Lead Designer Mychelle Blake has extensive experience with small business and non profit organizations, having started out in the social services field. Working for small organizations with tight budgets has led to a understanding of how to serve her clients’ needs best while keeping their costs down. In addition to working for domestic violence and homeless shelters, animal welfare shelters, and mental health facilities, she has worked for small entrepreneurial firms that often have the same needs as non-profits – to have your mission known to the greater community while working within your financial parameters to achieve that goal!
Since 2003, Mychelle has worked as the Managing Editor of The APDT Chronicle of the Dog, a publication of The Association of Pet Dog Trainers. The publication has received numerous nominations and awards from the prestigious Dog Writers Association of America. In her role as Managing Editor, she works with authors to perfect their written craft and designs the magazine. In 2004, she became a Co-Editor for Animal Behavior Consulting: Theory and Practice for the International Association of Animal Behavior Professionals. She works in this role to develop peer-reviewed scholarly articles on companion animal behavior. Mychelle edited the compilation book, The Dog Trainers Resource (Dogwise Publishing, 2006) with a second volume to be published in the fall of 2008. She has several published articles as well.
In May 2008, Mychelle completed her certification in the Internet Design and Technology Program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She actively pursues new training at Lynda.Com, CommunityMX, and at UNLV and annual conferences. Currently Mychelle works for Valassis, (www.valassis.com), the nations leading marketing services company including newspaper-delivered promotions, direct mail, in-store marketing, Internet-delivered marketing and analytic services. Her day-to-day experiences working with small businesses in Las Vegas to advertise their services and build a client base is a decided asset to her web and print design and copywriting/editing services.
In her spare time, Mychelle has worked as an animal shelter volunteer and companion animal behavior consultant, and is an active supporter of the Lied Animal Shelter and the African Wild Dog Conservancy (the inspiration for the name of our business!)