About Us

MJ Meister

MJ Meister is the owner of MJ&Associates, a boutique marketing firm serving select clients in all forms of marketing with a focus on the integration of digital, social and traditional media. Located in the Historic Valley Junction in West Des Moines, MJ started the agency in 2013 after serving national clients of CMF&Z, Inc., an Iowa company owned by Young & Rubicam Worldwide. Starting at entry-level and eventually becoming Vice President/Account Group Director, MJ learned marketing disciplines and strategy from the very best, based right here in Iowa and reaching around the world.

In the 2000’s, MJ spent 10 years building and managing an internal agency-like group, serving business clients of Gannett’s U.S. Community Publishing Division. MJ and her team regularly delivered millions of dollars of services, creating marketing for clients from the Midwest to the West Coast. In 2006, MJ was instrumental in leading the development of five similar teams across the country. As Regional Director of the Gannett Client Solutions Group, MJ gained valuable experience in digital marketing and a media perspective from the inside of one of the nation’s most respected publishing companies. She was recognized in 2006 as Employee of the Year.

MJ&Associates started with two very important local clients and the business grew from there! Since opening in 2013, MJ&Associates has also worked to give back to the community, serving non-profit clients such as Oakridge Neighborhood, SafeNetRx, the Iowa Catholic Conference and Taste of the Junction.

Throughout her career, MJ and her teams have been recognized for excellence with many awards, recognition and new business. However, a signature brand attribute of the company is the belief that the most valuable recognition comes from the results-driven campaigns that make the clients’ businesses successful.

MJ will lead a discussion about why it’s critical to have a trusted marketing advisor in the increasingly technical, data-driven discipline of today’s modern marketing, which has seen the number of martech solutions double every year for the past five.

Brian Shearer

Brian’s first design award came to him shortly after graduating from college. Over the next 30 years, his work in advertising, book and magazine design, editorial and how-to illustration, and photography art direction has steadily garnered accolades for innovation, execution and high-quality results. Able to translate complex assignments into logical, easy-to-understand creative solutions, Brian served as art director for a bimonthly 128-page custom magazine with a subscription base exceeding 2 million. He has served clients in the agriculture, construction, retail, financial services, travel, publishing, crafts and food industries.

I have been working in Graphic Design for more than 25 years. In that time I’ve worked in Advertising, winning both local and national “Addy” awards including “Best Of Show”. I have also worked in publishing for one of the nation’s largest publishers of magazines and books in their Custom Publishing division. A partial client list includes Nestle foods, Chrysler, Principal Financial Group, Philip Morris (Youth Smoking Prevention Program), MetLife, Kraft Foods, and Nabisco.

I have been the owner and Principal of my own design studio for more than 15 years and have continued to do work for local and national clients.