Ann Billock, Co-Founder
Ann has over 30 years of experience working as a senior marketing executive for national advertisers and agencies. For the past 18 years she has been a Management Consultant, and before founding Ark Advisors, spent 10 years at two of the nation’s leading consultancies specializing in agency sourcing, compensation, and relationship management.
Ann also has worked as Senior Consultant at The Weston Group, a well-regarded general marketing management consultancy. Prior to her consulting, Ann spent over a decade in senior account management and business development at leading agencies including BBDO, J. Walter Thompson, Hal Riney & Partners, Hill Holliday, and Wunderman Worldwide.
Ann’s client-side experience includes over five years of brand management at Kraft (General Foods) and direct marketing management at CBS Publications.
Ann attended Brown University, received her BA from Barnard College, and has an MBA in Marketing from Boston University Graduate School of Management. She lives in New York City, loves film, theatre, ballet, and antiques, and has two sons who are also in the Marketing Communications industry.
Ken Robinson, Co-Founder
Ken has over 20 years of global marketing experience on all sides of the business – as an agency search consultant, a client-side marketing decision maker, and in several senior management roles at agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, FutureBrand and StrawberryFrog. His career includes posts in New York, Los Angeles, London and Western Australia.
Ken is an active member of the international marketing community. He has served for many years as an EFFIE Awards judge and is a frequent industry speaker.
Ken received his BA from Boston University; has Advertising & Marketing Certification from Cavendish College in London; and was a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute.
Joseph Pessolano, Strategic Partner
Joe has over 25 years of experience in senior financial positions in the advertising and marketing industry. He has held senior financial posts at Saatchi & Saatchi, WPP, Ammirati Puris Lintas, Houston Herstek Favat, Arnold Worldwide Partners and Chandler Chicco Companies. Joe received a BBA from Pace University’s Lubin School of Business and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
Joe has a wealth of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, both on the buy and sell sides of the transaction. He has also led numerous reorganization and integration initiatives, which have led to increased profitability, cash flow and shareholder value. He has also been responsible for agency operations including human resources, IT, facilities management, real estate and legal.
He is a native New Yorker, currently residing in Boston, where he enjoys skiing, sailing and riding his Harley.
Rob Dickson, Strategic Partner
Rob has over 27 years of law, business, M&A, and board experience. In his 10+ years as the Managing Director of agency holding company MDC Partners, Rob led the acquisition process for leading agency brands including Crispin Porter + Bogusky, 72 and Sunny, Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners and Anomaly.
Having worked with MDC Partners agencies on building and implementing their growth strategies and initiatives, Rob now specializes in working with marketing services firms of all sizes to help them to focus on long term strategic growth and profitability. His mission is to help entrepreneurs maximize the potential and value of the companies they build by using the “deal environment” as a guide to creating and increasing value.