Photography by Paul Markert
Lois Dirksen, Erin Gwiazdon and Kim Thelen
In the advertising world, women-owned agencies are a small percentage. Level Mpls, a Minneapolis-based advertising and marketing agency, is one of them. As the company continues to make its mark on the industry, CEO and owner Lois Dirksen is strengthening the agency’s future by expanding its ownership. She recently invited two longtime leaders to become members of the ownership team: Erin Gwiazdon, chief operating officer, and Kim Thelen, president and chief client officer.
“Lois’s official commitment to [have us] be a part of leadership and the official decision-making process speaks volumes to the trajectory of this organization,” Thelen says. “We’re really building to be sustainable for the future.”
That decision-making effort included finding a bank that aligned with their core values. “In advertising and marketing, we’re in the relationship business, so we look for partners with this same trait,” says Gwiazdon. Bridgewater Bank asked the right questions and offered the right solutions, yet Gwiazdon says their relationship goes beyond crunching numbers. “We love how much they support the community and work to empower women, from access to capital to specific banking advice . . . it’s the service they provide and the connections they help form.”
This strong alliance allows the team to stay focused on what they do best: Remaining at the forefront of ever-changing consumer needs and trends, which include healthcare (“in our DNA since Day One,” says Thelen), government agencies (working with the state of North Dakota on childhood immunizations, for example) and the department of agriculture, where they produced webisodes with local chefs, showing residents how to grow and cook their own crops and developing elementary-age farm-to-school curriculum. “It may not have the flashiness of selling potato chips, but it makes a difference in people’s lives,” Dirksen says.
For the foreseeable future, Level will continue to grow strategically, maintaining a focus on quality work, client satisfaction and a culture where each employee feels valued and therefore puts value out into the world. “We know what it’s going to take, and making these moves as an agency will help to get us there,” says Thelen.
