Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Turkey, New Mexico, Utah, and Florida, José is a graduate of SCAD and the founder of Metaleap Creative, where, for 20 years, he has led award-winning brand launches, editorial redesigns, and digital efforts. In 2022, in collaboration with the Society of Publication Designers, he launched the Right Mind at Work podcast with his business partner, Nikolle. In it, they delve into real talk around the challenges facing industry leaders and the disconnect they are experiencing with their creative teams. Guests include NYT columnist David Brooks, design legend Gail Anderson, and Nike shoe designer Sergio Lozano.
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He currently serves as a board member for the Society of Publication Designers and the ATL Collective. He has spoken at the 2018 SCAD Commencement Ceremony (alongside Oprah Winfrey), Auburn University, the City and Regional Magazine Association Conference, HOW Design Live, the University of Georgia, and other venues about beauty, inspiration, and Metaleap’s core values of creativity and relationship.

Nikolle has been the vice president and managing director of Metaleap since 2004. Nikolle earned a Master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University. She served as a partner and consultant to Metaleap from the very beginning, providing key strategic and organizational advice to the growing start-up while simultaneously maintaining a career as an investment banker on Wall Street. Later, she made the jump from finance and began using her wide-ranging experience to serve Metaleap and its clients. She now gets to walk through projects with clients and explore the possibilities for their companies, and manages the “business of the business.”

Marshall McKinney cut his teeth working for trade journals before earning a masters degree in Journalism. Upon graduation, he moved West landing in Outside magazine’s art department, a three-time ASME National Magazine Award winner for General Excellence. From there, he honed his craft at a number of national magazines redesigning brands and collecting experiences before finally settling down in Charleston, SC to launch Garden & Gun magazine. Under Marshall’s guidance as founding art director, the brand went on to amass much critical acclaim, along with a number of top honors, including the Society of Publication Designer’s Brand of the Year and two ASME National Magazine Awards for General Excellence—among others. Recently, Marshall left his post at G&G after 16 years to apply his expertise to a broader spectrum of brands with Metaleap. When he’s not tinkering with brands he’s coaching his son’s basketball team or getting hip-deep in the garden.

Born and raised in England, David has spent his career in executive leadership: transforming business models, creating and communicating compelling vision, building teams, creating premium brands, and setting the right foundation for scale. Prior to joining Metaleap, David served for 8 years as President of the Paterson Center, a strategic consulting firm working with clients across business, non-profit, and ministry, such as Otterbox, Connectwise, and Atlas Free. David has a BA from Oxford and a Master’s Degree from Yale.

Lee Beth earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Georgia and has provided bookkeeping and accounting services to Metaleap since 2013. With the Metaleap team commissioning illustrations from contributors the world over, we wish we had a record of all the places she’s sent checks over the years.She and her husband have lived in Decatur for over 25 years and have four pseudo-adult children. Lee Beth is an active volunteer with Friends of Refugees and with her church.

Raised in Boston, a former Utahn and now living in Georgia, Jason has worked with brands like the New York Times Digital, BMW North America, Octagon Marketing and the United States Ski & Snowboard teams. When he’s not developing websites you can find him on the trail with his wife and kids (and two Husky/Shepherd dogs), either on foot or on a mountain bike.

Rachel is an award-winning creative director who works to align inspiration, business objectives, and story-telling into a powerful and clear brand narrative. With deep experience developing brands and creating content across various platforms in the food, home, and lifestyle space, she is both innovative and strategic in her approach. Her work exudes sophistication and playfulness, and no detail is too small. Most recently, she has worked with brands like Domino, Bon Appétit, and Saveur.

Matt comes to Metaleap with over a decade of experience in publication design and a love for visual story-telling. He has worked with sports, travel, and general interest titles including the past six years as design director for Atlanta Magazine. When he's not designing publications he is searching for the perfect cup of coffee.

Harold is our very own behind-the-scenes design ninja. We rely on him to do whatever it takes to get every single issue of our publications to press on time. He earned his B.A. from Baruch College in Manhattan and has designed for Forbes Magazine, Martha Stewart Living and Rolling Stone Magazine, among others. He was born in Bolivia and spent most of his adulthood in The Bronx—lucky for us, he was willing to make the move to Atlanta and joined Metaleap in 2013.

Keith has (re)joined Metaleap after a brief stint in the FinTech sector. He comes equipped with a full arsenal of project management tools, and spends his time in the office creating timelines and interfacing with clients. In his spare time, you can find him wrestling with his boys and trying to put a bow in his daughter’s hair, all to the amusement of his wife.