About us

We're in the people Business!

Whether it’s a product, service or awareness that you need to promote, we understand the nuances of how people think and interact. We translate insights into strategies that help connect your brand to the right people, engaging and communicating with them with a memorable moment that creates a lasting impression.

AN Agency
for culture

At CJ Grant, diversity is in our DNA. As a minority-led company, we excel in multi-cultural marketing. It fuels our passion, drives creativity, and shapes campaigns that resonate authentically. We value diversity, inclusion, and work-life balance, creating an energized space for our team, partners, and clients.

What is MORE+BETTER? It’s a core value derived from a decade old company story. It’s a principle that we instill in all of our work and our agency. In essence we strive to do MORE and we endeavor to do it BETTER. Whether that’s for a project, our company culture, our clients or your brand. We are always ready for MORE+BETTER!

our business is our people

Full of respect and a passion for our work, our team is the foundation for our success and company culture. We value work-life balance and proudly celebrate each other and our clients.

meet the team

Our people are our foundation for success, each bringing unique and diverse experience and talent to the team. Check out our energetic and creative group.

Wade Timmerson
President & Founder

Wade Timmerson
President & Founder
Wade has demonstrated leadership his entire life. In college, he led the Robert Morris University basketball team to three NCAA Tournaments. In 1995, Wade’s entrepreneurial spirit guided him to start a real estate investment company. (He wrote the book: “Building Big Profits in Real Estate.”) Wade’s determination to grow his career continued when he began to pursue direct sales opportunities where he achieved top level sales goals. In 2012, he launched CJ Grant, a direct sales marketing agency named after his three children. In the ensuing years, Wade has grown CJ Grant into a nationwide agency, expanding its services beyond direct sales to include both experiential and customer focused marketing services. Wade believes in the maxim, “work hard, play hard” — but family comes first. When CJ Grant’s fearless leader isn’t in the office or out in the field, you can find him spending time with his children, coaching a basketball game, attending a sporting event, or even chillaxing in Miami for a quick reset before it’s GO TIME again!
Mardi Galdamez
CEO & Managing Partner

Mardi Galdamez
CEO & Managing Partner
Our CEO and Managing Partner is an accomplished, results driven, strategic visionary. Mardi’s experience in business management, technology, marketing, compliance, and analytics has been unparalleled for more than 25 years. He has worked with dozens of Fortune 100 companies in banking, airline, travel, retail, pharma, and other sectors. In 2015, Mardi was featured in Hispanic Executive magazine, highlighting his many accomplishments — graduating at the top of his class, leading multiple teams for a top pharma company, and eventually transitioning to the role of Chief Technology Officer at an innovative event marketing agency. He helped transform the event marketing industry by creating cutting-edge, compliant, customer engagement applications for some of the top financial institutions in the world. When Mardi takes a break from working, he enjoys a wide range of passions, including marathon running and snowboarding to world traveling and bread baking.
Dara Giammalva
VP of Marketing

Dara Giammalva
VP of Marketing
Marketing is what Dara knows and does best: Acquisition, experiential, or event marketing, marketing is in her blood. After graduating college with a degree in Organizational Communications and a minor in Marketing, Dara’s career took off. From the beginning, she was trusted with the responsibility of launching nationwide marketing programs with some of the largest financial institutions in the world (and their partners). Dara’s strong work ethic and experience in client services and account management is a key contributor to CJ Grant’s success. Dara always played a pivotal role in transitioning event marketing into a compliance driven endeavor, resulting in the improved longevity and success of programs. Dara’s dedication doesn’t stop when she leaves the office; it continues at home with her family. She works to make the world a better place through her participation and support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and her love of making chocolate. We don’t know how she does it all, and if you ask her, she’ll simply say, “It’s all in a day’s work.”
Suezette Smallwood
VP, National Field Sales

Suezette Smallwood
VP, National Field Sales
Suezette is a very passionate, driven, independent, goal-oriented individual with an entrepreneurial flare. A strategic business developer with more than 20 years of experience fueling revenues, growing client relationships, and ranking among top sales performers as an individual and management contributor. Reputable for achieving superior levels of customer satisfaction, retention, and referrals by ensuring the continuous delivery of top–quality support and expertise. She has a diverse background in the “Sales World”, by learning, developing, and working from the ground up. Her experience ranges from a successful individual contributor, account manager, channel manager, and sales manager to building and running a company from the ground up She is self-motivated, trustworthy, willing to go the extra 10 miles, dedicated and a true team player. When Suezette is not working you can find her traveling through wine country to sip some tasty new wines or heading to the mountains to become one with nature and decompress while planning that next adventure.
Patrick Wharram
Creative Director

Patrick Wharram
Creative Director
Life is all about experiences, the better the experience the more memorable it is – It’s a simple truth that Patrick brings into all aspects of his professional and personal life. Having worked in many sectors including Pharma, CPG, Finance and Sports & Entertainment, and in various marketing disciplines including experiential, brand, digital and social, Patrick has over 20 years of experience gaining a deep understanding of how audiences engage with brands. Utilizing a foundation of strategy and creativity to craft compelling brand stories for consumer and corporate brand activations, both large and small. Hailing from the UK, when Patrick is not working, he dives into his passion for football (soccer!), live music, being an avid homebrewer, snowboarding and spending time with his family and friends.
Juan Tejada
Director of Paid Media & Analytics

Juan Tejada
Director of Paid Media & Analytics
Digital marketing is a key component in managing successful marketing programs and Juan is certainly the right person to get the job done. As a seasoned digital marketing professional, Juan specializes in paid search advertising, Google Analytics, and website tracking. Throughout the past 15 years Juan has worked with clients in a variety of sectors including banking, healthcare, and higher education. Juan’s extensive knowledge ensures we always deliver results and exceed client expectations. When Juan isn’t busy optimizing and tracking online campaigns, he’s spending time with his family and indulging in some of the world’s best craft beers.