About this Nominee
Two words from a hockey coach changed everything: "Play Big." That's our name, our agency, and how we show up for our clients; a small Monterey shop that punches well above its weight.
The name has a story. My son played travel hockey in Huntsville, and on his team was the son of Doug Ross, a college hockey coach who'd played on the 1976 US Olympic team. Doug wasn't a big guy. Neither were his sons. But they could skate, and they could read the ice like nobody else.
One morning before a game against Atlanta, a bigger, faster team that had always beaten Huntsville, I was sitting in the lobby with my young daughter, who wanted nothing to do with the cold rink. Doug's son Jared walked up to his dad before taking the ice. Doug leaned in, and in the simplest, most direct way, told him two words: 'Play Big.' No X's and O's. No strategy session. Just that.
I asked Doug if I could use that line. He said of course. Jared, all 5'9" and 165 pounds of him, went on to play for his father's college program, then the Philadelphia Flyers, then in Europe.
To PlayBig™ is to perform beyond expectations. To not let size dictate spirit, ability, or outcome. It's the smaller competitor who outplays, outworks, and outwits the bigger one. That's what we do for our clients every day. It's why competing against larger agencies in this award feels exactly right.
We're a small, full-service agency. Websites that convert. Local SEO. Paid advertising. AI-powered search. Brand identity. Print. We bring the same tools big agencies use for big clients and put them to work for the owner of a pool company, a fishing charter, a photographer, or a landscaper.
We drove cross-country from Alabama to Monterey in September 2020, right as COVID shut everything down. No contacts, no introductions, no events to attend. We built our presence here the slow way — showing up, doing work that exceeded expectations, and letting it speak for itself. Six years later, we're not going anywhere.
Twenty years serving small businesses. Six years rooted right here. We'd be honored to have your vote.