2024 is wrapped! And what a year it was. Franco’s 60th anniversary was filled with excitement, challenges and great reward (like anything worth doing).
We’re welcoming everything 2025 has in store with open arms. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the new year than highlighting six members of our team who are moving into new and expanded roles to keep us all learning and focused on the future.
Every promotion at Franco is earned and unique to the role each individual crafts for themselves. This group of leaders have grown alongside our agency over the years. More than half of this group started their careers here, with others celebrating over a decade at Franco!
I’m thrilled to share these six promotions. Join me in reflecting on their journey and where they are headed in 2025!
Nikki Little promoted to Chief Marketing Officer
It’s hard to believe I met Nikki almost 20 years ago during the start of her career at Franco. I’m thrilled to share her promotion to Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)!
There has been a lot of change over the years – from working together on client accounts in 2007, to watching her gain experience in different roles, to ultimately reuniting (professionally) and now owning the agency together. However, despite all this change, Nikki’s commitment to continuous education and building authentic relationships has remained a constant.
Nikki returned to Franco at the perfect time. She played a major role in Franco’s evolution into an integrated communications agency (a challenge after more than 50 years of being thought of externally as a PR firm). Leaning into her passion for integrated communications and the PESO Model, Nikki has helped our team and clients embrace the power of integrated programs while leading our agency’s marketing efforts to solidify Franco’s position in the industry.
As CMO, Nikki will continue to lead our marketing efforts and take on an expanded role with business development, ensuring our client partnerships are structured effectively to drive desired results. I’m so proud to call Nikki a co-owner, a colleague and most importantly a friend.
Joe Ferlito promoted to Senior Director of Digital Services
I’m excited to share Joe’s promotion to Senior Director of Digital Services! I will never forget meeting Joe during a scheduled agency tour through Grand Valley University. While bad weather resulted in the other students from his class calling off the tour, Joe showed up – demonstrating our core values of Opportunity and Persistence since day one.
This decision led to Joe ultimately accepting an internship at Franco. Over the last 17 years, Joe has worn many different hats across the agency from managing client programs to navigating new operational processes for our agency. In every role, Joe stands out as someone who will go to great lengths to ensure things are done well.
As Senior Director of Digital Services, Joe will work closely with our growing digital team, overseeing operations for paid advertising programs, new and existing tools and several client programs. I can’t wait to see Joe continue to grow in this new role.
Dan Horn promoted to Vice President of Mobility
I’ve also had the pleasure of knowing Dan since he started as an intern nearly 13 years ago. I’m happy to announce his promotion to Vice President of Mobility!
While Dan has worked across a variety of industries, his ability to understand complex topics and transform them into easy-to-understand content has always stood out. Whether working with the media, executives or other members of our team, Dan’s patience and strong communication skills always shine through.
One of my favorite moments that highlights Dan’s versatility and commitment to client service was several years ago at the Grand Prixmiere. To help get the highest bid on a custom guitar, someone suggested it needed to be played live on stage. Dan – calm, cool and collected – got up on stage and rocked it (all for our client)!
As we continue to serve clients in the automotive industry and larger mobility space, I truly can’t think of a better person to lead the charge than Dan.
Erica Swoish promoted to Director of Operations & Service Excellence
Since 2013, Erica has been willing to jump in and support our team in any way possible. I’m excited to share her promotion to Director of Operations & Service Excellence!
Early in her career at Franco, Erica became the agency’s creative resource before we had a full, in-house creative team. Her ability to balance creativity, communications and analytical tasks has paved the path to her current role. Since Erica has a deep understanding of the work we do for clients, she can listen to what our objectives are and create the most effective operational process to support the need.
As a January baby, Erica has spent many past birthdays blowing out her candles while working at the Detroit Auto Show – memories I’ll never forget. We look forward to celebrating with her and seeing how her creativity shines in this new role!
Lexi Trimpe promoted to Director of Digital & AI
Heading into 2025, I couldn’t be more thrilled to share Lexi’s promotion to Director of Digital & AI!
From her early days at Franco, Lexi’s passion for digital was always clear. Her desire to learn new skills and tools, but also build up and empower a digital team, was inspiring and has transformed the services we provide to clients today.
In 2018, our digital expertise largely revolved around organic social media programs. Over the last 7 years, we have grown our digital services to holistic, data-driven programs that integrate with our clients’ other marketing and communications efforts.
While some communicators are intimidated by the new wave of AI, Lexi has approached the new tools and capabilities with ease. In 2024 she went through extensive training with Trust Insights and is now leading agency-wide implementation of how we can use generative AI ethically and efficiently to optimize various tasks.
She is a fearless leader in the ever-changing world of digital and I can’t wait to see how she continues to grow in this new role.
Kaiti Harworth promoted to Integrated Communications Supervisor – Digital
I’m thrilled to see Kaiti taking on the role of Integrated Communications Supervisor – Digital in 2025!
Kaiti is a key player on our growing digital team. Since her early days at Franco, I’ve always been impressed by her natural curiosity and copywriting skills. Kaiti has a unique talent for not only writing effective content, but strategically thinking through which messaging and formats will resonate most with a specific audience. Whether she’s writing content for social media, email newsletters or digital ads, she is always two steps ahead, ready to explain why she’s taken a specific approach.
It’s been a pleasure watching Kaiti grow in her skills and uplift other members of our team with her leadership. I’m excited to see everything she achieves in this new role!
Tina Kozak is Chief Executive Officer at Franco. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
