Our Team

Howard Moggs

Founder / Chief Growth Officer

With over 24 years of business development experience, Howard began his career in London, driving growth for boutique creative shops before moving to the United States to lead business development for global agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi/Team One, Publicis Groupe, Trailer Park Group, ENGINE Group, and BUCK.

In 2020, Howard recognized the extraordinary creative talent within independent agencies but also identified a gap: C-level growth leadership wasn’t accessible to them. To address this, he founded TEAM UNCOMMON, a collective of elite growth leaders dedicated to making top-tier growth leadership available to independent creative agencies.

At TEAM UNCOMMON, Howard helps agencies differentiate themselves, command premium fees, and win new business more consistently by bridging the gap between what agencies sell (services) and what clients actually buy (solutions). The guiding principle—“clients don’t buy services; they buy solutions”—sits at the heart of every strategy the team delivers.

Since its launch, TEAM UNCOMMON has partnered with agencies including Giant Spoon, Zambezi, Walton Isaacson, Brains, Mass Culture, Brand New School, MOCEAN, SpecialGuest, 1stAveMachine, Saylor, FutureDeluxe, Monogrid, Party Land, Cornett, Curiosity, Convicts, and Hill Holliday.

Unlike traditional consultancies, TEAM UNCOMMON works collaboratively with agencies on a fractional basis, taking shared accountability for solving the challenges that slow or prevent growth and ensuring they achieve their business goals.

Howard lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Esther, and their two sons, Forest and Ralph.

Rishad Tobaccowala

Growth ADVISOR

Rishad Tobaccowala is an author, speaker, teacher, and advisor with four decades of experience specializing in helping people, organizations and teams re-invent themselves to remain relevant in changing times. He specializes in unleashing talent and turbo-charging productivity by delivering perspectives, points of view, provocations and plans of action but no PowerPoints!

Rishad’s best-selling book “Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data” was published globally by HarperCollins and focusses on helping people think, feel, and see differently about how to grow their companies, their teams and themselves in transformative times. The Economist Magazine called it perhaps the best recent book on stakeholder capitalism and Strategy Magazine named it among the five best business books and the marketing book of the year. Rishad’s weekly thought-letter, “The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past” is read by over 30,000 leaders every week across industries and around the world.

  • Rishad is currently working on his next book to be published globally by McGraw-Hill in 2024 tentatively titled “Re-Thinking Work” which will help leaders and companies adapt to the coming new world of work which is far more than the challenges of remote but will include demographic changes, AI and much more. Rishad is also the host of “What Next?” a podcast where he speaks with a range of leaders across business, technology, academia, and the arts on how to make sense of the cultural, social, and business changes transforming us all.

    Rishad speaks on change, future trends and transforming work forces to a range of industries from platforms (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, LinkedIn, Snap, Tik-Tok), to technology (Akamai, Juniper Networks, Intuit) media ( NY Times, Conde Nast, Univision, Paramount, NBCU), to blue chip firms ( Walmart, Procter and Gamble, H&R Block, Bayer, Pepsi, Colgate-Palmolive) to Financial Firms (Zurich Financial, Bank of America, Citibank) to Industry Associations (Blue Cross Blue Shield, Illinois Department of Tourism, US Olympics, Radio Advertising Bureau, Outdoor Advertising Association).

    Rishad’s advisory clients include global firms such as Publicis Groupe and many executives at Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies, private equity organizations such as Growth Catalyst Partners, Venture Capital firms such as Abundant Ventures and Greycroft, and technology platforms such as Crisp, Firework, Quilt, Shift Paradigm, Dumbstruck, Work Reduce, Spores Networks.

    Rishad spent nearly four decades at Publicis Groupe an 80,000-employee firm comprising companies like Epsilon, Sapient, Digitas, Leo Burnett, Saatchi and Saatchi, Starcom and Zenith dedicated to delivering marketing and business transformation. Before Rishad stopped being a full-time employee with Publicis Groupe (where he remains active as a Senior Advisor) he was Publicis Groupe’s Global Chief Strategist and Growth Officer and served on its Management Committee.

    Rishad has also been the Chairman of Digitas and Razorfish, two of the largest marketing transformation agencies in the world with over 11000 employees.

    Over his 40-year career Tobaccowala has worked across almost every area of marketing and strategy including brand advertising, media, database, direct and interactive marketing. As a pioneer in digital marketing, Tobaccowala helped create one of the first interactive groups and digital agencies 25 years ago and has helped launch a series of initiatives over the years from groups focused on gaming, social, mobile and search engine marketing.  Starcom IP, Play, Giant Step, SMG Search and Denuo are some of the brands Tobaccowala helped incubate.

    Tobaccowala was named by BusinessWeek as one of the top business leaders for his pioneering innovation and TIME magazine dubbed him one of five “Marketing Innovators. He is the Ad Age Interactive Hall of Fame and has received a lifetime achievement silver medal award from the Chicago Ad Federation, an Inspire Award for motivating and building talent from the Advertising Education Foundation and the Association of National Advertisers and was named an Advertising Legend by the Advertising Club of New York.

    Rishad is also is chairman of The Tobaccowala Foundation, which helps over 10,000 people gain better access to health and education in India.

    Tobaccowala holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Bombay and an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago with which he remains closely involved.

alex schneider

MANAGING Partner / CHIEF Growth OFFICER

Alex is a globally accomplished C-suite executive with a track record of transforming creative businesses into high-performing, strategically aligned growth engines. Over more than two decades, he has held pivotal roles as CEO, Chief Growth Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer, consistently redefining companies at moments of critical inflection.

Alex has revitalized global studios, scaled emerging brands, and integrated complex organizations, unlocking significant enterprise value. From leading seamless mergers and global expansion to rearchitecting go-to-market models and forging direct-to-brand pipelines, his leadership has repeatedly driven double-digit revenue growth, restored financial stability, and positioned creative companies for long-term success.

A builder at heart, Alex combines commercial acumen, brand strategy expertise, and operational rigor to elevate creative businesses. He excels at unifying fragmented offerings into coherent, scaled platforms that meet the evolving needs of global clients and markets.

  • Alex has held CEO, CGO and CSO roles at some of the world’s most prestigious agencies and studios including the Mill, R/GA, 72andSunny, Deutsch LA and BBDO, in addition to building a spirits start up from the ground up.

    His passion is helping deeply creative organizations build and grow in a sustainable way that help preserve and build on their DNA, while driving significant business and organizational growth.

CATHY saidiner

Chief operations OFFICER

Cathy Saidiner is an expert at leading brands, agencies and people through transformation and business growth. With a unique blend of C-suite client- and agency-side experience, she has an innate understanding of how to build and operate agencies to deliver what modern marketers need.

As CEO, President, Global Managing Director, and VP Global Marketing and Publishing, she has nearly three decades of creating positive business results highlighted by outstanding achievements for some of the world’s most loved and innovative brands and agencies. Along the way, she’s been honored with marketing's top effectiveness and creative awards.

An expert strategist, capability builder and operator across the full marketing suite, Cathy leverages experiences ranging from the cultural immediacy of Gaming to the deep consideration of Automotive to deliver insightful solutions for brands and agencies. She’s built and managed teams across EMEA, APAC and Americas, improving productivity and enabling exceptional results across diverse cultural and operating environments.

  • She has led global brand and digital transformations for Dove, Nissan, Pedigree, and Riot Games. She has built and led future-facing teams and business model transformation in agencies such as Ogilvy, McCann and TBWA\Chiat\Day. She grew and sold BLITZ, an innovative onmi-channel digital agency that specialized in leading its clients into the digital future.

    Her brand portfolio also includes Adobe, Disney Parks, Naked Juice, Kia, Primrose Schools, Northrop Grumman, Pioneer Home Electronics, Infiniti, Visa, Naked Juice, VIZIO, IHOP, and Nestle beverages.

    As a C-suite partner, Cathy drives accountability while propelling innovation, creativity and business results. Cathy is known for "seeing around corners" and cultivating high performing teams that are inspired to deliver at their full potential.

MATTHEW ANDERSON

PARTNER / CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER

Matthew brings over 25 years of agency experience, with 15 as a C-level leader (CMO, CGO and COO) at some of the world's most respected agencies: Deutsch NY, Publicis, Code and Theory, MMC, BBH , Havas and Harper + Scott.

Whether as a dedicated leader or a consultant, he has worked with agencies ranging from 10 employees to 1,000+. He's also worked across disciplines including full service, creative boutiques, PR, media, experiential and design. Throughout his career, he has help agencies achieve more than $1B in top-line growth.

Having a Marketing + Growth + Operations background, Matthew examines all aspects for how an agency goes to market, from positioning and targeting to structural and process improvements. His focus is on bringing more intentional and scalable growth, while removing organizational barriers that limit potential.

  • Matthew is a passionate team-builder and collaborator with a low-ego approach that brings out the best in people. He has directly led cross-functional teams ranging from 2-50+, always helping to foster a growth mindset and empowering individuals to become “owners.”

    He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids, and a couple of furry friends.

Leslie bradshaw

PARTNER / CHIEF Growth OFFICER

Leslie is a growth leader who has spent two decades helping agencies, consultancies, and venture-backed companies build repeatable, defensible paths to growth.

Across agencies and startups, she has held executive roles spanning general management and go-to-market, with responsibility across revenue, delivery, market expansion, and talent. In several roles, this included direct P&L ownership.

Often brought in when founder- and referral-driven growth has plateaued and differentiation has eroded, Leslie works at the intersection of creative strategy and commercial execution to help teams clarify what to sell, who to sell it to, and how to package it for changing market conditions.

She co-founded data visualization pioneer JESS3 and helped grow it into an AdAge Small Agency of the Year (Gold, Southeast), a Peabody Award-winner for its redesign of the C-SPAN Archives, and a two-time Inc. 500 company. There she led engagements that challenged conventional agency models and expanded accounts with a roster that included NASA, MTV, Google, Intel, Samsung, Eloqua, Facebook, Nike, and ESPN. She later co-led the U.S. expansion of design and technology studio Made by Many, delivering seven-figure revenue through net-new relationships with Colgate, CAVA, Nike, NFL, and OXO.

Her career has also included venture building and commercialization for corporate incubators within P&G, TD Ameritrade, and NEOM. She has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the Most Creative People in Business and one of the Most Influential Women in Technology.

  • In addition to agency leadership, Leslie’s background includes board work, executive coaching, and work across regulated and emerging technology sectors. She served on the board of Hyper Island through multiple CEO transitions and through to its acquisition in 2021 by Talent Garden.

    Her venture work includes experience with natural language processing, data privacy and compliance, digital twin technologies, fintech, CPG, and giga-scale construction. Alongside her operating work, Leslie is a Principal at Bradshaw Vineyards, her family’s award-winning Willamette Valley pinot noir vineyard, and serves as an executive coach and leadership facilitator with ExCo Group. She previously served as a Fellow at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

    Drawing on this range of experiences, Leslie writes and speaks on growth, leadership, technology, and organizational change. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, Inc., The New York Times, NPR, The Economist, and FWA, and she has presented and moderated at Google, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, GitHub, Silicon Valley Bank, General Assembly, INBOUND, SoDA, SXSW, and Cannes Lions.

    She lives in New York City’s East Village with her husband and daughter.

andi cross

CHIEF Growth OFFICER

Andi Cross has a background in venture, growth, digital, marketing, brand and communications. She's held roles at both large-scale and startup organizations—helping enterprise businesses differentiate and evolve, in addition to moving founders from ideas to businesses. 

As a growth strategist, Andi collaborates with established venture capitalists, startup studios and agencies globally, developing and executing holistic strategies for high-growth initiatives. She acts as an extension of their leadership team or serves as an advisor to startups.

Prior to this, she was the VP of Strategic Growth at Huge—a leading digital design agency. In this role she oversaw the global business development and strategic operations teams. Her core function was to ensure the agency’s 12 offices were on track for rapid growth, while also operationalizing the business development discipline. She also helped build out the business and brand strategy offerings, as well as a new venture arm alongside C-Suite. She was showcased in Business Insider’s “Meet 35 rising stars of Madison Avenue who are revolutionizing advertising” for her work at Huge.

  • Andi was the Head of Strategy & Business Development at Axcess Worldwide—a marketing strategy agency with expertise in luxury & lifestyle. She helped transform the business into a full-service agency—expanding beyond luxury into the world of mass marketing. Her client portfolio included brands such as Coca-Cola, Seagram's Ginger Ale, Fanta, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Las Vegas Sands Corp., Intercontinental Hotels Group, Jamba Juice, Majestic Steel, Hyundai, Fisker Automotive, Norwegian Cruise Lines, etc.

    During her time at Axcess Worldwide, she co-founded a lifestyle company—Bad Kids Collective—that ran successfully for five years. The company focused on dance music culture in metropolitan markets and consisted of three units—event production, fast fashion and content creation. The business was started online and saw rapid expansion. Andi was featured in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, Elite Daily, Time Magazine, The Today Show & Buzzfeed for work in entrepreneurship, venture, innovation and disruptive strategy.

    In the early stages of her career, Andi held roles at Ogilvy & Mather in Business Development and Victoria's Secret Beauty in Product Development & Creative Operations. In 2009, she graduated from The George Washington University with a BBA. She studied abroad in Milan, Italy and has multiple certificates from Harvard Business School's HBX program in leadership and entrepreneurship. She was recently accepted into National Geographic’s Explorers Club for her work in ocean conservation.

    Splitting her time between Australia and America, Andi is an avid adventurer and explorer in her career and personal life, with a passion for travel, scuba diving, and anything that brings her closer to the ocean.

MICHELLE ORA MELAMED

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Director

Michelle earned her B.A. in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley, which laid the foundation for a dynamic career in communication and marketing. She began her professional journey as an Account Executive in Advertising, representing iconic brands like Patrón Tequila and California Avocados, where she developed a passion for innovative marketing strategies.

Transitioning into the tech industry, Michelle co-founded a SaaS startup, taking on the role of “Jane of All Trades” with a focus on marketing and operations. Her leadership helped the team win first place in the 2020 New Venture Seed Pitch Competition, resulting in a $30K grand prize that fueled the company’s growth.

  • Driven by the desire to be a part of the ever-changing cultural, professional, and academic landscapes, Michelle pursued an M.S. in Integrated Business, Technology, and Design from the University of Southern California, graduating in 2022. Most recently, she served as a Software Sales Account Executive for startups in the Supply Chain and Logistics space, further honing her skills in sales and strategy.

    With a wealth of experience in advertising, marketing, sales, and operations, Michelle is dedicated to leveraging her knowledge to help businesses effectively market, sell, and scale. She believes in the power of storytelling, innovative solutions and a strong foundation to drive growth and is passionate about guiding organizations through the complexities of the modern business landscape.

Tessa Hayward

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Director

Tessa Hayward is a strategic growth professional dedicated to helping modern brands and entrepreneurs build legacy and loyalty by telling authentic stories that matter.

A creative at heart, Tessa has garnered a diverse skillset in business development, marketing, public relations, and strategic communications while working at top-tier advertising agencies like Team One (Los Angeles) and Huge (Brooklyn).

Prior to going agency side, she launched her career in production and development as a creative producer for Nickelodeon International/MTV Networks, Sydney Theatre Company, and Yellow Creative Management, among others.

Tessa holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boston University and a Master of Arts from The University of Sydney. She lived in Florida, Boston, Sydney and New York before proclaiming Southern California as home in 2019.

An avid SCUBA diver and life-long ocean advocate, she is also co-founder of MerMade Plastics LLC, a sustainability company devoted to solving the ocean plastics problem.