Stephanie Crockett has been named president and CEO of independent marketing communications agency Mower. Crockett assumes the CEO title from Eric Mower, who becomes executive chairman of the agency that he has guided since 1968.
Crockett joined the agency 18 years ago and was named president and chief operating officer of the company in June 2021. Crockett, 49, is active in a number of professional, business and community organizations. She is immediate past-chairperson of the United Way of Central New York Board of Directors, a member of the CenterState CEO Board of Directors, the Women Presidents Organization and the National Advertising Review Board. It was recently announced she will receive the Central New York Sales & Marketing Executives 2023 Crystal Ball Award, an honor that Eric Mower received in 1984. A graduate of SUNY Geneseo, prior to joining Mower she had marketing roles at agencies and on the client side.
In August 2022, Eric Mower sold the company to a newly established employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). This announcement marks the most recent point in a long-in-the-making ownership transition and succession plan that began nearly 10 years ago when Eric Mower first considered an ESOP as an alternative to an outside sale.
“Mower continues to build on a 55-year heritage as an independent strategic creative resource for our clients. Eric created something unique — an integrated communications firm producing award winning campaigns for an amazing list of clients,” Crockett said. “Our industry continues to evolve, and now as an ESOP, Mower is structured to flourish in this new environment. We have a spectacular team of professionals that produce results for the brands we represent.”
Mower is coming off of a very successful 2022. In recent months Mower was selected as the ANA Mid-Sized Agency of the Year.
“This announcement is further evidence of a carefully calculated transition for the agency. Stephanie Crockett is our time-tested and most evident candidate to head a group of strong and competent leaders at Mower for the future. She is a consummate professional that has my trust as well as the trust of our staff and our clients,” Eric Mower said.
The balance of the agency’s executive leadership team remains in place, including Doug Bean, vice chairman; Chris Steenstra, chief administrative officer; Cheryl Duggan, chief financial officer; Doug Kamp, chief creative officer; and Rick Lyke, EVP, managing director, public relations and public affairs.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More