Kathy Schipper

“My great pride is in building an agency known across the Valley for not just consistently delivering great work, but imagination, vivacity and spunk.”

What is your role at Waltz?

On every project, my goal is to nurture the potential that flows between the organization, its people, its message, and the designers and creatives that breathe life into that message. As founder and executive creative director of Waltz Creative, I’m responsible for cultivating good design, yes, but it’s all about the relationships for me. By engaging and connecting in a meaningful way with our clients, we become more than a vendor; we become their trusted partner. 

Tell us about your history and experience.

In my early professional life, I was an educator and business woman. When I founded Waltz Creative (then called Schipper Design) in 2004 in San Benito County, a hop-skip from California’s Silicon Valley, I set to work applying my signature style to our work. Not content to simply design, I began attracting and hiring fresh and innovative designers and digital creatives to the firm, building a well-rounded team equipped for collaboration. Today, Waltz Creative boasts a staff of 16 headquartered in a 4000 sq. ft. open-concept studio in the heart of historic San Juan Bautista.

What are you passionate about outside of work?

I’ll always be passionate about great design and art. I spend time now volunteering at the local grammar school teaching art to grades 3-6. It’s a great joy to see young minds grappling with space, color and content.

What do you like most about Waltz Creative?

I’m proud of the Creatives for Community program we founded, which is an annual grant program that provides pro bono design services to deserving non-profits of California’s Central Coast. This initiative is dedicated to the idea of “good people doing good work.” It’s been so gratifying to help countless organizations along California’s Central Coast bring clarity and voice to their mission, enabling them to communicate their core values and better serve their communities.