Welcome!
I’m Chris Tieri, a creative soul with a business mind, eye for design, and heart for working with individuals and organizations who set out to make a difference in the world. For 24 years, I owned a brand and marketing agency allowing me to combine strategic business planning with imagination, creativity, and design. Currently, most of my work is focused on one of my former clients and favorite non-profits, Old Sturbridge Village, New England’s largest living history museum. I have also been taking some time to try my hand at other creative pursuits including painting, vintage upcycling, interior design, and other art du jour. I’ve broken my site into two areas, I hope you will enjoy exploring!
Brand & Business: A little more about my brand development process and case studies.
Art & Creative: An assortment of work using different media and approaches.
Thank you for stopping by, and if you’re interested in a more detailed bio, just scroll down.
Bio
Chris Tieri graduated from Syracuse University (including a semester at the University of Florence) with a BFA in Advertising Design. From there, Chris pursued what every ad student dreamt of and landed a job in the Big Apple. Having cut her teeth as an Art Director at a small creative boutique (Geer du Bois) and later at a larger package goods agency (Warwick Baker Fiore), Chris enjoyed working on high-profile clients, traveling to shoot TV commercials in exotic places, and of course, 3-martini lunches. (MadMen shenanigans were real…even in the late 80s!)
Armed with six years of Madison Avenue experience, Chris moved back to her home state of Massachusetts and founded an ad agency with her BFF who also happened to have NYC ad experience on the account side. For 15 years, the two ran smith&jones located first in Worcester and then in Sturbridge. The agency quickly became well-known for smart, strategic thinking and innovative, creative executions (not to mention their cool office with a diner and a purple ½-court basketball enclosure). When her partner pivoted to pursue a doctoral degree and a career in higher education, Chris evolved the agency into a brand development and marketing firm that she renamed idea agency. It became known for innovative brand transformations for non-profit, academic, healthcare, and financial organizations across the country. Christine expanded her business to include thought leadership presentations and speaking engagements around business and personal brands, creativity, entrepreneurship, and more.
Alongside running her business, speaking commitments, and being a mom and step-mom to three active boys, Chris somehow found the time to transform over a dozen spaces ranging from designing office space for her agencies and clients to renovating 100+ year homes in dire need of love, to designing and supervising additions to existing homes and/or businesses.
After 24 years, Chris sold the agency and became a brand consultant working mostly with non-profits and other agencies, as well as becoming a Gallup Certified Strengths coach. Today, Chris only keeps a few non-profit and coaching clients while she pursues a wide range of creative passions to explore what is next on the horizon. Her three adult boys have launched and she splits her time between Sturbridge, MA, and Jamestown, RI with her husband Dennis Antonopoulos, and a Havanese pup named Tito.