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Kim Kelley, CEO of Creative Marketing Arts, is fond of saying she offers her employees a lifestyle, not a job. For Dylan Blankenship, it may be more accurate to say that CMA offered him more of a lifesaver than a job. “CMA has helped me get through personal trauma. I’ve had so much help from the ladies at the office. They are an extension of my family. In fact, Sara (Espinosa) is like a second mother to me,” Blankenship said. “She’s just been there every time I’ve had an issue.”
Walk into the office at 11 Natoma Street, and the close-knit culture of the marketing agency is immediately obvious. Family matters here. Blankenship, a college student at American River College, is especially grateful for the work/life balance that is at the center of the company’s core philosophy. He says other companies will hang employees out to dry if they have personal issues or outside demands—like a chemistry final. “Here, everyone is there for you. If you need a day off, they say take the time you need. It’s better than a company that says come in from nine to five and sell your soul.”
Like most employees at CMA, Blankenship came to work at the agency right out of high school; in fact, he started work during the last semester of his senior year at Casa Roble. “I’m grateful I didn’t have to go through the grind of the fast food, service industry typical for most teens,” he said. But he says that it was a serious kick in the butt compared to the expectations his high school teachers had of him. “I took AP classes, but I would just pick up a book right before a test and do fine. CMA gave me a wake-up call. No one holds your hand like they do in high school. I have a feeling if I had gone to college before working here, I would have failed.
Dylan served as executive producer for the broadcast journalism program at Casa Roble and came to CMA with a wealth of computer and web management skills—at least he thought. He says that he was accustomed to being in charge at his high school and there was little oversight in backend decisions he would make to the webpages he managed. “I’ve had to make adjustments at CMA. High school was lackadaisical. I’ve made some mistakes here, but it has helped me grow.” Now Dylan manages much of the website content for clients and is doing some JavaScript and PHP coding for backend functions of the webpages.
Dylan would fit right in with Sheldon and company from the Big Bang Theory. Like most computer geeks, he loves Dungeons and Dragons, reads marvel comics and is obsessed with Star Wars. He has built a storm trooper costume that is screen accurate which took him over 100 hours to complete. He sometimes wears the costume to charity events and is active with the 501st costuming organization that often coordinates charitable functions such as visiting children’s hospitals in costume. He referees soccer games nearly every weekend and last year he was selected to officiate the Premier League soccer finals in Denver.
Dylan Blankenship has big dreams, but for now he is grateful to be part of the family at CMA.
