The Level Mpls team of curious, creative minds seeks to spark big, bold thinking that engages and influences people. We are inspired by our clients just as we inspire them. Today, as a women-owned, women-led brand and marketing agency, Level Mpls offers the proven expertise in sparking that fire that wins over hearts and minds to exceed goals and expectations.
We’ve been told there’s something magical about working with our team. We feel it, too. We credit it to a deeply engrained entrepreneurial spirit, an embrace of the long-term view, and a genuine willingness to always be there for each other. It’s a way of working that starts with our leadership and resonates through the whole team. We bring out the best in each other and our work for our clients.
Level Mpls leadership brings business-building acumen, creative thinking, and the vision to look around the next corner for new opportunities and advantages to drive our clients’ success.
As head of the women-owned, women-led Level Mpls agency, Lois Dirksen has the deep experience and expertise to successfully build, run, and grow businesses successfully. She knows firsthand what it takes for organizations, big and small, to prosper in the short and long term. Lois thrives by helping organizations navigate an ever-changing world, leading her agency with vision and the conviction to make a positive impact on clients and customers alike.
Her love for adventure is matched only by her love for raw data — data that sparks the kind of fresh strategic insights that lead to new brand opportunities and enables insightful brand strategy and research for our clients. For Lois, building is growing, and she finds great satisfaction in seeing her team and her clients grow and succeed together.
Lois has a history of involvement on nonprofit boards and of giving back, currently serving on the board of Saidiana, a non-profit dedicated to elevating the lives of Congolese women.
Kim Thelen is a visionary marketing leader who is instrumental in driving the agency forward. She has proven herself as a masterful marketing strategist, business grower, and relationship builder who uses her talents to support and empower others to achieve their goals.
Over her storied career, Kim has been inspired by her clients, serving as an unwavering brand and marketing partner for various organizations and business sectors, including government, health care, financial, education, gaming/entertainment, construction, and retail. She approaches business and marketing challenges with a positive, can-do spirit and a proactive, agile mindset. Having mastered the art of seeing what’s just around the corner, she uses her foresight and keen ability to know what a business needs to tell its story, build loyalty, and be successful.
Kim is committed to building solid relationships with her local, national, and global clients and her team. And, as President and Chief Client Officer for Level Mpls, she inspires the agency to listen actively, think differently, and create passionately to exceed the expectations of clients and customers.
Erin Gwiazdon is a passionate and strategic marketing leader who is energized by building strong brands that drive differentiation and growth. Never satisfied with the status quo, she is always looking for better ways to do things, helping the agency and its clients adapt their marketing to meet the ever-changing needs of their customers.
A natural leader, Erin is in charge of operations and keeps the agency running like clockwork while working hard to build for the future. She guides her team and the agency in looking for ways to improve processes and enable better ideas, fresher approaches, and greater success.
Erin values relationships and is committed to building a strong agency culture where both agency and client teams thrive. She loves forging long-lasting connections between people and brands through strong digital strategies, rich content marketing and storytelling that resonates meaningfully with customers. Erin prioritizes problem-solving to simplify processes and make project journeys smoother for everyone involved — helping serve others while bringing out the best in everyone.
