BIRMINGHAM / ATLANTA As much of the advertising industry consolidates, Luckie & Co. is leaning into a different advantage: independence. The independent agency with offices in Atlanta and Birmingham today announced a strategic restructuring of its executive leadership to sharpen commercial strategy, deepen client partnerships, and elevate its strategic, creative, activation and intelligence-led offering.
The move builds on momentum since Scott Gelber was appointed CEO in October. In just a few months, the agency has secured multiple new business wins across the CPG, healthcare, and OTC categories—an acceleration in business development at a pace the agency hasn’t seen before. That growth reflects a leadership team that stays close to the work: listening closely, operating with accountability, and bringing senior-level partnership to every engagement.
As large networks combine and operations centralize, many brands are seeking something more hands-on and accountable—an agency that understands the nuance of their business, shows up in the day-to-day, and delivers senior-level engagement rather than a distant, anonymous model. Luckie’s leadership evolution reflects that demand and aligns the agency around the disciplines that drive sustained performance: new business, client stewardship, strategy, creative excellence, talent, intelligence, and emerging technology.
New and Expanded Leadership Roles
Shelly Hoffman has been elevated to Chief Growth Officer. Since joining Luckie through the sale of her agency in 2024 – a move that contributed to the agency’s recent growth – Hoffman has been a driving force of client acquisition and expansion for years, building relationships, opening doors, and translating Luckie’s capabilities into lasting partnerships. In this expanded role, Hoffman will lead growth strategy, new business development, and partner development across offices and disciplines, accelerating the agency’s trajectory across priority categories.
Taylor Rhodes has joined Luckie from Merkley+Partners in New York as Chief Client Officer. Rhodes brings a breadth of experience across verticals, including significant work in healthcare and regulated categories, paired with a partner-first leadership style rooted in strong stewardship and high-performing teams. In the role, Rhodes will oversee client leadership and partnership development across the agency, strengthening consistency, accountability, and best-in-class service as Luckie continues to expand its client portfolio.
Abby Bennett has been named Senior Vice President, Strategy. A respected Luckie veteran, Bennett is known for turning complex business challenges into clear, actionable strategic direction. She will lead the strategic planning discipline, strengthening the agency’s strategic product and ensuring Luckie’s work is insight-led, culturally relevant, and designed to drive measurable business impact. Bennett’s leadership will also deepen internal collaboration, helping teams operate with greater clarity, rigor, and strategic consistency from the inside out.
These appointments build on a seasoned executive team that continues to shape Luckie’s culture, creative excellence, and modern capabilities—ensuring the agency scales without sacrificing craft, partnership, or the hands-on leadership that defines the independent advantage.
Stephanie Naman, Senior Vice President, Executive Creative Director, is a central force behind Luckie’s creative product and evolution. A longtime leader within the agency, Naman drives creative ambition, elevates craft, and ensures Luckie’s work consistently breaks through and performs, while mentoring creative leaders and shaping the agency’s creative vision across categories and channels.
Melissa Wheeler, Chief People Officer, leads Luckie’s people strategy and culture, overseeing leadership development, talent growth, recruiting, and retention. Wheeler continues to build the internal foundation that enables high-performing teams, ensuring Luckie remains a place where people do their best work and where culture actively supports growth, collaboration, and client outcomes.
Mark Unrein, Chief AI Officer, advances Luckie’s leadership in applied AI and marketing technology. Unrein focuses on embedding modern tools and intelligence into strategy, creative, and analytics, helping teams uncover insights faster, work smarter, and deliver more effective, future-ready marketing solutions.
Brian Lamkin, Senior Vice President of Business Intelligence, leads analytics, insights, media strategy and performance measurement across the agency. Lamkin ensures Luckie’s work is grounded in data, optimized through continuous learning, and tied directly to meaningful business results, bringing sharper accountability and clearer performance visibility across the agency’s client portfolio.
Baxter Elliott, VP of Operations & Finance, leads financial planning, forecasting, and operational finance for the agency. Elliot provides the financial rigor and visibility that supports smart growth—ensuring the agency scales sustainably, invests strategically, and maintains strong stewardship across budgets, resourcing, and long-term planning.
“This structure brings sharper focus and clear accountability across growth, client leadership, and strategy,” said Gelber. “Independence is an unlock right now. Brands want leaders in the work—people who understand the nuance of their business and show up in the day-to-day. We’ve seen a level of business development acceleration in recent months that’s been extraordinary—especially across CPG, healthcare, and OTC—and this team is built to sustain it. Taylor strengthens how we partner and steward clients. Shelly’s leadership fuels growth. Abby deepens our strategic product from the inside out. And with Stephanie, Melissa, Mark, Brian and Baxter leading creative, talent, technology, business intelligence and our financial discipline, we’ve built a leadership team that can keep winning and deliver meaningful impact for our partners.”
About Luckie & Co.
Founded in 1953, Luckie & Co. is an independent advertising agency with offices in Atlanta and Birmingham. Luckie builds brands through breakthrough creative, strategic brand leadership, and modern marketing solutions designed to drive measurable business impact across priority categories including CPG, healthcare, OTC, and travel and destination marketing.
