“I thought it was only in romance that you could say he or she ‘could finish my sentences for me.’ I’ve come to learn that Alison and Matt don’t just finish my sentences, but they also create visual imagery and a storyline that is both profound and persuasive. Based upon my very enjoyable time working with Alimat, my speeches are more moving, more memorable, and pack much more meaning. I can’t say enough about these two.”

Chip Conley
Founder, Modern Elder Academy
Strategic Advisor for Hospitality & Leadership, Airbnb
Founder, Joie de Vivre Hospitality

“Last year, we were unveiling a revolutionary new product at our inaugural customer event, and we wanted the audience to leave inspired by our CEO’s keynote. The “who’s who” of genomics was going to be in attendance, and the audience ranged from PhD scientists to ex-US Presidents (Barack Obama!). How does one tell a story that engages such a broad audience, so they each feel an emotional connection and leave wanting to take action and make a difference?

Enter Alimat! Alison and Matt are the creative dream team. They somehow take stream-of-conscious thoughts, complex data sets, and stories and bring them all to life. I was really impressed with their intake process. During several sessions with our CEO, they asked both probing and open-ended questions and really listened to his responses. Their methodology for picking out the key emotional nuggets and weaving the storyline together was incredibly effective. Alison’s storytelling skills combined with Matt’s gorgeous visuals really connected with our audience.

We heard from customers that our CEO’s keynote and company product launch were a huge success and could not have gone better. Since then, we have engaged Alimat for other events, and I have recommended them to friends and colleagues. They are a true pleasure to work with. I look forward to our next engagement!”  

Pratima Rao
Chief of Staff, VP of Operations, Illumina 

“When I was asked to prepare a TEDx talk I called Alison and Matt. Collaborating with these articulate, intelligent people was utterly comfortable and inspiring. They have the unique ability to ask intuitive and key questions, extracting a story line that holds an audience. This, woven together with their powerful talk and keynote, secured me with a presentation that was authentically and truly mine, one that gave me confidence—and ultimately a standing ovation. If you have the wonderful opportunity to work with these fine individuals, I promise you will be thrilled and moved more than you could have imagined.”

Lisa Kristine
Humanitarian Photographer
Lucie Award winner, TEDx speaker

“As an executive presentation coach, I’ve seen more than my fair share of Executive Leader presentations that sound the right notes and still miss the moment. So I was immediately struck by the work of Alison Macondray and Matt Clark (Alimat), because their writing was alive, specific and personal. It pushed the audience to do more than sit passively and receive a message; it pushed them to act. 

I’ve witnessed first-hand how their expertise, process and values created a presentation which boosted the profile and agenda of Executive Leaders of seven different brands. 

Their process is different, and that shows up in superior results. And by “results” I don’t just mean compliments for the speaker, though those abound. I mean results like:

• a new level of confidence in the Executive Leader, as they set a new bar for what audiences can expect from them

• seeing the audience take action after the event – in one case, about a half-dozen small business owners signing new deals with an international franchisor within 30 minutes ... each deal worth multi-millions

• I mean an executive comms team seeing with new eyes what “good” looks like in today’s world

Alimat jumps into in an alchemical creative dialogue that results in deep, strategic thinking about the goals and potential of the meeting to create true and lasting impact. They test ideas. They listen intensively. They bring just the right level of elevated imagery, storytelling, analogy and theatricality to lift the moment and create emotional connection, while staying true to the personality and vibe of the speaker. 

The people I coach don’t have a lot of time to devote to speech preparation, which is why they depend on content experts like Alimat. I can say for an absolute fact that the Executive will feel well taken care of and excited. Their collaborative process deeply respects the team around the executive as well.

I’ve never seen better. Your audience – and Executive Leaders – will be knocked over by the ease of the process and the results of the final product.” 

Jane Beard
Founder, Invisible Light 

“I was looking for a creative team to help me create TED-style transformational keynotes for our executives. I had an instant connection with Matt and Alison from the start and when it came to the work, they literally rocked my world. In addition to amazing visual skills, they breathed life into every project with their creativity and inspirational style. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Matt and Alison—they are true partners, teachers and friends.”

Gina Rossi
Director, Corporate Communications, Fortune 500 company

“We have worked with Alimat for several years now, and they never disappoint. We regularly deliver high-stakes sales pitches and client presentations. Ours is a competitive industry and it’s important to stand out. Alimat turns informational sessions on our products and services into a compelling story -- presentations we use over and over. Matt has the ability to turn a simple bullet-point outline into a visual masterpiece that keeps the audience engaged. Alison is so on top of her game, keeping all our projects moving. Plus they are such good, smart, collaborative, down to earth people.  I look forward to our conversations, and relish the successes we have generated together.”

Shiran Witt
Director of Marketing, Blue Pacific Flavors 

“When I began to plan for the launch of my first book, I knew I had to up the quality of my speaking materials in order to gain traction for my message. I have worked with a lot of design teams over the years but thankfully, a trusted colleague recommended Matt and Alison. They are the dream team. Alison has such a warm personality and from the first she believed wholeheartedly in me and my message. She clearly explained the Alimat methodology, and throughout she demonstrated an exceptional ability to really listen. Add to that Matt’s skill at turning out gorgeous slides that helped bring my concepts to life in a stunningly designed presentation full of lessons, stories, and visual surprises, and you know why they have so many happy clients. The first time I tested the presentation, three audience members asked to join my movement — the first time this has ever happened and exactly what I’d been hoping for. To sum up the experience, I would say: They made me a better me. I know they can do the same for you.”

Denise Brosseau
CEO, Thought Leadership Lab 

“I’ve spent the last 20 years creating and building Bare Escentuals/bareMinerals as CEO and executive chairman and while I have spent a significant amount of time on live TV, I was never comfortable in front of a live audience. Actually, just the idea of speaking to a live audience makes me feel ill. It was time to finally get comfortable telling my story in public and I needed a partner to dig deep and to help find me find an approach that suits my style. [Humanitarian photographer] Lisa Kristine recommended I meet Alison and Matt.

I always looked forward to our meetings and downloads. The story collection phase was hours and days of thought provoking inquiries and discussion and each time we met we would get even closer to my true voice. The finished product looked great on the screen, sounded just like me and it had the right amount of humor and insight. And, I have to say, the whole experience took the pressure off — making it a pleasure. Ask my husband; he even thanked Alison and Matt! I just wanted to be able to enjoy telling my story and keep the audience engaged without fear. It was a remarkable experience.”

Leslie Blodgett
Creator of bareMinerals

& Executive Chairman, Bare Escentuals

“They were diligent at getting to the heart of what we’re about and what we wanted to express. That attention and time spent on understanding what we wanted to say really came out when they created the presentation. The mechanics are one thing, but flushing out what we wanted to say was outstanding. Not everyone can pull your story out of you, help you organize it, and help you express it. The prezi they created is on the bleeding edge, so we’re doing something that will be relevant for quite a while, not something that we’ll re-do quickly.”

Michael Dreyfus
Owner
Dreyfus Sotheby’s International Realty 

“What was unique about Alimat is the combination of an unwavering commitment to delivering greatness, and the creative capacity to deliver it. Their approach rests on a blend of curiosity, collaboration and creativity to distill a message to its true essence. Their value to Kingfish went beyond sales and marketing. They helped us see ourselves more clearly and, as a result, informed our strategic approach.”

Jonathan Goldenstein and Christian Dubiel
Founders, Kingfish Group 

“This is a testimonial for my favorite two copywriters in all the world, Alison and Matt. They’ve been writing copy for us for three years now and have nailed the complex essence of our brand, prAna. We offer sustainably made apparel for active lifestyles. We have a rich heritage in outdoor sports like rock climbing and have been deep in the yoga market for two decades. Our brand communications often convey our values associated with sustainability, wellness, social causes, fair trade and mindful living. We have a roster of diverse athletes, outdoor adventurists, climbers, yogis, artists and activists who have incredible stories to tell. Ours is a complex brand that can transcend demographics, markets, product categories and geographies, and we have to keep our core followers intrigued while reaching out to a new audience.

What I am saying is that the copywriting assignments at prAna are quite difficult and we consistently count on Matt and Alison to do the heavy lifting for our brand messaging. They have a collaborative approach and refreshing communication style that’s empowering. They have a knack for pulling out the nuggets when we get rambling during interviews. Our conversations are always stimulating and they don’t miss a thing. They turn these random thoughts into our consumer facing voice that connects to our values and deeply resonates with our audience. They ‘get it’ and are a lot of fun to work with. We hope to be able to count on them for many more seasons of compelling brand story telling.”

Beaver Theodosakis
Founder, prAna

“When I decided to take my work to a bigger stage and reach even more people, I was both excited and overwhelmed. I’d never created such a talk and felt I was too close to the material for my own good. When I hired Alison and Matt to help, I was stunned at how steeped they got in my thinking. Teaching modules, interviews, blog posts—they reviewed EVERYTHING. Their deep-dive sessions were the perfect blend of epiphany and practical strategy. It was a highly personalized, ‘anti-cookie-cutter’ process and I felt held the whole way. No kidding, they spooned my soul. 

And it all worked. I now have a gorgeous, flexible, completely unique talk that both explains and inspires. It’s given me guardrails for my message without compromising my authenticity on stage. The feedback has been amazing and the speaking opportunities keep arriving, from a prestigious keynote talk to an invitation to join a speaker bureau. So if you want to play BIG with your own message, collaborate with these two creative geniuses. They will love you up and make the magic unfold. Go.”  

Anese Cavanaugh
Founder, The IEP Method
Author, Contagious Culture: Show Up, Set the Tone, and Intentionally Create an Organization that Thrives

“My collaboration with Alison and Matt brought my speaking platform to life in a way that I never imagined possible. Not only did they help shape my ideas into a cohesive and compelling thought leadership platform, they brought it to life, blending just the right images and brilliant phrases to create a lasting emotional impact on my audience. Within 60 days of launching my new Vision Project Prezi, I had booked nine speaking engagements and secured a spot as a guest lecturer at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. In less than three months my investment has paid for itself almost three times over in speaking fees and consulting and coaching assignments, with more than a dozen new clients. The success that has come from this delightful collaboration with Matt and Alison has far exceeded my expectations.”

Kate Purmal
Strategy consultant and coach to CEOs and entrepreneurs

“Working with Alison and Matt on my opening keynote for Ad Week was a brilliant experience. Their intake process was completely seamless, something I didn’t have to worry about. Through a series of well-thought-out interview questions, they quickly picked out the story I was telling, synthesized it, and wove it into a clear and precise speech with a strong opening, powerful middle, and fantastic close. 

Usually it takes a new communications group a few tries until they clearly hear your story, your voice, and your approach. This was not the case with this team by any stretch of the imagination. Their first draft needed only minor editing and refinement. They never lost my voice—in fact, they strengthened it. And they made it real. There was no empty marketing speech or strategy for the sake of strategy. They put things in clear, pragmatic terms that people deal with every day and can actually visualize. The onscreen creative was fantastic: custom, curated, and meaningful, as concise and impactful as the language. 

The talk generated lots of interest about Marriott and what we’re doing. It made people stand up and take notice. I think it also helped change people’s perspective of us as a company—the idea that Marriott is on the move.”     

Brian King
Global Brand Officer, Marriott International

“I came to Alimat with a vision for my company that needed to be shaped into a clear and cohesive story.  Alison and Matt quickly dove into my scientific world and were able to parse through a vase amount of information to find the true essence of my story.  In marrying great visual design with curated content, they provided a platform that allowed me to succinctly communicate LabYakk’s vision and story.

Collaborating with such generous, talented and thoughtful people helped us bring our narrative to light.  They listened intently to our thoughts and concerns and worked endlessly to incorporate that information into our story. They built a pitch deck for LabYakk that is an authentic representation of the company and its founders. This will allow us to move forward and communicate a strong narrative to our audience. Working on this project was a truly collaborative and learning experience for me. It allowed me to understand that by combining storytelling with beautiful visuals, we could convey a strong vision.”

Mary Tran
Molecular biologist, founder of LabYakk

“Grow has partnered with Alison and Matt on a variety of projects and we can’t wait to collaborate with them again soon! We recently hired them for a high-stakes interactive sales presentation for one of our top clients. They took the project way beyond what anyone had initially envisioned, recommending ways to make it even more compelling, then delivering on that promise. 

Their sophisticated design thinking and compelling storytelling makes them stand out from other specialty creative companies we work with. Their level of sophistication throughout the whole process—discovery, approach, execution, final product—is impressive and inspiring. They really are team players and took time to understand all perspectives, and collaborated with all stakeholders at each step in the way. They are a reliable partner and I was always confident they would meet deadlines, do a thorough edit and ensure nothing was ever missed.

Beyond us being happy, our client was extremely thrilled and said the presentation set a new standard for such a product within the company. I highly recommend them to any creative agency that wants to take their presentation deliverables up a notch. They are amazing and I’m eager to collaborate with them again soon.”

Shannon Farrell
Senior Account Manager, Grow Marketing

My experience working with Alimat on our pitch deck opened my eyes to the power of great visual and verbal storytelling. Through an intensive interview process they came to understand me, Judicata, our history and our vision — and then surfaced the arc that unifies it all. I’m proud of the work they did, and what we produced together. It moved Judicata incredibly far forward, and showed me what is possible with an intelligent, creative, and talented team.

Itai Gurari
Co-founder and CEO, Judicata

“Have you ever been stuck trying to effectively tell a story you were passionate about on the inside but struggling to express on the outside? As someone who coaches entrepreneurs and creative professionals on how to get unstuck, it was pretty easy for me to recognize that I needed to hire expert guidance to bring my own story forward.  What a gift I received when I hired Alison and Matt!  These two geniuses are simply amazing.  Alison was able to engage with my beautiful mind, pull out the key points and then craft my message into a coherent story.  To say that Matt put pictures to my words does not do justice to the extraordinary eye-catching graphics he illustrated.  They absolutely make my story come alive.  Having such a powerful and compelling presentation has opened doors to new opportunities in a way that has far exceeded my expectations. All I can say is … Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.  I can’t wait for us to start working on the book!”

Shannon Presson
Coach, storyteller, belief change expert

“As the CIO for the City and County of San Francisco, I had the opportunity to educate and hopefully inspire others to share in our dream of a more open, transparent, and collaborative government. Since developing new and innovative approaches is key to our success, I am always seeking out new and exciting technologies to help deliver the message. Using Prezi’s unique storytelling capabilities, Matt and Alison understood my vision completely and created a fresh take on the presentation model, inviting audiences to shift perspective with me. They are an amazing collaborative team and I look forward to working with them again and again.”

Chris Vein
Chief Innovation Officer for Global Information and Communications Technology Development at World Bank (former Deputy U.S. CTO for Government Innovation, Obama administration)

“I needed to prepare a talk on LENR/Cold Fusion for an upcoming alternative energy conference. In a single strategy session, Alison and Matt helped me focus my material into a compelling story arc that would hold an audience. By the time I left the meeting, I knew what to do. Because of the work they did with me—and that I did with them!—I felt confident and eloquent as I delivered the talk, which hugely influenced how relaxed I was and how much fun I had. The talk was very well received: A guest reported to one of my clients that mine was the best talk of the entire conference! I appreciate Alison and Matt’s dedication to people doing their best and presenting in a way that’s engaging and entertaining. I now want to give this talk in more venues and am ready for the opportunities.”  

David Niebauer
Attorney specializing in alternative energy and IP strategy
General Counsel, SmartWired Grid

“Working with Alison and Matt is so satisfying! Not only do I have the joy of knowing I’m working with the best content/design team around, but I enjoy the humor, smarts, and passion they bring to each project. We often get requests for high-profile presentations for TED, academia, and industry conferences. We trust them to build them from the ground up and have heard nothing but amazing feedback from our customers. We’ve even hired them to help us with internal projects, because they stand out from other designers: They understand the art of building a story and creating visuals to complement the storyline. I feel lucky to work with them every time.”

Angelie Agarwal, Ph.D.
Former Chief Evangelist, Prezi

“If two heads are better than one, then two really smart, articulate, collaborative heads are best of all. Alison and Matt are able to think in ways that move the needle and produce great copy. They write in a range of styles and are as comfortable with corporate as editorial. They exhibit a few traits that aren’t a given with great writers: They listen. They embrace good ideas regardless of where they originated. If you are lucky enough to need great copy and this team is available, you won’t be disappointed.”

Jennifer Jerde
Founder and Creative Director, Elixir Design 

“Alison and Matt are a dynamic team with the ideal blend of communication skills. Alimat, Inc. partnered with Grow Marketing to create a world-class presentation for one of our clients who travels the globe to share his work. Alison was able to perfectly articulate our client’s vision through the written word, and Matt brought the ideas to life through a compelling and innovative design that established an emotional connection with the audience. This team also knows when to gently challenge an idea in order to elevate and enhance the end product. The result of our work together garnered tremendous reviews from our client’s audiences. Whether it’s creating a program from scratch or infusing it with new ideas to keep it fresh, this is the dynamic duo.”

Danny Kraus
Former Marketing Communications Director, Grow Marketing 

“My first week on the job, I called Alison and her partner Matt Clark from Alimat. Motista had a revolutionary product, but our go-to-market sales materials need revolutionizing—and I knew this team could deliver. From our very first meeting, they brought intelligence and high-level strategic thinking: asking challenging questions, throwing out ideas to make the presentation even better. Within a very short time, their first draft nailed the concept beyond my very high expectations. Not only was the narrative sound; superb graphics and clear language made the product and our value proposition come to life. A previously hard to explain product was now being understood by prospects in record time. If you want to take your brand story to the next level, I can say without qualification, hire Alimat.”

Patty Mitchell
Interim GM and Chief Revenue Officer, Motista

“I love working with a team that gets the horse in the barn. They get what we want to say, express it better than we ever could, and really know how to close a project. It’s been a delight to build a partnership with Alison and Matt, who are helping Dreyfus Properties tell our story across multiple platforms — prezi, book, and website. This unique combination of old and new media has wowed our sales agents and prospective sellers. One of our agents used the prezi to close a huge listing with a seller within weeks of adopting the technology.”

Marissa Myers
Director of Marketing 
Dreyfus Sotheby’s International Realty 

“We turned to Alimat, Inc. when our real estate development team was unable to agree on a name for a mixed-use condominium project we were developing in Pacific Palisades. It was important to find a perfect name and identity that embodied the building, its location, and its inherent characteristics as we began to think about taking the units to market. Because we were seeking to transform an existing shell (with its own history in the community) into something new, it was crucial for us to get the branding done right.

Bringing in Alison and Matt at this stage of the process was one of the smartest decisions we made. Working within our timeframe and budget—and with a team of disparate personalities—they presented about 75 possible names for the building, about 73 of which would have been great. In fact, the hardest part was narrowing down the choices, but even here this team proved invaluable and insightful. They approached the entire process with thoughtfulness, grace, and intelligence. I look forward to working with them again.”

Larry Mathews
Principal
Outparcel Investment Partners VI, LLC

“Partnering with Alison and Matt to design a Prezi presentation for my keynote speech was an extremely productive, positive experience. Alison quickly grasped the essence of my message and added creative ideas and quotes that enhanced my speech. They then formulated a theme that pulled the entire presentation together in a way that enhanced my original idea, and Matt produced the perfect poignant images that spoke a thousand words. I was amazed at how quickly they both worked and how easily they produced a superb product that far exceeded my expectations. There is nothing better than working with professionals who know what they’re doing and do it well! My Fortune 500 clients are continually impressed with their work and so am I.”

Martha Borst
President, Senior Partner, Avista Consulting Group, Inc.

“I wanted to create a presentation to expand my business, but the thought of putting my story together was daunting, to say the least. I had my first meeting with Alison, and I was blown away at her ability to listen to my story, synthesize it down to its essence and create a seamless narrative that captured its most powerful and compelling elements. She made this overwhelming task seem easy! Once we had the story structure, Matt worked his magic, using both literal and figurative images to make the story come to life. The presentation so perfectly tells my story, I don’t need notes to deliver it. This frees me to really connect with my audience, which allows my message to come across with significantly more impact! I have never felt so confident presenting as I do now.”

Ashley Selman
Owner, Evolution Trainers

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Alimat on a few different occasions, and I consider them to be the “A” team of boutique agencies. What they accomplish for their clients reflects a level of quality, commitment and results that simply doesn’t seem possible given their size. Their “secret sauce” is that they truly care about the work their clients are doing—and are not in this just for the money. They take on projects they believe are worthwhile, and attract clients who love what they do. They’re methodical about getting into the heads of their clients’ customers, and taking time to really understand their clients’ businesses.

Individually, they bring exceptional skills to every project they take on. They run a tight ship, managing clients, contractors, timelines, and vision while crafting incredibly polished deliverables. Best of all, they treat their independent contractors (including writers like myself) as valued partners—not just temporary resources. An inspiring, friendly pair of professionals you’d enjoy working with.”

Claudia Graziano
Copywriter, Content Strategist

“Alison and Matt are an absolute dream to work with. They have the complete package: creativity, organization, responsiveness, intelligence, style, and technical skills. 

Through interviews and research, they took the time to understand our company on a deep level. They successfully took our rough ideas and goals and translated them into the look, feel, and content we’d been seeking, quickly and creatively. They also inspired us to push ourselves to help them create something above and beyond our expectations. We now have a site that represents McCalls in a way that’s modern and stylish as well as practical.  

It was amazing process developing the site with Alison and Matt. They met with us just the right amount: Meetings were efficient, productive, and streamlined. They were incredibly accessible, not to mention fun and friendly! I looked forward to each conversation. Their team of experts made sure every last detail was handled. (Previous web design teams had worked with us for months and we never got anywhere.)  Alimat responded to every email or voicemail within the hour, meeting every goal on our timeline with flying colors.  What a team! 

Thanks to Alimat we have a beautiful, stunning new site—live and launched in record time. It’s exactly what we envisioned, but even better.”

Kirsty Gumina
Event Production and Design
McCalls Catering & Events

“Matt is a phenomenal graphic designer with a broad range in style and technique. He is really good at bringing that out-of-the-box flavor to even the most standard projects, and then seeing those ideas through to production reality. He has flexibility and speed, and he’s comfortable working in a variety of brand contexts. He works more creatively than the average designer, even under challenging external constraints. 

He’s great at coming up with lots of different concepts quickly, drawing from incredibly wide personal and creative influences. He can concept both visually and in short and long-form copy, then mock up his concepts with a depth and richness often missing in creative pitches. In other words, he can work inside the box, but lives outside of it.”

Maurice Conti
Director of Strategic Innovation, Autodesk

“I’ve worked with scores of creative and art directors over decades. Matt is an exceptional talent in his ability to work across so many media—illustration, photography, fine art, video, and web. Matt brings a tempered, seasoned energy to all his business engagements. As deadlines and frenzy are so often the norm in professional creative, Matt delivers on multiple levels, all the while maintaining a big-picture perspective and measured professionalism, even in the most demanding situations.”

Marc Vincent
Strategy and Marketing Director, Positive Health Program
(HIV/AIDS division of SF General Hospital) 

“Opts Ideas had the lead creative agency role in one of Microsoft’s most important global product launches. Through a referral from a trusted colleague, we discovered Alison midway through a critical stage of the campaign. She hit the ground running, quickly integrated herself into the team, added much-needed structure to the process, and was instrumental in helping us complete the job on time and on budget. The client was thrilled with the outcome.”

“Matt delivers great creative, period. He is consistent and fast—two things that are important in any marketing organization. Regardless of the industry, size of company or target audience, I know Matt will immediately understand what I’m trying to accomplish. He always impresses me with his ability to translate marketing requirements into compelling, relevant and impactful creative. I’m always looking for an opportunity to work with him—he’s that good.”

Lisa Plotczyk Lee
Sr. Manager, Marketing Operations, Salesforce.com 

“Working with Matt is easy and enjoyable. His ideas are lucid, his work exemplary and the results surprising and effective. My existing customers have been impressed with the imagery and design Matt has provided, and new customers have told me how original, unexpected and delightful our visual materials are. With Matt’s work, my company’s message is stronger and clearer than it’s ever been. He’s been instrumental in communicating our mission and quality of work, and a key component of our rapid growth and success.”

Alan Manley
Founder and President, Vintage Spec

“Alison worked with me as a managing editor on a 176-page book that was translated into 19 different languages. Not only did she effectively wrangle two writers composing 76 different stories, she managed three proofing stages and tracked all of the translations. All under a very short deadline. She was a pleasure to work with—professional, polite, always in a good mood and willing to go the extra steps—I wouldn’t work with anyone else knowing there is an Alison Macondray out there.”

Marnie Aulabaugh
Creative Director, Heroes Happen {Here} (Microsoft publication)