the team
- Burt Alper, Strategy Director
- Maria Cypher, Executive Creative Director
- Mark Skoultchi, Managing Director, New York
- Laurel Sutton, Linguistics/Project Director
- Aaron Hall, Project Director
- Beth Gerber, Creative Director
- Laura Schroeder, Client Manager
- Jocelyn Ahlers, Consultant
Crossword genius. Guacamole gourmet. Whiteboard king. When a brand name needs attention, Burt’s your man. For over a decade, he’s wowed heavy hitters with his branding talent and business smarts. Burt stoked his passion for words at Swarthmore College, where he earned a BA in psycholinguistics, and for business at Harvard, where he earned his MBA. His passion for branding is exceeded only by his fanatical dedication to the Oakland A’s.
Maria Cypher, Executive Creative Director
Writer of stories, weaver of linguistic magic, aspiring guitarista … no one beats Maria when it comes to creative brilliance. Given that her mind moves in a million directions, it's surprising that Maria is one of the most meticulous people on earth. She's been creating knockout brand names for prime-time companies for over a decade. Before that she was a writer and editor for a variety of travel and trade magazines. Stanford is Maria's educational home base; the Cardinal awarded her degrees in Psychology and Economics, as well as an MBA. We are all jealous that the bicultural Maria spent 13 years in Asia and speaks fluent Mandarin.
Mark Skoultchi, Managing Director, New York
Nothing Mark takes on is done halfheartedly—whether it’s strumming the guitar, playing soccer, shopping for clothes, or creating a brand. A magazine junkie with a predilection for gadgets and high fashion, Mark’s finger is never far from the pulse of popular culture. He’s been involved with every aspect of branding, from strategy to name registration, for a wide range of household brand names. Mark earned a BA in History from Brandeis University and a JD from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School. There’s no accounting for Mark’s ungodly wakeup hour.
Laurel Sutton, Linguistics/Project Director
Laurel has at her disposal a mind-boggling vocabulary that continues to grow with every book she voraciously reads. For over 10 years, this tech goddess/Jersey girl has stunned hundreds of clients with her linguistic prowess and cache of obscure—but always useful—knowledge. Laurel took her official leap into wordsmithing as a double-major in Linguistics and English at Rutgers University, where she was a Douglass Scholar. She’s currently pursuing a PhD in Linguistics at UC Berkeley. Her favorite Jeopardy categories? Star Trek, Comic Books, Hawaii, Mixed Drinks, British Comedy, MST3K, and Surrealist Art. We’ve yet to discover something Laurel doesn’t know.
Between his love of blogs and the 12,000 folks he calls his closest friends, Aaron is rarely in the dark about what's "in". A guileless Pied Piper, Aaron’s gift for gab, infectious laugh, and legendary hosting abilities make him perfectly suited for getting everyone on the same page. While his Psychology degree from Harvard is handy for deconstructing how brands interact with their target audiences, it was Aaron’s study of Italian and Spanish that piqued his interest in language itself. None of us will be surprised if Aaron finds himself the unwitting leader of a techie cult.
Beth Gerber, Creative Director
Poet, strategist, armchair therapist (and hula-hooper extraordinaire) ... Beth brings an eclectic mix of insight and creative skills to every name she crafts. An 18-year veteran of advertising and branding, Beth has created names, advertising campaigns, and marketing initiatives for a spectrum of Fortune 500 and other companies. And her multifaceted background lets her identify names that work powerfully within a larger marketing context. Beth began wearing multiple hats at Brown, where she double-majored in Organizational Behavior and Creative Writing; later, she trained in gestalt therapy. One of these days, you'll find her short stories in print. Only her mother beats her at Scrabble.
Laura Schroeder, Client Manager
Also answers to: Gourmet Cook, Photojournalist, and Thesaurus Junkie. Laura's enduring fascination with other cultures and languages began with her adventures as a child living in Puerto Rico. It's inspired her to be an exchange student in Japan, earn a degree from Georgetown's ethnically diverse School of Languages and Linguistics, and trek through Thailand and other parts of the world (even if it takes eight modes of transportation to do it!). An intrepid client and project manager who cut her teeth on the wild world of web marketing, she's also a seasoned namer who has branded everything from toys to OTC drugs.
A longtime Project Manager at Catchword, Jocelyn has worked on numerous naming and branding projects. Jocelyn recently joined the faculty of C.S.U. San Marcos, but she's agreed to continue sharing her expertise with Catchword. Jocelyn is currently working on language-revitalization projects with several Native California tribes, as well as conducting research on the language describing working mothers. She has a PhD in Linguistics from UC Berkeley and has studied both sociolinguistics and metaphor extensively. Jocelyn received a BA in English and Comparative Literature from Occidental College.
