcast, among many others. 

Today, she helps manage the marketing needs of clients mostly in the biotech and life science space at UP. Some of her clients have included Illumina, world’s largest public genomics company, Galderma, 3rd largest ‘botox’ company worldwide, and LGC, leading global life science tools company. Her specialty is helping build solid client relationships, liaising with them to ensure proper briefing, setting expectations and keeping them happy with timely work delivery. On occasion, there is strategic upselling and distribution of jobs to a team of award-winning Creative Designers, Copywriters and Editors, domestically and overseas, to ensure client assignments are always properly completed and delivered. She looks forward to doing this, with the addition of AI, for the foreseeable future.

She often says, "If I'm not working, I'm 'werking!'" You'll find her at an Equinox and/or Barry's about 6-7 days a week, and recovering at a beach whenever she can get to one. Good eating and traveling is a major part of her lifestyle. Life/work balance is, and will always be, at the core of everything she does.
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Mindy Lee-Olsen

Senior Strategist | Bio-tech marketing | Mountain View, CA, USA
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Mindy Lee-Olsen

Senior Strategist | Bio-tech marketing | Mountain View, CA, USA

Biotech marketing professional who delivers results, thinks strategically, and acts tactically.

Mindy is an executive level marketing leader with 25+ years of broad commercial experience spanning marketing/corporate communications, inbound & outbound marketing, product management, and sales in the global biotech market. She is also experienced in business integration due to acquisition, business turn-around, and international distribution.

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Nanako Engel-Mikkelsen

Account Director & Design
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Nanako Engel-Mikkelsen

Account Director & Design

Nanako has more than 15 years experience in the branding and marketing world and spent a majority of her career in international agencies such as Interbrand and Landor in Japan and Germany. She as worked on various marketing projects for a wide range of clients such as Tecan, Galderma, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, Jenoptik and Unilever.

Nanako’s speciality lies in her ability to approach a task with a creative mind while not loosing sight of the overall strategic goal and project objectives. She has effectively guided her clients to adapt brand-centric, strategy /design solutions developed by her and her team and has been a valuable partner to her clients throughout the process.

Her multi-cultural background allows her to bridge cultural differences in an international setting, which has been instrumental in the various international branding projects.

Ask her about her travels and she will tell you all about her adventures.

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Niklas Wallberg

Account Director
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Niklas Wallberg

Account Director
Niklas works a digital account director at UP. He has extensive experience in developing and translating brands into digital experiences. 
 
Since 2019, Niklas has worked with several of Galderma's key digital projects, such as the global website and the AX portal project. Niklas also lead UP's social media team, which together with Solvita Akmene has developed strategies and creative work on Galderma Aesthetics and Restylane's global social channels.
 
Current and previous clients include global and local brands such as Galderma Aesthetics, Nike, Swedbank, Saab Automobile, Nestea, PostNord, Tieto, Lloyds Bank, Ericsson, Electrolux, BBC, American Express, Nokia, Volvo Cars & Trucks and Volvo Group.
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Sarah Bork PhD, MBA

Senior Account Director | PhD Biochemist | Malmö, Sweden
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Sarah Bork PhD, MBA

Senior Account Director | PhD Biochemist | Malmö, Sweden

Sarah is a PhD Biochemist with MBA and 25 years operative experience in international strategic marketing and communications within pharma, medical diagnostics and life sciences. She works with clients on projects covering branding, corporate identity, global launch campaigns, and inbound and content marketing, within healthcare. 

Driven by a strong passion to work closely with clients to create true vale, realistic goals, and measurable performance. Examples of clients include GE Healthcare, Darco, Agilant, Ascom, Perimed, Atlas Antibodies, Sartorius, Immunovia and BioWorks.

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Sam Caswell

Senior Copywriter
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Sam Caswell

Senior Copywriter

Sam is a highly collaborative UP professional who specialises in copy and creative concepts. Her work spans a range of sectors including life sciences, technology, luxury automotive and skincare/derma/aesthetics, but she can turn her hand to pretty much anything; using her natural empathy and journalistic skills to gain deep understanding of new worlds at pace.

Sam loves to write and you can feel the energy in her distinctively human copy. Her experience in advertising and marketing agencies means she’s exceptionally strong on brand and creative strategy, while long stints in client-side and internal comms teams mean she has a genuine understanding of the need for messaging to work in practice from the very heart of a brand.

Sam is a natural collaborator, drawing together insights from the client, design and client service team to create work that resonates and influences.

Sam lives in Warwick in the UK with her lovely husband and their two girls.

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Ulrika Hasselberg

Senior Project Manager
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Ulrika Hasselberg

Senior Project Manager

Ulrika has worked as a digital project manager for over 15 years, with a focus on content marketing, inbound marketing, brand-building, and lead-generating campaigns, primarily for B2B companies.


She is also passionate about measuring and tracking campaigns with the goal of optimizing results. Ulrika has extensive experience in fostering collaboration between marketing and sales, and her guiding principle is "Failing to plan is planning to fail."


She holds a degree in Business Economics from Stockholm University and is a certified project manager from CompTIA in Seattle, WA.

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Join our team

Not everyone can join UP. We have a close-knit community of people who are recommended by existing UP team members or clients and who have a past track record of success and would be comfortable working and living in the cloud.

How to join UP