Ty Hallock - Founding partner & CEO

As a founder and partner of TopFloorStudio, Ty has cultivated client relationships around the country that have not only exponentially grown the business of TopFloorStudio but have also raised the profile of the region and created new, permanent, full-time positions and countless freelance assignments for creative workers in Asheville, North Carolina.

Ty is someone who has an insatiable desire to learn about how the world works and how people relate and interact in that world. He has created a “learning culture” at TopFloorStudio, where each new project is an opportunity for the group to dive in and do something that has never been done before. TopFloorStudio clients are “innovation partners” who are concerned with evolving their business, not just growing it.

Ty serves on the boards of the IT council of Asheville, A-B Tech's Business Computer Technologies Department, and the American Advertising Federation of Asheville. A pivotal player on the HUB tech team, Ty works tirelessly to connect local media artists and tech workers as well as raise the national and international profile of Western North Carolina as a crossroads for creativity, technology, and economic development. Ty holds a degree in Digital Media from Full Sail.

Photo of Ty by Michael Traister from his book The Faces of Izzy's Coffee Den

Carlos Steward - E-Marketing Director

Carlos Steward has been performing Search Engine Marketing Techniques and Consultation since 1993. He was one of the first Certified Google AdWords Experts. He has managed SEO, SEM, PPC campaigns, and Google Analytics for retail shops, outdoor recreation, the National YMCA, touring, mining and manufacturing, AAA Auto Club, galleries, film festivals and clothing stores throughout the US.

Carlos holds a BFA from Florida State University, a MFA from the University of Guanajuato, Mexico and is a certified, Internet Engineer from Net Guru Technologies, in Chicago, since 1996. In 2007, he joined forces with Top Floor Studio to promote the SEEOM system of Search Engine Optimization. His book, “Recreating the Level Playing Field –using the SEEOM method of SEO” is currently scheduled for publication in July of 2008. He has been actively involved in environmental projects, working with the Center for Wetlands at the University of Florida and the Nantahala Outdoor Center, and is a member of FutaFriends in Patagonia, Chile.

Sean O’Connell - Technical Support/Core Systems Programmer

With an extensive and varied background in troubleshooting, testing, customer IT support, and product stability, Sean O’Connell, aka, Krom, is our sage of wisdom and our go to guy for general web server maintenance, website maintenance, and website support. Sean also handles e-commerce installation and setup, site testing, DNS changes, and domain registrations. As one of TopFloorStudio’s first employees Sean has helped grow our firm as a leader in the area of Joomla Content Management Systems. Prior to joining the TopFloorStudio team Sean got his start working for Lambda Novitronics evaluating and testing military power supplies in simulated live environments. Sean has also installed conveyor systems using Ladder Logic Programming and controls for the Tropicana Corp. He holds Associates and Bachelors Degrees from the I.T.T. Technical Institute. During his spare time he plays endless hours of online MMORPG World of Warcraft and staring up into the stars at night.

Keoki Trask - Project Manager

Keoki Trask comes straight out of the retail manufacturing industry's tight production deadlines and shifting marketplace to assure that our client's products and services are delivered per spec, in budget and on time. A 15 year veteran of the music industry and media production business, Keoki specializes in digital audio with an emphasis on business.

Keoki is a graduate of Full Sail, one of the premiere Media Arts schools in the world. Starting out as an Audio Engineer and broadcast Video Editor, Keoki has since branched out into graphic design, software development and ultimately production and project management. He has been in the center hub of many fortune 500 company's Research & Development departments as both a technician and project lead, including Tony Robbins, Steven Covey, Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Ludlum, Martha Stewart, Macy’s, Bravo TV, Disney, Universal Studios, CVS, USA Drug, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, WWF, Ringling Brothers, and many more.

Jennifer Harmon - Mobile App Developer

Jennifer Harmon is a web application and mobile developer with a passion for creating an interactive and engaging user experience. She started off as a Flash developer building user interfaces for AI-based simulations at the University of Purdue where she acquired her Bachelors Degree. She then moved on to New York City to work with Fi, an award-winning interactive design agency. While there, she polished her skills as a dynamic html developer building sites for companies like EA and Time Warner Cable before venturing into the exciting world of mobile app development. After working with EASports to build the Madden 10 Online Franchise iPhone app, it was clear to her that she had found a new passion in mobile development.

Ready for a change of pace from the Big Apple and having heard enchanting stories about a land far away called Asheville, she set out with her fiancé on an adventure to find this magical place. She devotes her free time to helping her fiancé with a business startup venture, painting, and playing with her joyful new puppy.

Tracie King - Mobile App Designer

Tracie's move to Asheville has brought her full circle with NC living. She grew up in the Outer Banks and got a BFA degree in Communication Arts from East Carolina University with a concentration on illustration. After graduation, she went to Washington, DC, where she worked as a designer for the Corporate Executive Board. From there it was off to New York City where she was a designer for both ELLE and ELLE Decor magazines. Then it was on to San Francisco where she was the art director for Pregnancy magazine.

Wanting to try something new (and being a self-confessed complete addict to her iPhone), she entered the world of mobile app design. Following her love for illustration and design it was a natural progression from the world of print. Her design process is a study of ease of use, brand aesthetic and functionality. She has designed apps for the movie Bottle Shock, Smarts Co., and 4 Square Labs as well as the Adventures of Lily & Stella, a children's book.

Her spare time is spent cooking, designing jewelry...or reading vampire books.

Kevin King - Business Development and Marketing

Kevin was born and raised in Kinston, North Carolina. He has spent most of his career chasing his passion and love of music in both New York City and most recently San Francisco. His love of music and the business surrounding it has happily branched Kevin off into the mobile, web, and social media aspect of the business. Through this involvement Kevin has been thoroughly immersed in the mobile application business, most recently with Apple. Kevin's relationship with Apple and understanding of the mobile applications platform as a viable next-generation content delivery device and life utility have proven invaluable. Kevin resides in North Asheville with his wife, two children, a pug, and a cat.

Matt Mankins - Mobile App Developer

Matt Mankins is a researcher, inventor, and entrepreneur with degrees from the MIT Media Laboratory and the University of Miami. Mankins works to apply digital technologies to longstanding human activities, such as the growth of cities or the economics of creativity.  He is co-founder of numerous companies, including Lorem Labs, Vert, and EMUmail.

Mankins also owns the Lorem Ipsum Bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has won several awards, including the Boston Phoenix's 2005 award for Best Bookstore Trying to Save the World.

Jay Sanders - Technical Director

Jay Sanders has been working in database and application architecture for over eight years, focusing on the Internet as an economic resource for most of that time. He studied programming at Asheville - Buncombe Technical College and was immediately hired out of the class to work for his professor and mentor Brent Garren. His specialties include Ruby on Rails, PHP, sql, HTML, CSS and Javascript.

Jay spent four years as the Chief Information Officer of Organic Pharmacy, Inc., an online retailer of high-end nutritional supplements based in Asheville. During that time he completely reinvented the company's product data entry system with an emphasis on multiple points of sale from a single product database.

Following the Organic Pharmacy, Jay freelancd in the Western North Carolina region and in Europe. He spent two years working for the Carbon Network in London and doing projects for Respect Europe and the Eurpoean Union focused on the 2010 climate change talks in Copenhagen.

When not writing computer code, Jay is also an extremely accomplished musician having spent over 18 years in touring band including Acoustic Syndicate and Donna The Buffalo. He has appeared on over 60 professional recordings and played many high profile events like FarmAid and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

Jenny Greer - Creative Designer

Jenny Greer believes in the power of graphic design to communicate clear concise messages to a target audience. Jenny’s creative process includes gathering extensive information about a project to come up with intuitive ideas that communicate a message. Her visual concepts breed a distinct look for each project. Working in Atlanta, under major corporate branding systems like Coca-Cola, M&M Mars, Olive Garden and UPS early in her career, gives her a strong background in branding and an edge on coming up with ideas that are distinct and memorable as well as functional.