Located in Paso Robles, California, AR & Co.has been servicing Northern San Luis Obispo County and the Central Coast of California for over nine years. AR & Co.continues to satisfy customers and clients alike with professional services in website development, publicity, wine marketing, advertising, technical writing, graphic design, promotional items, and public relations services. Please read more about the team of skilled graphic designers, project managers, and writers who make these successes possible.
Ms. Angela Robinson
Owner and Founder
Ms. Robinson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice administration from San Jose State University. Prior to her graduation, she studied agriculture at Salinas High, general education at Hartnell College, Journalism, Mass Media and Television Production at Cuesta College and Ag Journalism at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CA. Angela is a consummate professional and founded her company on the principles of hard work, dedication, loyalty, high ethical standards and creativity. Over the years she has worked with a variety of clients and takes pride in offering a quick response time. Ms. Robinson gives each client her utmost attention and works toward creating superior results.
Volunteer work is extremely important to Ms. Robinson. She is the Immediate Past President of the Paso Robles Lions Club; the second woman ever to join the club and the first female president in its 73 year history. In 2008 she was awarded Lion of The Year, the first woman ever to receive the award. According to late Lion Dave Simpson, “She was voted Lion of the Year because of her dedication to the core humanitarian values held by the Lions Club organization such as generosity, compassion and concern for others less fortunate.” Past volunteer work has included serving as the chairperson of the board of directors for a local children’s non-profit organization and serving as a court appointed special advocate for children removed from their homes.
Ms. Robinson has been a San Luis Obispo County resident for more than 29 years. In her free time she enjoys gardening, bird watching, traveling with her husband, entertaining and enjoying the outdoors with her Labradoodles “Daisy” and “Peanut.”
Sophia
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
Sophia graduated from Cal Poly earning a degree in Business Marketing with a Minor in Wine & Viticulture. Upon falling in love with the Central Coast lifestyle, Sophia moved to Paso Robles to exercise her marketing skills in the wine business. She began her career with two family-owned and operated wineries in need of successful brand development and product launch. Her background includes marketing, event planning, web development, and social media for startup wineries, local businesses, artists and non-profit organizations. She is passionate about her field of work and enjoys helping businesses reach their greatest goals.
Sophia grew up in Del Mar, CA where she discovered her first passion for ballet and modern dance. In 2002, she spent a summer dancing with New York City Ballet but quickly realized the lifestyle of a professional dancer was not for her. Sophia appreciates Paso Robles’ great sense of community and currently hosts educational tastings for young and aspiring wine professionals within the Central Coast. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and entertaining with friends, tending to her garden and taking ballroom dance classes.
Brad D.
Public Relations & Communications Assistant
After successfully completing Arizona State University’s Barrett Honors College and receiving a bachelor of arts in Broadcast Journalism from ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism, Brad promptly declared, “I have no interest in pursuing a career in Broadcast Journalism.” Heading West to Los Angeles, Brad worked as a staff writer and bit player on E! Network’s top-rated show, Talk Soup. Forever a fashion fan – Brad naturally gravitated to downtown Los Angeles – the West Coast garment manufacturing capital. Working with various independent street wear and designer brands, he honed his skills as a brand evangelist: drafting copy, coordinating photo shoots, structuring catalog and advertisement layouts, overseeing printing and duplication, and generating brand awareness by reaching out to local, national, and international media tastemakers. Well-traveled by working in Japan, China, Paris, and London, Brad brings a global mindset into our local backyard. Consistently working to strengthen his public relations abilities, Brad holds tight to one idea, “Most people’s greatest success lie one step beyond what appeared to be their greatest failure.” – Corny Success Quote Author. Brad also ponders life’s deepest question, “Will anyone actually read this?”
Brad G.
Graphic Design and Web Development
After majoring in Graphic Communications at Illinois Central College, Brad served four consecutive years with the United States Marine Corps where he served with supply battalions, gaining expertise in supply acquisition along with business and fiscal administration. Born and raised in Illinois, the Marines were a catalyst in Brad’s relocation to beautiful California where he quickly learned to love the great outdoors and warm, sunny weather. He entered the field of commercial design in Orange County where he developed print advertising and marketing solutions for many recognized brands including Mirage Resorts, American Red Cross, Pfizer, Entrepreneur Magazine, Fantastic Sam’s and more. In the mid-90’s, Brad transitioned from print design to the new and exciting challenges of the World Wide Web, digital animation and video production. A man of many talents, Brad also enjoys restoring a 1979 vintage Airstream travel trailer and is currently writing a book on vintage trailer restoration.
Annie
Receptionist
Annie received her bachelor’s degree from The Art Institute of California, San Francisco in Fashion Marketing and Management. A southern California native, Annie enjoys the contrasts of a California lifestyle. While working in the San Francisco fashion industry, she often visited the beautiful Central Coast wine country. The lure of the wine and marketing industry in Paso Robles helped her decide to pass up fashion and dive into the wine business. Following her passions, she moved to Paso Robles and began working in tasting rooms and assisting with winery events. Annie brings her marketing skills to AR & Co. while balancing her part-time work at La Vigne Winery’s tasting room on the weekends.
When Annie is not working at AR & Co. or learning about wine, she frequents farmers markets, coffee shops, and art galleries. She also enjoys visiting San Francisco whenever she can to reconnect with old friends and gain city inspirations.
Jamie
Senior Writer
Jamie graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in Modern Languages & Literatures and a minor in Linguistics. Though she has studied Spanish, Italian, and French, and intends to learn more languages, her specialty is English. She puts her love of word play, creative story telling, and crafty, clever copy to work as AR & Co.’s Senior Writer. Jamie excels at revamping dull websites, pumping press releases full of pomp and circumstance, dreaming up unique article ideas for newsletters, and generally wielding words to catch people’s attention.
Born in San Luis Obispo, she was raised in Carlsbad in San Diego County. She spent a few years back east and abroad (testing out her foreign language acquisition) before returning to her native land for college. She is now a proud resident of sunny Shell Beach where she enjoys walking her dog along the bluffs, swimming and surfing, practicing yoga, baking, spending time with close friends, reading, doing crossword puzzles, and watching movies.
Laura
Senior Writer
Laura holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from San Francisco State University. Laura also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Sonoma State University, a place she describes as one of her greatest for learning. Her best memory is suggesting an advice column to her advisor, “Leave it to Laura” for the student newspaper. Her advisor liked the idea and supported her efforts to become a columnist helping students with issues from relationships to toxic family experiences during the holidays. This sparked her creative writing style that has continued on. Laura is a senior writer for AR & Co. and also works as a contractor for veterans as a vocational counselor. Laura loves spending her free time with her husband and two boys. It is the “little things” that make her life great; a good coffee machine, happy children, and when her husband cooks dinner!
Rob
Senior Writer
Rob Barnett works in San Ramon, CA as a database analyst. In his spare time, you can find him outdoors playing soccer or baseball with his two young sons Nick and Alec or inside writing side-by-side with his wife Laura in their Pleasanton, CA home.
Alexander
Web and Technical Support
Alex holds a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He began working with AR & Co. almost from the company’s inception. Today Alex continues to consult with the AR and Company creative team – assisting in web and graphic development. It has been ten years since his initial employment here when he was still a student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California.
Originally from Russia, Alex came to the United States when he was just 12 years old and has been hard at work ever since. His very first job was selling firewood on the street corner in Bellevue, Washington – a job that undoubtedly taught him the value of hard work, interpersonal skills, and the importance of an education.
In 1998, Alex moved to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly, and worked as many as three jobs at a time to put himself through college. Previously, he was a factory engineer at a food processing facility in charge of hands-on equipment repair, maintenance and upgrades. He also worked on web and graphics development for a technical school, developing advertising materials, a Web site, graphics, brochures and customer outreach materials.
When not working, Alex enjoys surfing and working on cars.
