The team at Driven is made up of a small cadre of professional renegades and rebels from the world of “big” advertising. Our team of account directors and creative thinkers bring with them the experience of working some of the largest accounts in the world, from global automotive accounts, to home furnishing retailers, to pizza companies, and everything in between. Our years of experience and relationships within the industry allow us to draw from the best of the best in ideation. Our creative stable not only includes award-winning writers and art directors, but artists, musicians, strategic thinkers, media planners, and dreamers, all of whom are Driven to deliver cutting edge solutions for our clients.


sam chiodo – principal/chief marketing officer

with over 20 years experience in the advertising industry Sam has done pretty much everything there is to do on the account side of a big agency. he served as a partner/management supervisor at J. Walter Thompson, vice president / account director at Kragie/Newell Advertising and was a vice president / account group director at St. John & Partners. as chief marketing officer at Driven the “s” in sam stands for “strategy.” his unique ability to identify inherent pitfalls and opportunities quickly and adeptly, provides an unfair advantage to all of Driven’S clients, unless they get tired of hearing him talk and talk. which he does sometimes. sam is a graduate of Northwood University .


kevin woods – principal/chief operating officer

kevin s. brings over 20 years of big agency experience with him to Driven. Known for his scrappy business acumen and ability to assess and handle client situations in lickety-split fashion, kevin rose through the ranks at J. Walter Thompson to senior partner/management director where he managed 17 Ford dealer associations in the midwest region. At Driven kevin is a constant reminder of every budget, deadline, and job. he is a take-charge, make things happen, let’s think this out, type A personality – which proves to be valuable to Driven and its clients. a hack golfer who thinks he’s better than he really is, he is a graduate of Northwood University.


brian cusac – principal/chief creative officer

after 15 years as a creative person at a slew of big ad agencies including JWT, Campbell-Ewald, Leo Burnett and BBDO, creating campaigns for some of the biggest and most enduring brands in the world, brian says he can sum up how he feels about his life in ideation to most folks in a simple but brutally honest thought: “i still can’t believe i get paid to do this stuff.” brian has developed Super Bowl creative in the automotive category and has garnered national and international awards as a copywriter. he is a firm believer in “not over-thinking” things and approaches each project as an opportunity to make a clients brand famous. a self-admitted hack guitarist, he is easily coaxed into discussions about which version of van halen is better. he is a graduate of eastern michigan university.


john cymbal – principal/chief creative officer

with over 18 years in the business working on some of the largest brands on the planet, john has built a reputation on smart thinking and an eye for detail. he has been around the big agency block with positions at The Scott Miller Group, SMZ, Bozell, JWT, Leo Burnett and BBDO. he is famous at Driven for the quote: “i come up with more ideas in the shower every morning than most people come up with in a week.” and if he ever wrote them down, he might be able to prove it. john has developed award winning and Super Bowl creative in the automotive category, and is an internationally awarded art director. he is a firm believer in giving clients solutions they would never expect and subscribes to the “keep it simple” school of art direction. when not in creative mode he can be found in a stream or the woods. john was educated at the center for creative studies.


aylin (eye-lean) samoray – media director

when it comes to balancing the art and science called media, aylin is a media ninja referred to around here as “the whip.” her 17 years plus in the national media trenches gives her an experience list that reads like the who’s who of advertising: Lincoln Mercury, Taco Bell/KFC, Movie Biz, Petsmart, TJ Maxx, Campbell’s Soups and Clorox, just to name a few. always the one in the office with the best stories from the weekend, if you ask her about her job she quickly shifts to all business. “my job really is to analyze the client’s goals, choose the correct mediums to deliver them to the right audience and do it all within budget.” which she does, in spades. Aylin is a graduate of The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, but don’t hold that against her.