FOUNDERS NANCY LERNER AND DAVID FREJ
For more than 20 years, founders Nancy Lerner and David Frej have worked collaboratively to provide clients with world-class integrated marketing services.
As the President/Chief Strategic Officer and Vice President/Chief Creative Officer of Otherwise, they share a passion for exploring the space where creativity, strategic thinking, visual design and technology merge. They have worked with hundreds of companies to reach their marketplaces with clarity, intelligence and inventiveness. They have mentored fellow entrepreneurs, coached senior executives, groomed up-and-coming staff, and championed the challenges of building—and often rebuilding—brands, leveraging their experience in surprising ways across industries, cultures and conventional wisdoms. Their ability to see what others overlook is at the heart of the Otherwise experience.
Nancy founded Lerner Associates, Ltd. in 1981, using her expertise as a senior management consultant at Coopers & Lybrand and her interdisciplinary liberal arts education from Barnard College. The business' initial focus was on the retail financial services industry, which allowed Lerner Associates to provide its progressive marketing expertise to a newly-deregulated industry. From there, Lerner Associates built a strong track record with clients within other service-based industries with similar needs for marketing expertise.
In 1987, after receiving his Master of Fine Arts in Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art, David founded Influx Co. in Chicago. Influx, which specialized in designing corporate identities, packaging and print collateral materials for a broad range of clients, merged with Lerner Associates in 1992. This formal collaboration allowed the combined entity to provide fully-integrated marketing communications services. In January 1997, Lerner Associates changed its name to Otherwise Incorporated to more adequately express its dedication to boundless creativity combined with clear strategy and impeccable execution.