WHO WE ARE
We become your in-house creative team.
Most companies don’t need another vendor.
They need a creative partner who understands their business, knows their goals, and can help bring ideas to life.
That’s how we work.
CSA was built to function as an extension of your team. We collaborate closely with leadership, marketing departments, sales teams, and stakeholders to create strategic creative that supports real business objectives.
Whether we’re developing a brand strategy, launching a new product, producing a national campaign, or building a website, we approach every project with the same mindset:
Understand the business first.
Create second.
OUR STORY
Storytelling.
Strategy. Results.
CSA was built on a simple belief:
The most powerful marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.
It feels human.
We help brands uncover who they are, clarify what makes them different, and create work that people actually remember. Through strategy, storytelling, design, video production, animation, photography, and campaign development, we help companies communicate with clarity and grow with purpose.
Strategic Thinking
Every project starts with understanding your audience, business goals, and opportunities before creative development begins.
Creative Excellence
Award-winning storytelling, design, animation, photography, and production built to help brands stand apart.
Long-Term Partnerships
Our goal isn’t to create a single project. It’s to become a trusted creative resource that helps your company grow.
Business Impact
Beautiful creative matters. But great creative should also help support awareness, recruiting, sales, fundraising, engagement, and growth.
CHAD STUM
Owner - Creative Director
PEOPLE
SET
CSA
APART
VP - Executive Producer
BRIDGET GRONOTTE
VP - Business Development
TRAVIS COWLEY
VP - Creative Vision
COREY LILLARD
GIBSON GIDDEON
Director -Desgn/Animation
Director - Social Media
CLAYTON NORMAN
Director - Content
JAMIE WITT
Director - Photography
ERIC RUDD
Director - Post Production
ZACH ALEXANDER
OUR TEAM
The people behind the work.
CSA is built around a network of experienced strategists, designers, filmmakers, photographers, animators, writers, editors, and creative problem solvers.
We assemble the right team for every project, bringing together specialists with the expertise needed to help brands communicate at the highest level.
Because great work has never been created by one person alone.
WHY WE DO IT
We care about the story behind your brand.
Every company has a story.
The problem is that many companies struggle to tell it.
That’s where we come in.
We help brands uncover what makes them unique and transform those ideas into campaigns, content, experiences, and creative systems that help people understand who they are.
Because when people understand your story, they remember your brand.
FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Meet Chad Stum
CSA was founded by Chad Stum, an award-winning creative director, filmmaker, marketer, and storyteller with more than 20 years of experience helping brands communicate with clarity and purpose.
Throughout his career, Chad has led creative teams, developed national campaigns, produced award-winning content, and partnered with organizations ranging from higher education institutions and healthcare systems to global brands and nonprofits.
Before launching CSA, Chad founded and led Original Six Media, a Chicago-based creative agency that produced award-winning work for nationally recognized brands and organizations. He later served as Head of Creative Production at Indiana University and Director of Creative at Spectrio, leading large-scale creative initiatives, building high-performing teams, and helping organizations tell stories that resonate with their audiences.
Today, he leads CSA with a simple philosophy:
Marketing should make people feel something.
Because the brands people remember are the brands they connect with.
