Creative Staffing Agency | PDX, LA, Austin, Boise, San Francisco

Jackie Mathys

has been running creative staffing agencies in Portland since the late 90s. Prior to placing creatives, she was one–a freelance copywriter for seven years, and staff writer for POWDER magazine before that. Originally from sunny Southern California, Jackie has called Portland home since 1990. Her first car was a yellow Fiat 128.

Steve Potestio

grew up in Portland, worked in San Francisco as a graphic designer and writer, and has advertising agency executive management experience in HR and Operations. He launched Portland's first independently owned creative staffing firm and now manages the growth of M+P, helping build it into one of the country's fastest growing staffing agencies. His first car was a 1969 Scout, but he's since upgraded to a 1977 model. Neither car does much in the heater department.

Kristen Barleen

hails from the (East) Bay Area – she's a transplant and proud of it! She moved to the PNW in 2005 and never really went back. After a colorful career path, she found herself asking "what do I really enjoy doing?" A consistent theme was helping people: she loves to listen to a good story and find solutions along the way. When she's not at M+P you can find her making music, going to concerts, making playlists, and spending quality time with friends and family. Her first car was a light blue 1995 Toyota Previa, the family minivan. Man, if those walls could talk!

Tyra Beeson

is an Oregon native but dabbled in a Palm Springs lifestyle before returning to the rain. She can usually be found on a patio with a cocktail in her hand and Kobe (a dog) at her feet. Her first car was a Toyota 4Runner; she crashed it twice but never totaled it, thank you very much.

Anita Beshirs

is a native Mississippian who relocated from Arkansas to San Francisco over two decades ago and never looked back. Her background is in PR, writing, talent management, operations, marketing, and a brief stint owning a dog walking service (because dogs are excellent co-workers). After trying to figure out which career fit best, she realized it was helping other people figure out that same quandary. As a local artist and advocate, she shows her own work locally and nationally, curates at local businesses, and organizes art walks. Her first car was a 1974 Plymouth Valiant with no functioning seat belts. Luckily, she was unharmed after a minor accident without them but the car, sadly, went to car heaven.

Isaac Chapman

Isaac is a Kentucky native and yes, he does love fried chicken, thanks for asking. With short-ish stints in Austin and Nashville, Isaac finally landed in Los Angeles in early 2012 and hasn't looked back... except for that one time. His career has been focused on creative services in Digital Advertising, Architecture, and Interior Design. In late 2018 he traded in his "designer" title for a "recruiter" one, and has loved every minute of it. He's an avid home cook, baker, barista, and bartender. He and his wife live in Los Feliz, CA with their 20-or-so plant babies. His first car was a 1991 Cadillac Sedan deVille purchased for $600 that he saved up for by mowing lawns.

Crissy Coleman

is a native Oregonian who’s been recruiting for most of her adult life. For a stint, she lived the big life in a tiny but fabulous apartment in New York, doing recruiting in-house for one of the world’s largest luxury retail brands. But Oregon had her heart. Today, Crissy specializes in working with digital media professionals and has developed a genuine passion for helping set people on their true career paths and realize their professional goals. When not meeting candidates over a cappuccino, Crissy can be found sunning herself in exotic locales (a glass of crisp Pinot Gris in hand) or sweating it out in a spin class (if she must). A true Portlander, she always spends Sundays at brunch with good friends.

Sherry Gutell

is an LA native. She won't share her favorite taco spot with you unless she really likes you. Her background includes various roles in marketing and advertising on the agency side, plus a short period of entrepreneurship. After a year and a half of running her own business, she concluded that she missed paydays and prefers to work for someone else. Her first car was a black C240 Mercedes Benz... did we mention she’s from LA?

Michelle Holbein

is a Wisconsin native with a human resources background in both manufacturing and higher education. Her loves include hiking and exploring new places, checking out new eateries, and daydreaming about her next travel destination. Her first car was a 1987 Mercury Topaz with a working heater, which was essential to surviving many brutal Wisconsin winters.

Nicole Holle

is one of four Austin natives left in town, having worked as a producer at an ad agency before landing in creative recruiting. She’s married to a designer, so she’s always surrounded by creatives. You can get her attention quickly by mentioning hiking, traveling abroad, movies, or pouring a drink involving ginger beer. Her first car was a ’95 Izuzu Rodeo, but her most beloved car was a white ’96 Oldsmobile named Betty.

Natalie Holzer

hails from the Big Sky state and considers Montana her first love, although living in Oregon for the past 15 years, she now considers it mapped in her heart for good! Her love of creative started with her background as a local film & television talent agent here in Portland. When she’s not lusting for the sunshine, she can either be found at a happy hour, watching Dateline, or out for a stroll/hike. Her first car was an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme which made friends with a few city light poles while trying to navigate the mean, snowy streets of Billings, but the heater and tape deck never failed her.

Eric Howes

is a designer and (sort of) developer who appreciates type, maps, and other forms of data. A native Michigander, he moved to Oregon, then Idaho, and back to Michigan despite its winter. He bought his first car, a 1985 Pontiac Sunbird, for $200 and the heater worked for awhile.

Ethan Irving

has never lived anywhere but Oregon, despite everyone thinking he's from California. He's worked in retail, HR, and in recruiting. He can usually be found taking on interior design projects, swimming, or traveling to much sunnier places. His first car was a Toyota Camry Hybrid, but now drives a Mercedes that has turned him into a bit of a car person.

Jordan Livingston

was raised in Ogden, Utah, and has a varied professional background, having worked in journalism, ecommerce, sales, recruiting and education. He loves facilitating relationships and becomes quite excited about any conversation that involves baseball or rock-and-roll trivia. His first truck was a 1984 Mazda pickup. He had to pop the clutch to get it started…but the heater worked.

Lindsay Melnick

grew up in New Jersey, but spent years in Massachusetts, New York, Hawaii, and Western Australia before settling down in California. A former Apparel Designer, she spends her non-recruiting hours surfing, biking, walking the dog, and hanging out with her son. Her first car was a Honda Prelude when she was 17; she used to push it out of her parents' driveway every Tuesday night to drive to New York City for Dead cover night at the Wetlands. She never got caught!

Racquel Miller

is from southern California but has lived in Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, and now Washington. Her background is in Human Resources and Operations, largely because she loves connecting with people and learning more about them. You can usually find her scouting authentic Mexican food or doing something outdoors with her family. Her first car was a '99 Chevy Prism named Pebbles whose AC always worked; what more could an LA girl ask for?

Blaire Ottoboni

brings a special something to M+P, and that special something is her superior knife skills. When not eating pasta, you might find her at yoga, cuddling her dog, or hopping on a plane to somewhere far, far away. She mastered the art of driving a pickup truck out near the garlic fields in Gilroy at the age of 11.

Colin Perkins

moved to Los Angeles in 2017 from itty bitty Rhode Island (for reference, if you doubled the size of Los Angeles, you'd get one Rhode Island). You can find him cycling around town, drinking natural wines, thrifting, or buying sneakers and caring for his houseplants. While he's worked in recruitment for awhile now, his first two jobs – Stop & Shop cashier and restaurant host – bought him a 1997 Audi A4 with 184,000 miles on it. It cost him $1,200 and a 30 pack of beer. Don't worry, his Dad bought the booze.

Hannah Risser-Sperry

is from Massachusetts and Vermont, and spent some years in France before making her way to Portland. She’s been a nanny, a farmer, a teacher, and a writer. She likes good design, better writing, and Our Lord and Savior PJ Harvey. She dislikes pastels. Her first car was a Toyota Previa, previously used to transport sheep around the family farm. Go ahead, try getting hay out of a car’s cloth interior.

Molly Setchko

was born and raised in Eugene, OR. She hung up her Birkenstocks and tie-dye and headed to Portland years ago, but you’ll still find her at Autzen Stadium during Duck football season! She has a background in special education, talent acquisition, and all things office and admin. When she’s not at work with her M+P fam, she’s most likely playing with the nearest dog, snacking on a variety of cheeses and wine, doing hot yoga, or gardening. Her first car was a Toyota Camry that despite being hit by every other driver in Portland was reliable for longer than it should have been.

Britney Jo Styer

is Chicago-born, Austin-based, and passport-driven. With a background in web development and design, she can sling code like it's going out of style, but found her passion helping other people find theirs. Usually she’s eating as much queso as possible and exploring the ATX with her husband and two pups. Her first car was a black Ford Explorer that may or may not have had duct tape holding parts of it together.

Brett Thacher

has a history of solving client problems as an agency account director, where he and his teams led marketing programs for Fortune 100 companies. Raised in Iowa, he traded his farm roots for the big cities of New York and LA before he settled in Portland. Brett loves camping, hiking, college basketball, live music and impromptu dance parties with his daughter. His first car was a 1981 Datsun 200sx hatchback.

Tom Timmel

is from Rockford, Illinois, but he doesn’t remember it. He grew up in New York and Ohio, spent time in Washington DC and Vermont, and ended up in Alaska for 20+ years. He’s spent time as a business manager, an operations manager, an executive director (interim, but still), and a general manager. His first car was a red 1982 VW Rabbit that had faded to orange, which was sadly destroyed by a deer (RIP) en route to a Dead show. #TommyTimmy

Molly Wiley

is like everyone else from Austin by being a California native. She has a background in graphic communication, web and digital media. Her loves include typography, craft beer, being outside, and dancing in a studio or her kitchen. She also has a passionate affinity for baked goods. Her first car was an Acura that died more than it ran, forcing her onto a cruiser bike more often than not.

Our research indicates that staffing agencies don't need to suck.

Jackie Mathys

Steve Potestio

Kristen Barleen

Tyra Beeson

Anita Beshirs

Isaac Chapman

Crissy Coleman

Sherry Gutell

Michelle Holbein

Nicole Holle

Natalie Holzer

Eric Howes

Ethan Irving

Jordan Livingston

Lindsay Melnick

Racquel Miller

Blaire Ottoboni

Colin Perkins

Hannah Risser-Sperry

Molly Setchko

Britney Jo Styer

Brett Thacher

Tom Timmel

Molly Wiley

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