Team & Values

Johnson builds and refines domestic brands of global companies and provides lead generation and growth strategies for start-up companies. She and her team build better relationships with stakeholders through story telling that leverages qualified third parties in multiple integrated communication channels.

Focused on all aspects of marketing consumer products, healthcare and high-tech services, Johnson has helped companies such as Hyatt, Kaiser Permanente, Stericycle, Safeway, TARGET, Cisco and Ultimate Software think differently about their relationships. See case studies.

Johnson positions companies as thought leaders through media relations including US News & World Report, the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, CNN HeadlineNews, The Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, Denver Business Journal, Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago and more. She has been a mentor to several young women for 15 years. She facilitates and moderates executive forums, expert panels, seminars for entrepreneurs and industry roundtable discussions.

Chicago-based LISA App, the first open marketplace for on-demand beauty that launched in January 2016, appointed Johnson as its Chief Marketing Officer and a partner.

With an emphasis on medicine and law, Johnson holds a M.A. in mass communications from the University of South Florida, and a B.A. in English from Rollins College. She serves as an adjunct professor at DePaul University’s College of Communication and regularly recruits and places students as interns.

Johnson is currently president of the Rollins College Alumni Board after serving on the Rollins Admission Network. She supplemented her graduate work at The Nelson Poynter Institute for Media Studies and The Niagara Institute. She is a graduate of Dale Carnegie and Leadership Manatee.

A member of the citizen diplomacy initiative and PR Committee for WorldChicago, Johnson has traveled to 27 countries, including Vietnam which resulted in a special to Tribune Newspapers after a trip taken with a mentee from the Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation where she served three years on the board. She has spent time as an instructor for 3rd Coast Cruising, raced the Chicago-to-Mackinac Island regatta twice, and dreams of sailing obscure parts of the world. She lives in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood with her labradoodle, Juni.

Contact: kjohnson@ballastgroup.com, 312-751-3959 or @KelleeJohnson.

Erin’s experience leading events and fan experience teams for professional sports franchises as well as heading up Fan Experience & Community Relations for Stanford University, includes overseeing teams responsible for marketing of premier sports brands and executing over 250 activations annually ranging from high-touch VIP experiences to large productions for 55,000+ guests.

With expertise in research, psychology and communication, she uses data and analytics as an integral piece of all she does. Erin has been published in several research-based academic publications focused on media depictions of athletes and the effects of sociocultural stereotyping which utilize various data capture methodologies, empirical research measures and analysis tools. Erin utilizes these skills to develop and evaluate best-practices for campaigns and events. She built an automated tracking tool that aggregates data streams to provide instantaneous feedback on fan enjoyment, experience and event success which was adopted by collegiate and professional sports teams to assess their game day experiences, the first tool of its kind in the industry.

A Disney Institute graduate, Erin has been instrumental in developing and integrating the culture and service model, SMILE, a customized, comprehensive adaptation of the Disney Elevate model which has been rolled out to over 1,000 full and part-time employees across professional sports franchises, redefining their service standards and company fabric.  Previously a communication and public speaking instructor, she has an extensive background in leading speaker training and presenting to large audiences.

Erin is an avid sports fan, fitness enthusiast and adventurer. She enjoys traveling, hiking, exploring the outdoors and spending time with her husband Andy and their dog.

LaShonde McCreary
Finance Manager

• Hospitals (American Hospital Association, University HealthSystem Consortium, University of Utah Hospital)
• Pharmaceutical industry (Astellas, Roche, McKesson, Novartis)
• Payers (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Assurant Health)
• University healthcare research centers (CARMA Center at University of Utah)
• Physicians and other clinicians (Midwest Orthopedics)
• Patient service companies (CarePages)
• Clinical Research Organizations (Quintiles)
• Healthcare IT companies (McKesson Provider Technologies, M*Modal, PerfectServe)
• Health wellness companies (Healthways)
• Group purchasing organizations (Premier)
• Medical device manufacturers (Kimberly-Clark Health)
• Medical associations (College of American Pathologists, AAOMS)
• Distributors (Cardinal Health)

Darrel has experience in all content formats, including annual reports, brochures, white papers, direct marketing campaigns, ads, executive speeches, case studies, opinion columns, blogs, web site content, and medical and technical writing. He has written hundreds of by-lined articles for clients in trade and general media outlets. In addition to healthcare, he has written for blue-chip clients in technology (Microsoft, Experian), financial services (GE Commercial Real Estate, CapitalSource), manufacturing (ITW), marketing and media, and professional services. Darrel planned and executed multi-faceted communications and media relations programs including an advocacy program for Kimberly-Clark Health that helped the company boost its sales of surgical gowns and drapes by $50 million in three years.

Darrel graduated with honors from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a B.A. in English.

Patrick has a particular passion for healthcare and has held progressively senior leadership positions at healthcare advertising agencies and marketing firms. Patrick was a partner at Method Engine, a Chicago-based digital agency where he ran the agencies’ strategy and account services team. With his broad digital marketing background and specific experience developing interactive marketing strategies for health, Patrick helps client’s succeed in a changing environment. Patrick has specific experience in cardiology, oncology, nephrology, home care, information technology, anesthesiology, ambulatory surgery, and orthopedics.

McGrath started her television news career at CNN’s Chicago bureau when she was a junior in college. After three years of working behind the camera as a producer at CNN, Noeleen moved in front of the camera as a local news anchor and reporter. Now her main focus is executive media training, specifically crisis communication. She has prepped executives and athletes from Nike on topics including labor issues to Michael Vick to steroid use among athletes. She has also worked with Chicago Public Schools, executives and managers in the pharmaceutical industry, politicians under fire and attorneys involved in high profile cases.In addition, she has done extensive work on national level exercises for Homeland Security including top DC officials to local first responders during drills that test our country’s preparedness during a terrorist attack. She has worked with the first Hispanic State’s Attorney in the history of Cook County to help get her elected after being a longshot.

When Noeleen isn’t working, you can find her on the beach, playing 2s volleyball or walking her rescue dog, Molly.

Mackenzie Loftus

Associate

Mackenzie graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in English, where she gained experience in project management and event planning as the social media and communications specialist for the World Noncommunicable Diseases Congress 2020. Mackenzie developed the social media strategy for WNCD2020, increasing WNCD2020’s Twitter following from 0 to 2,500 in two years.

Mackenzie specializes in writing, content creation, and social media management and measurement. She has experience in public health and medical communications and has worked in politics as a campaign fellow and legislative intern, where she researched topics such as mental health and climate change.

In her free time, Mackenzie enjoys creative writing, cooking, and watching artistic gymnastics. She is a fan of documentaries, especially ones that focus on history, politics, or linguistics. She also frequently volunteers on political campaigns by participating in canvassing and phone banking events.

Olivia Christine
Associate

Olivia graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s in public relations and an emphasis in business administration. She completed internships for the City of Columbia, South Carolina, and Riddle and Bloom, a Wasserman Company, where she developed press releases, collected data for successful campaigns and created content for campaigns.

Olivia specializes in writing, social media campaign management and analysis, and project management using creative problem-solving skills and working as with teams to reach common goals. 

When not working, Olivia experiments with new recipes for friends and family. Olivia enjoys spending summers at the beach and deepening her yoga practice.