About BlueByrd

Richard Byrd

President | Fractional CMO | Dog Rescuer 

Richard has worked in B2B marketing for over 25 years and has served as CMO for multiple organizations in the technology, life sciences, industrial, and oil and gas industries. He has commercialized hundreds of technologies generating over $40 billion in new revenue for his clients, He has also overseen the brand and communications strategy for dozens of mergers and acquisitions, 

​

Before founding BlueByrd, Richard was the President of Pennebaker, a 25 person B2B marketing firm. There, he led the company's business development efforts and was a strategic consultant for their clients.

Before Pennebaker, he was the Global Creative Director at Schlumberger, where he managed several multi-billion dollar brands, rolled out numerous technologies, oversaw the creative product of the international oil and gas services giant, and managed a large staff located on multiple continents. 

Katie Gray

Principal | Fractional CMO | Musical Theater Maven 

Katie has established a career of blending leadership and results, solving problems creatively, and satisfying multiple stakeholders for over 25 years.  She has moved the needle for companies in a variety of industries, most notably energy, finance, and healthcare with her innovative and integrated B2B and B2C marketing and communications strategies.

Prior to joining BlueByrd, Katie served as vice president of Pennebaker, Inc., where she head-up the digital services and account management departments and was senior vice president of marketing communications
at Belmont Village Senior Living, a senior housing company with more than 30 locations nationwide.

Throughout her career, Katie has led multidisciplinary teams to achieve award-winning work and results.  She’s helped companies position and commercialize their brands and products and created strategic digital and offline marketing campaigns that exceeded companies’ sales goals.

Shannon Carlson

Fractional CMO | Chief Marketing Officer | Catcher of Fish

Shannon is a native Houstonian with a passion for people and B2B marketing. She is known as a social media expert who successfully increases brand exposure, followership and engagement.

She started her career in B2C marketing working with brands such as

Chick-fil-A and Salata in multiple markets all over the country. She enjoyed managing sponsorships with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Houston Astros, Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and more.

Since then, she's worked in multiple B2B industries including healthcare, oil & gas, industrial, and environmental. While at Nova Medical Centers she developed an internship program where she lead over 20 interns in her time there. She continued that program at CARBO Ceramics Inc. When she's not working or spending time with her family, she's volunteering as a board member for ANA Business Marketing Houston.

Ian DeRanieri

Fractional CMO | Head of Consulting | Minimum Viable Overthinker

What happens when you let a sales rep completely deconstruct how you generate new business? You start a career in marketing.

That's how Ian got his start—selling complex software to heavily regulated environments and realizing that sales techniques that worked in the 1980's weren't going to cut it. One Masters' degree and 15 years of experience later, Ian helps our clients uncover what makes them different and communicate that to their customers.

Prior to BlueByrd, Ian consulted with some of the largest brands across the industrial spectrum, from technology and software to clean energy and heavy industrial equipment. He's commercialized new products, devised multi-year, multi-touch campaigns, and helped struggling companies reposition themselves for growth.

At his core, Ian is just a massive nerd that wishes learning was a paid profession. Instead, he applies that passion towards understanding how our clients' businesses work, using that knowledge to help our clients realize their full revenue potential.

Kelly Demel

Fractional CMO | Fun Nerd

A Virginia export who landed in Texas by way of attending graduate school at Texas A&M University, Kelly is BlueByrd’s resident lexiphile. After noticing that the land in College Station was so flat she could see Dallas when she looked north, she grew into a true Texan and has lived in Houston for the past twenty-five years.

Kelly’s launched her career in marketing ten years ago with Mind Dance Marketing, where she began as a contractor focused on event marketing.  Growing steadily with the company, Kelly negotiated and managed approximately two dozen partnerships with MLB, MLS, and NBA organizations prior to moving into her most recent role as Director of Brand Management.

Prior to her agency tenure, Kelly worked in vendor management for numerous large Houston organizations and taught public speaking at University of Houston-Downtown, which she hopes to do again to feed her passion for learning and teaching others.

Other skills include turning conversations into song lyrics, crafting puns she finds incredibly amusing, and reciting meaningless trivia.

Madelynn Vickers

Marketing Specialist | Concert Photographer

Madelynn was born and raised in Houston. Her passion for marketing stems from her early career as a concert photographer, working side by side with artists and music publicists to provide show coverage.

While attending The University of Texas at Austin, she interned for Cara Caulkins Communications and learned how to pitch to the media for consumer packaged goods. Shortly after graduating in 2019, she joined a creative agency in downtown Austin where she gained experience working with a wide variety of clients ranging from small tech companies to large residential companies such as Brookfield Residential.

In her spare time, Madelynn is almost always listening to music, at a concert with her camera, playing video games, or spending time with family. She loves animals as well and has a cat named Maus.

Madelynn joined the BlueByrd team in early 2022 after working in client relations for the top real estate photography company in Houston. She loves working with different personalities and actively takes the initiative to get to know clients and their businesses.