Our Team
Creative Director
Tan Nguyen (she/they) is a proud hyphenate: Queer-gender-nonconforming-Asian-Vietnamese-American-woman-1.5 generation immigrant who operates at the intersections of these identities. She is also a hyphenate professionally: creative-director-producer-designer-communications-marketing-print-digital-entpreneur-project manager-event producer. She’s had many different kinds of leading roles and this rich experience lends itself to an exciting and diverse portfolio.
With over 20 years experience in design, Tan began her professional creative career as an art director at J. Walter Thompson (now JWT) in NYC, working on campaigns for clients such as the U.S. Marines, Merrill Lynch, and White Castle.
After 9/11, she reevaluated her career and decided to strike out on her own and honed her craft at Parsons School of Design (2002). She started her first agency, Tan Dan Design, and worked on marketing materials for clients such as Anti-Violence Project, Women’s Bond Club, Stonewall Foundation, Aramark, New York University, and The Ohio State University, among numerous others.
In 2009, the stars aligned and there was an opportunity to make another dream of hers come true. She left NYC to launch her food truck and under her leadership, Washington, DC-based Rebel Heroes,* quickly rose to #1 (Washington Post online survey) and “Best of” lists (Washingtonian Magazine, City Paper). Through effective strategic branding, high-impact design, social media savvy, and with a very limited budget for advertising, they managed to sell out daily, with long lines of returning customers who wanted to “Revolutionize the Sub”. Her success as an entrepreneur also greatly informs how she is able to help other business owners and entrepreneurs launch their business.
Tan’s journey has been global and spans diverse networks and fields but the common threads have always been the same: a passion for her work, connecting with community, creativity in solutions, and a commitment to achieving tangible and effective results.
She is an alumna of The George Washington University, spent her junior year abroad at Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan), and is a 2020 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Program in Social Innovation Design. She co-founded No Hate Space, a grassroots visual campaign. She also served as an executive board member for Stonewall Columbus (2018).
Digital Marketing Director
Brit (she/ they) is an Oakland-based conscious creator across many mediums. Her passion for helping under-served communities succeed was originally honed with a degree in Human Services, followed by a decade supporting nonprofits and small businesses around the world with customized systems, visual design and communications.
Brit joined Hyphenate in 2020 as Digital Marketing Director to empower small teams to make a big impact, including clients such as Fugees Family and Colby College.
In her spare time, Brit also enjoys beekeeping, camping, sewing, traveling and doing cartwheels wherever she goes.
Website maintenance & Special Projects
With a passion for travel and a desire to understand the world we inhabit, Ana Mitchell (she/her), graduated from The Ohio State University with a double major in anthropology and comparative cultural studies with a French minor. It was at Ohio State where Ana and Tan’s paths crossed, working her senior year as Tan’s marketing and communications assistant at the Center for Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. She published numerous profiles and interviews and maintained a robust weekly newsletter and social media that reached over 30,000 subscribers.
Her international experience and interdisciplinary studies have helped her foster strong communication and collaboration among diverse backgrounds, patience, and always a desire to learn from others.
Design & Project Assistant
Dan Callahan (they/them) is a Senior Graphic Design major currently studying at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, PA. They love all things brand design and are always excited to take on new projects. With a minor in illustration, they have a unique approach to the design process, problem solving by integrating free-flowing elements within flexible frameworks.
As a self-proclaimed lover of shiny things, they have a bad habit of buying glasses and plates from thrift stores and collecting interesting objects. Whenever they’re not working, they’re watching NHL hockey, playing the Legend of Zelda, or doodling long-haired swordsmen.
new business & proposals
Elizabeth Ma (she/her) is a 1st gen Chinese American currently based nowhere and everywhere. After graduating from The Ohio State University she found herself working in account management, corporate retail, ed tech and most recently, accountability coaching – while her previous experiences span different industries, the common factor across all is her passion to connect with people. Elizabeth’s hobbies include snowboarding, hiking, yoga and cruising in her 94 4runner.
Website Designer & Project manager
Jayd Tree Kim (they/them) is a Philly-born creator who started their branding/social media career as an intern for GoPuff/GoBrands LLC. After finishing school at Temple University with a BS in Information Science & Technology, JT led a fruitful career in Information Technology until 2022. Starting their IT career as level 1 technician and ending as an IT Director, they decided that having careers within the creative fields is more fulfilling to them.
As a creator, JT started to develop a passion for it in late 2019 when they started self-teaching and learning from various mentors on how to produce, mix, and master music. After two years of training, JT was confident enough to release some of their first singles under the persona “Unicorn Daddy”. As each song was ready for release, JT had the challenge of designing their own graphic artwork to be released along with each track.
JT has been designing websites on and off since they learned how to build websites using HTML in university. Now they are fully on course to becoming a better web designer and web developer with the help of the best mentors and coworkers. They’re confident in their skills of brand building and social media marketing and are open to learning more about it. Since the launch of their primary music project in 2020, they have built or had a hand in building seven brands within their community of Philly artists.