Marc Ensign, All Around Do-Gooder

CEO & Visionary

Entrepreneur, speaker, author, musician and all around do-gooder, Marc Ensign is a creative visionary who masterfully navigates the world of design, technology, social media and Internet marketing. With a gift for understanding the ins and outs of how things tick and an ability to translate it to others, Marc creates, speaks and writes for individuals and companies interested in leveraging the Internet in order to further develop their digital relationships and expand their businesses.

Yes, that’s right. Marc is the resident nerd. The smart one. The brains behind it all. But it wasn’t always this way.

(Inset flashback sequence)

Marc’s journey began as a professional electric bass player after graduating with honors from one of the world’s most prestigious music colleges in 1993. With the help of a crappy little website he created, Marc became a regular with the Tony Award winning show “RENT” both on Broadway and on tour where Marc was more well known as the guy in the band that slept walked through the hotel lobby in Austin, Texas…naked. Marc later went on to write and publish several instructional books and perform with artists such as R. Kelly, Joey Fatone (N*Sync), Muzz Skillings (Living Colour) as well as an assortment of other musicians from bands like David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Matchbox 20 and Rod Stewart.

Motivated by the success he had in the music industry, Marc tapped into his entrepreneurial spirit in 2001 and founded Sound-n-Vision, a results driven Internet Marketing firm specializing in website design, search engine optimization and social networking. Applying many of the techniques used to market himself, Sound-n-Vision quickly caught the attention of companies such as Nike, American Express, Travel+Leisure Magazine, The New York Pops, Callaway Golf, Food+Wine and countless others. Currently in its 11th year, Sound-n-Vision continues to be recognized as an authority in new media and one of the leading firms on the east coast.

Thomas McVey, Really Nice Guy

President

Thomas B. McVey is a complete failure turned inside out. A previously unsuccessful person with more failures to his credit by his 40th birthday than most people can hope to achieve in a lifetime. By far his greatest quality is being able to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. Tom has an absolutely inspiring positive attitude and outlook.
Occasionally Tom has been known to get some wood on the ball but never lets it go to his head. With a goal of not sounding too boastful he respectfully submits the following accomplishments. Thomas McVey is a web marketer, author, speaker, artist, story-teller, brand hero, really nice guy and a recognized marketing expert & enthusiastic leader with a vision for helping clients get to the next level.

Tom has an unstoppable can-do attitude and makes things happen through sheer force of will. He manages and creates through teamwork and compassion mixed with overwhelming enthusiasm.

Tom’s personal life reads like a situation comedy. He has two children 5 and 19, and two ex-wives (which is proof that he’s easy to get along with). He owns two homes and a Lakehouse but lives in the lower level suite (basement) of his first wife’s Victorian Mansion cira 1860 that has an authentic Irish pub built right in. Tom is currently searching for Wife # 3 in the same place he met Wife # 2. (Match.com) and keeps a Wife Finder Binder at work.

For shits and giggles Tom performs stand up comedy at Caroline’s in Manhattan and he recently enrolled in the New Jersey Fire Academy and will become a certified Fire Fighter in early 2012. Tom likes to travel and has been to 43 different countries all on vacation and several places two and three times. (He got deported from Russia).

Tom has had many embarrassing moments so its hard to pick just one but thinks it might be the time (April 1st) his first wife convinced him that he had indeed won the publishers clearing house! (Not the grand prize just several hundred thousand dollars and a boat) This and the story of how he became a really nice guy are best told after a second glass of pinot grigio.

Nicholas Saraco, Gentleman and Scholar

Senior Account Executive

Nick Saraco was born on March 30, 1988, probably the most important day in Earth’s history. Until 1997 Nick, his father Charlie, his mother Laurie, and his younger sister Taylor lived in a condo in Tappan, New York. They then moved to his current home in Tappan where he built an underground palace rivaled only by the Ninja Turtle Sewer, which he and his friends have creatively named “The Basement.”

Nick has been friends with the majority of this Crew since 3rd grade, and some before that. They all moved on to Tappan Zee High School where Nick was on the lacrosse team, captain of the soccer team, and president of his graduating class. After Graduation Nick attended Clemson University in South Carolina where he Majored in Business Management and minored in Accounting. Nick learned a lot about business management, and also learned that he hated accounting. While his academics were his absolute priority (just in case his parents read this), Nick also hosted the radio show “CHOCO and the DOG” with fellow SNV-er Kevin “the DOG” Pomeroy, and was a member of the CHI PHI fraternity. Unfortunately for Nick, two days after he was inducted into the fraternity one of his new pledges dove off a 15 foot wall into 3 foot inflatable pool and broke his back, the fraternity was slowly disbanded. When Nick was asked his thoughts on the subject he replied “It really sucks.” Most Agreed.

During his junior year, Nick studied abroad at Bond University in Australia where he barely passed all of his classes, but did manage to sleep with girls from around the world. Nick believes his trip was a success overall. His girlfriend disagrees. While the first few years of their relationship was a little turbulent, the two are still together right now even though she is away at School. When people ask Nick why he stays in the long distance relationship and doesn’t pursue any of the other hundreds of lady callers he responds, “because she is really really hot.”

Nick’s most embarrassing moment occurred in his freshmen year of High School when he went to see a movie. Before the movie there was a preview for “I Robot” and Nick thought it would be hilarious to scream “BIG WILLIE STLYE” right after it ended. NO ONE IN THE AUDIENCE LAUGHED. Nick has definitely had more embarrassing moments in his life, but for some reason this is the one that affected him the most, and he thinks about it every day. Nick has managed to scream other funny things during movie previews since then, but none ever funny enough to make up for the devastation of the “I Robot” incident.

Brianna Deleasa, Web Design Diva

Website Design and Development

Brianna got into web design at the very young age of 13, building websites with a childhood friend for fun. What she used to think was just ‘fun’ has turned into a life-long career whether she likes it or not because there is no leaving Sound-n-Vision in her future. Over the past year and a half that she has been on the team she has become an invaluable resource. She is one of the best coders to step foot in this office and at only 20 years old still maintains that “anything is possible” attitude.

Brianna didn’t take any formal web programming classes until recently in college. Her advanced knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP, and MySql is hands-on experience over the years which furthers proves the theory that Brianna is a cyborg. Even more valuable than her ability as a designer is her ability to sweet-talk any client into submission. Brianna currently holds the record for most bribes from clients that include flowers, a Tiffany’s pen, candy, cards, Edible Arrangements and cupcakes.

Aside from web design, Brianna is also a passionate dancer. She has been dancing since she was just three years old. Brianna does various types of dances such as tap, jazz, lyrical, and modern, but her favorite by far is hip-hop.

Brianna’s most embarrassing moment is the prospect of being on an upcoming reality show for a major network.

Alex Sheer, Search Engine Optimist

Search Engine Optimization

Alex Sheer..the man, the myth, the legend…and at a towering 5 feet 5 inches (5 feet 4 3/4 inches actually, but he'll never admit to it) how can he not be! Alex is 23 years old and is fresh outta college.

Alex, born to touring jazz pianist and a once Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, packed their bags from Cleveland, Ohio and made their ways east, to none other than the Big Apple. Growing up in Brooklyn for a couple years, Alex had his sights on big things, usually that meant the refrigerator middle drawer for a kid of his height, but still, the thought was there! Alex grew up on the streets learning how to walk the walk and talk the talk, making friends with the local tykes at the community playgrounds and laying some pretty deep roots in those blacktops. However it wasn't until one day Alex's dad came home and was horrified to find Alex playing with something he had never seen in his entire life...the best grass one could find in Brooklyn. Not even joking, that's the only reason Alex moved to the suburbs after that, cause he didn't have a front or backyard and his father wanted him to have actual green grass to grow up around. So not long after that Alex was whisked away by his parents and began the rest of his life to date in the suburbs.

After high school, Alex attended and graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Economics. There he caught the yellow fever and unlike the Oregon Trail, he actually made it all the way home with his whole family including a plus one being the straggler he picked up while he was there. Alex’s Dad switched from music to computer engineering, a minor of his in college, and having such a tech savvy guy around the house it only makes sense that it would rub off on Alex. With his influence, Alex has found himself working at Sound-n-Vision, working in the finance department as well as learning day to day how to design websites. In addition, Alex is a part time soccer coach and is hoping to open up his own soccer academy in the near future. And who said big things doesn't come in small packages?

Chris Hawthorne, Vice President of Kool

Sales Associate

Chris went to college at the University of Rhode Island with no aspirations of attaining any academic achievements and one day going out into the real world and pursuing a true career in which he could believe in and find a sense of pride in his work. No, instead he went into college knowing he only had to maintain a grade point average which would keep him eligible enough to graduate in four years (four years of paying tuition and room and board and walk around money was all his father would pay for) because he knew he would some day work for his fathers well established credit insurance agency, which was nestled right in the heart of Manhattans fashion district. He even worked there in the summers and somehow managed to get college credits saying it was an "internship".

So knowing a dignified career was awaiting him regardless of academic performance efforts, Chris decided to join a fraternity his freshman year, which was subsequently kicked off and disbarred from all university affiliated activities his junior year. After four years of fun, he was able to graduate in the scheduled amount of time with a 2.4 in Communications. After graduation he thought he had everything figured out, and he would pursue the life he was "destined" for. He started working for his father, making a very generous salary, and selling his first two policies within 3 months of employment. He soon maintained a 250k book of business.

Within one year of graduating college he lost his mother, his stepmother, and his little sister. He began to despise his career and soon quit. He quickly found himself working at his uncles bar/grill bussing tables and running a meat carving station on Wednesday nights serving roast beef and hot pastrami sandwiches off a deli-meat slicer to patrons of the bar. All the while taking classes at a community college with hopes of one day getting his GPA up and maybe becoming eligible for a graduate school program. He began inquiring for jobs everywhere he could think, even taking interviews at a popular chain brand adult entertainment store. Soon enough he got in contact with Marc and Tom, who took advantage of his strong communication skills and year of experience in selling credit insurance. It wasn't long before Chris was hired at Sound-n-Vision as a salesman. He now hopes to become a top sales runner in the company soon.

Pete Kane, First Class Citizen

Sales Associate

Pete Kane was born and raised in the tough (incredibly safe) streets of Blauvelt, New York. He eventually grew up and attended Fordham University, where he learned about Communications and how to not get mugged in the Bronx. Upon graduating, he was surprised to find out that people actually need to get jobs after college. He spent the summer after graduation trying his best to delay the real world, a task that he took on from his couch. After coming to terms with the fact that there is life after college, Pete was lucky enough to find a position as a salesman at Sound-n-Vision, where he gets to work alongside the guys he grew up with. Sound-n-Vision has given him the opportunity to combine his love of technology with his need to talk to new people every day. He considers himself lucky that his job allows him to be creative and that he doesn’t have to sit in a cubicle.

Pete’s other interests include writing, sports and contemplating going to the gym. It should also be noted that Pete was the President of his 5th grade class and the changes he implemented still stand strong today. Pete also has a slightly unhealthy love for movies and television and has an almost encyclopedic memory for both. He’s like Dustin Hoffman in “Rain Man”, except instead of knowing about things that matter and are intelligent; he can recite every line of “Roadhouse”.

Pete considers himself pretty easy to get along with and there is literally nothing he enjoys more than hanging out with friends. He doesn’t particularly care for animals because they’re needy, less-evolved versions of humans and he has enough trouble taking care of himself without having to tend to a pet. This, however, has not stopped his family from having 3 dogs. Pete is also a single guy, who is currently in the market for any woman who is smart, pretty and who considers staying in and watching 80s teen movies to be a great night. He also likes to go out to bars with his friends, but that can often lead to an inappropriate amount of subpar dancing on his part.

Aimee Ensign, Class Mom

Copywriter & Blogger

Aimee has been sleeping her way to the top at Sound-n-Vision from the very first day the doors were opened. She is not only Marc’s wife of 10 years but she also acts as the class mom, keeping everyone fed, healthy and mobile with an occasional group workout. Aimee is also our resident English major which means she writes much of the copy for us and our clients whether it be website content or blogging.

Aimee is a huge believer that fun should be a fact of life! Although there are times when you should be serious and buckle down to get things done, this is not the time or the place.

Aimee grew up in Queens, NY…yes, she is a city girl and has the accent to prove it when she gets mad (ask Marc). She learned the rules of the street. She has yet to take candy from a stranger (except on Halloween), she always rides her bike with traffic and still to this day comes running into the house screaming when the ice cream man cometh.

Aimee went to high school and “majored” in English at The Center for Writing which lead to college where she majored in English Pre-Professional. Preparing herself to go into teaching, she graduated college, entered Graduate school and 3 years later graduated with a masters in Elementary Education and was ready to educate the future!

After six years of teaching she decided to change careers because she couldn’t stand being around all of those little brats all day long. Not the kids, the school administrators. The kids were great.

Working with Marc and Tom has been interesting to say the least. You always need to watch yourself. Aimee was talking with Marc on the phone and got a little risqué…something about rubbing lotion all over her body…only to find out that I was on speaker phone and Tom was sitting right there. She worked from home for about a month after that.

Al Gable, Aspiring Nobel Prize Winner

Account Executive

Al Gable is one of 3.5 Gable children (the .5 signifies Al’s goth-turned-lesbian half sister who now resides in San Francisco.), and has always been acknowledged as the offspring with the greatest potential to establish some type of legacy for the family. The foundation of a legacy had been laid by her great-grandfather, Romy Gosz, the great polka king, but was deemed erroneous when polka became obsolete circa 1945.

Al had always been interested in writing and began self-publishing (xeroxing and distributing to family members) books since the age of 8. Her first work, “Poop for President,” a politically charged analysis of the 1996 Election in which the dark-horse candidate “Mr. Poop-Man” challenges Clinton, Dole, and Perot, received great critical acclaim…from her parents. With her mass production of promising material, mostly in the “Mr. Poop-Man” series, Al became the obvious choice for favorite-child and soon grew a big head about being the sibling of superior intelligence.

In High school, Al continued to amaze as a serial-student-of-the-month-winner, straight A+ student, and universal pet to all teachers. Though she never considered herself a “cool chick like her older, sluttier sister”, she was able to deem herself as not completely socially hopeless based on two facts: she always managed to score some sort of position of power in the student government where she got to speak on the PA and she was invited to prom three years in a row (note: this seems more impressive when we omit the fact that all 3 dates are now openly gay).

Following high school, Al continued on the path of brilliance and enrolled in a fine Jesuit institution, Fordham University (once again outshining her half-sister, real sister and brother who attended no school, a school in Jersey City and the Airforce respectively.) However, when her father’s business (shoulder pad manufacturing) collapsed (big surprise), Al was forced to take out a lifetime’s worth of student loans and to this day insists that all she got from Fordham University was huge debt, the desire to occupy, and this dumb spring-weekend t-shirt. After school, she moved back home with her very active tea-party parents who learned to resent her liberal education as much as she did.

After about a year and a half of working at the local toy store, Al became sick of the toy store glass ceiling, and decided it was time to get a “real job”, which she found at Sound-n-Vision.

Christopher Michael Collichio, Chief Website Evangelist

Account Executive

Christopher Michael Collichio was born in 1988 to his mother Jackie and his father Greg. He grew up on a strict diet of hot dogs and chicken nuggets. In high school Chris excelled at baseball, soccer and of course art club.

Chris went on to attend James Madison University where he met his current girlfriend of three years. Like most beautiful love stories, Chris and Claire's began with a chance meeting at the bar in his fraternity's basement, wedged between an ice luge and an unconscious chick in a toga. After the introduction of energy/alcoholic beverages to the drinking world, Claire lost control, leading to several break ups that Chris' friends found both pathetic and annoying. After Four Loko removed the caffeine in 2010, Chris and Claire rekindled their relationship, and have been going strong ever since.

After College, Chris spent an entire year working for enterprise rent a car in Monsey NY, where he spent most of his days begging people to buy car insurance they really didn't need and avoiding customers who looked angry or like they might smell. As you can tell, Chris did not enjoy his time at Enterprise and would have loved to get out but knew that the job market was terrible. Once Chris was tasked with delivering a car to an 80 year old woman who was incredibly racist and smelled of urine. Despite the fact that the woman had no money or license, she pleaded with Chris to let her have the car because she was late for her appointment with her doctor. After 45 minutes of trying to explain to woman that she could not just take the car, a man claiming to be her caretaker asked Chris if he could just drive both of them to her doctor. He did, and then went back to Enterprise and put in his resignation.

Not long after, Tom and Marc offered to mentor Chris as a new employee at Sound-n-Vision. Chris has already learned a lot about sales and the SEO business and enjoys going to work every day. He loves it almost as much as his girl friend used to love Four Lokos

Zack Lonberg, Chief Fulfiller of Needs

Sales Associate

Zack Lonberg was birthed in New York City on October 25th 1988, allowing him both the gift and the curse of being a Scorpio. His family moved to the sunny suburban town of Nyack, New York, but after squeezing out two more children, his parents decided to relocate to a bigger home in the enclaves of Palisades, New York.

Having grown up around a menagerie of animals, he can read the minds of and can telepathically communicate with dogs, monkeys, birds, and lizards like a mixture of Tarzan and Ace Ventura. From a young age, Zack was a math wiz who had lofty dreams of being an aeronautical engineer. However, he soon gave up those dreams when he came to Sound-n-Vision, where he is learning that sales and marketing can be entertaining.

While Zack is currently looking for a girlfriend, he can already tell you that he specifically in search of the one perfect girl who has seen every episode of Family Guy and South Park, and can perfectly quote every comedy movie that was made in the 90’s, especially GoodBurger. Finding a girl of this caliber is what drives Zack every day of his life.

Zack is a recent product of Emerson College, a school in which all students share the same passion for media and unfortunately the Red Sox. While at Emerson, Zack managed to host his own hip-hop radio show, write for and act in a late night talk show, and pick up a wicked sweet Boston accent. He spent his spare time kayaking along the Charles River hoping to pick up girls who thought kayaking was the bee’s knees. His favorite food is anything with the word “parmigiana” following it and is training to compete in the 2012 New York Marathon.

Jess Butler, Web Mistress

Account Executive

Jess was raised one of four children in suburbia Westchester County. She had every intention of being the “baby girl” of the family until her brother showed up unannounced screwing things up for her. Growing up in Yonkers, New York had its disadvantages. Aside from the obvious crime scenes, Jess had a very difficult time landing a man in her teens. Being blonde haired & blue eyed did not seem to go over well with the Italian Guido’s in her neighborhood.

Jess went to Fordham University for undergraduate studies. She learned that even the Jesuit priests could take down a bottle of Merlot a night. Over those four years, she learned that friendships were of the utmost importance in this life and she has the Facebook account to prove it.

Post-college was a rough patch in Jess’ existence. Life was no longer filled with 3 hours of Math Methods in Business per week or casual 4AM visits to the local pizzeria. The man was knocking at her door. And he was agitated and cheap. She started interning at her oldest sister’s Insurance brokerage after her travels abroad. This was an effort to regain some brain cells as well as shave off a few pounds. The latter seemed to be the only success story. She continued to act as if she were still allowed to sleep until 4PM on Saturdays & spend zero time thinking about the future.

One day Jess realized that the only time she was challenged at work was when she would come back to the office and have to act like she cared about her client's co-pays. It was time for a change and Sound-n-Vision seemed like a perfect fit. She can express herself freely in an open environment with people just like her and actually cares about her clients now.

Jess is a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan. Buster Posey’s successful rehab is the reason why she wakes up in the morning.

Christopher Anthony Squeo, Chief Badass Officer

Sales Associate

Christopher Anthony Squeo is 23 years old and was born in Nyack, he grew up with some of the greatest friends in the world that he is still very close with today. It could be said that hanging out and having fun is what he does best. His high school career consisted of mediocre sports performances and chasing girls.

Unfortunately we cannot proceed with the fun details of his life without sharing some of the hiccups along the way. When he was younger (14), he was in a very bad car accident that nearly killed him and left him in a wheel chair for months and unable to walk for nearly a year. Later in college he developed Hodgkin’s disease and went through 6 months of chemotherapy and all kinds of other procedures, surgical and non to come out on the other side clean and cancer free.

While going through chemo he stayed in college at the University of Delaware, drove back and forth to NY for treatment, , ran a fraternity, went sky diving, threw parties and fundraisers all while obtaining a Degree.

Chris keeps us laughing and keeps his job because he is paid commission only.

Jessica Hill, Special Optimization Agent

Account Executive

Jessica was born in Queens and raised in Rockland County, New York. Although she left NYC at a very young age, traces of her birthplace can still be found in her unnecessarily strong new yawk accent and unshakable yearning for pizza.

Being the youngest of four kids has given Jessica the impression that she is "cute" and perhaps even "funny," or if you really want to stretch it "endearing." (read: these notions are questioned almost constantly by people that are not Jessica, her parents, or siblings).

Along with most of the crew, Jessica attended Tappan Zee High School where she dominated the Basketball Court and the Lacrosse fields (Like Michael Jordan did, if he were a high school girl, who also played lacrosse.) Jessica was also a prominent member of the group SADD, while she is no longer a member, she still holds a strong stance against destructive decisions. Jessica has always been one of the guys. While that was a great experience, being one of the guys means perpetual abuse, and she's lucky she has the self-esteem to get through it.

Jessica attended Fordham University in the Bronx where her pizza yearning flourished. By certain eyewitness accounts, Jessica actually managed to throw back an entire pie in one sitting. Judges? Yes ok, it was a full pie, crusts included. While all other accomplishments pale in comparison, Jessica did captain Fordham's women's lacrosse team and manage to graduate with a major in American Studies and minor in Political Science.

After Fordham, Jessica found herself working in insurance and generally fitting the bill of a ridiculously nostalgic and reluctant post-graduate. She has taken to calling her parents her "roommates" to ease the sweet, sweet sting of her new post-college life.

Jessica left insurance to find a job with more creativity, and landed upon Sound-n-Vision. She currently lives in Rockland, with her roommates, and dates a ginger.

Charlie Seifert, Play Station Brand Ambassador

Intern

Charlie grew up in a small town located in New Jersey and was destined to make an impact in the world of the ever growing Internet. Throughout high school he took part in graphic design courses, after school clubs, sports and occasional detentions for late arrivals to class. Becoming a close friend (or “brother” as preferred) with Justin, they developed their skills and pursued college with hopes of making it in the industry. While Justin made it into NJIT with a degree in network security and administration, Charlie stepped foot into the Web Design and Development area.

With the help of a fellow classmate and coworker Brianna, he was given contact information for a company known as Sound-n-Vision. Charlie started updating previous and current websites. Ranging from product info, prices, galleries and other pieces of the puzzle, updates were made. While he still is following graphic and web design, the area of updated and keeping consistency on client websites is where the passion is.

While not working or going to class, Charlie has a pretty random life. Anything from going to see a new movie (on Tuesday of course, free optimum rewards), driving around, or just kicking back at a friend’s house, it’s been done.

If you ever see a blue corolla with obnoxious lime rims or cop lights behind, it’s most likely Charlie. He’s not exactly a bad driver just a driver with bad luck.