Au Partners

Shelli Jost Brady	Shelli is President and Catalyst for the company. She's been Vice-Chair of Richmond's Planning Commission, and it's Urban Design Committee, and Chair of the City's Public Art Commission. Shelli received Leadership Metro Richmond's 2006 Servant Leader Award for the wide range of community and educational service projects she and Alchemy undertake. Shelli is also the "B" of SMBW Architects in Richmond. She sold her interest in 2001 when she launched Alchemy where she continues to maintain deep and wide relationships in the business, development, education and cultural communities of Richmond and the Region.		From her youth as a military dependent in a large mid-western farm family, Shelli builds on an early understanding of the importance of finding connections between diverse groups and creating comfort in the context of changing environments. With a B.S. in Design, M.S. in Adaptive Re-use and advanced MBA certificate, her career has evolved to focus on Place Making and Experience Design, leveraging the educational, cultural, physical and financial aspects of healthy communities.
Mark Brady	Mark is a Strategist/Researcher/Creative Director for Alchemy. He's also a writer, presenter and facilitator. His focus is finding the intersection of people, purpose and profit but his definition of profit extends to the motivation and satisfaction people derive from the work they do or the energy they choose to invest. Mark worked with The Martin Agency in a freelance role in the 90s for clients like  Mercedes-Benz and Bank One, then went to DC to help another agency, WWA, re-engineer itself. He helped take WWA to the top of DC and national ad awards during his two years there. (Examples include Jamestown, ATcall.)		After helping that firm achieve a better reputation and marketability, Mark returned to Richmond to work with Just Partners/WORK for clients such as Crestar and Colonial Williamsburg and he joined Alchemy not long after. He creates or directs much of the design and writing that is the public part of our work for clients.  As a consultant, Mark has been blogging on business, leadership, creativity, education and politics since 2003. He edits Alchemy's community blog, Shared Air, which covers Economic Development, Urbanism, Transportation, Community, Education and business issues relevant to Richmond. Mark's personal blog, Fouroboros, examines brand, leadership, motivation and what he finds useful.
J. Scott Sparks	Scott brings versatility, motivation, and strong relationship-building skills to Alchemy.  He has a mind like a steel trap and is excellent at gathering information, earning him the moniker of “databrain”. That comfort with info also translates to the Social Media realm of the internet. Scott's pioneering experience in web-based brands and communites beginning in the mid-90s evolved into his role today as an advisor and speaker on Web 2.0 and what's next. His professional career covers both the client and agency sides of strategy and marketing and offers a deep understanding of how communities and their brands communicate and evolve around information.		Scott comes from Hampden-Sydney College with a Bachelor of Arts in Managerial Economics.  His experience includes working on national brands such as Virginia Tourism Corporation, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg, Capital One, Carfax, CareerBuilder, The Ben Hogan Company, and the Greater Washington Initiatve.