just a littleabout us

A self-proclaimed “strategic-creative” hybrid, Mike began his career in design before attending The George Washington University for his MBA in the late 90s. The resulting left-brain/right-brain skill set uniquely positioned him to help clients solve complex problems with truly visionary solutions.

He founded Peaktwo in 2008 to help companies reach new levels of success. Whether that was navigating an acquisition, rolling out a new product, or managing rapid growth, Mike has always been about breaking down demanding objectives into manageable and actionable parts.

As the CEO and Creative Director at Peaktwo, Mike does everything from leading the company to putting the finishing touches on new designs. He brings his detail-obsessed, laser-focused intensity to every client, every project — every time.  He thinks on his feet and often with his hands (and a drawing tool). He’s usually the one pacing around the whiteboard, scribbling notes and sketching out ideas that ultimately crystallize into a dynamic action plan.

When he isn’t working with clients, you’ll find him with his children on the soccer field or at gymnastics meets. Those of you who really know him may strenuously disagree and place him on the golf course or the side of a mountain. A transplant from New Jersey, he still roots for the New York Yankees, and after 17 years in Washington DC, avoids rush-hour traffic as much as possible.

Want something done? Just get Charis on it. Known as the Peaktwo pacemaker, Charis (it rhymes with Paris) keeps all the plates spinning and makes sure none of them crash. How does she do it? It’s all in her roll-up-your-sleeves attitude, her ability to juggle and shift with ease, and her refreshingly no-drama outlook.

From managing the financials, to making meaningful reports out of columns of data, to poring over the nitty-gritty details within each project, Charis happily cracks the whip and sweats the small stuff—all while managing to be one of the most easy-going people we know. (Maybe it’s the accent?) Before coming to Peaktwo, Charis worked for some of the world’s largest and most reputable marketing service and IT industry consultancies.

Born in Scotland, she graduated from the UK’s Coventry University with a degree in equine studies, giving her equal parts horse sense and business sense. When she’s not wrangling our projects, she’s keeping up with her soccer-loving son and daughter, ages 10 and 13, playing with her two dogs, and leading numerous church activities.

With 17 years of experience managing hundreds of web projects, Chris is the guy who keeps the trains running on time, the clients constantly in the loop, and the spreadsheets and to-do lists under control. From the very first meeting with a client to the launch day, Chris relishes parachuting into each client’s area of business, ensures that all of their needs are heard, and that we always keep our promises.

Chris grew up in Long Island and Pennsylvania, but his Southern trajectory started during his college years at James Madison University in Virginia, where he earned his degree in computer information systems. Chris childhood sports obsession — if the game involved a ball, he played it — has served him well, as he now funnels that knowledge into coaching his son’s soccer and flag football teams. (Not to mention that he was once a finalist on Sports Jeopardy.)

Every year Chris also takes his leadership skills to the woods, during a single-day, 30.1-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis foundation.

Gui Avelar is the newest member of the Peaktwo team and an incredible designer with a difference. Using his degree in Psychology, Gui thinks a little outside the box and takes a unique approach to the design process, creating websites and applications using psychological principles. The end result? Beautiful designs that increase user engagement and interactions.

Gui has designed websites and applications for a variety of different companies in a wide range of industries, including finance, healthcare, travel and data.

On a daily basis, Ryan interfaces with clients across multiple industries to conceptualize and build user-facing tools that push the boundaries of digital marketing. Having made the switch from design to development in 2011, Ryan prides himself on bringing a usability-first approach to every development project he works on, while still staying on the cutting edge.