Instant access to senior talent.

Bob Trinque is the founder of Innovation Specialists Marketing Group. For more than three decades he has built and led consumer-products businesses across the housewares, hardware, gift, restaurant, and gourmet food industries, carrying full P&L responsibility, not just offering advice.

Before founding Innovation Specialists in 2001, Bob spent twelve years as President & CEO of iSi North America, identifying new markets and building the iSi and iSi Basics brands, introducing European lines such as Mastrad, Snipes SA, Kingplast SA, Epivac Wine Systems, and Chop-Chop into the United States for the first time.

He later led U.S. operations as President & CEO of Leifheit International USA (Leifheit and Birambeau) and headed HomeToolz, an importer of cutlery and kitchen tools. Today he directs the Innovation Specialists bench, giving clients instant access to senior talent and the country’s largest retail and foodservice accounts.

Neal Ho is Executive Vice President of Innovation Specialists Marketing Group, specializing in strategy and operations. Neal partners with Bob to create unique, tailor-made and sustainable ‘go-to market’ strategies for boutique companies in the gift, kitchenware and housewares world. Not only does Neal mentor his clients, but also provides product development and sourcing support too.

Neal has been in the Housewares world for over 35 years. He began his career as a Macy’s buyer, then moved on to be the same at a start-up called HomeChef. He spent a few years with Discovery Channel Retail as a Product Development Manager, traveling the world to source and create their in-house brands. He also worked for Browne & Co. for 15 years and created the Cuisipro brand to what it is today. For the last 10 years, he has been the owner of MOBI, a brand of gifty and kitschy kitchenware products. He brings to the table a professional understanding of the housewares world from a “total perspective”: product development, sourcing, sales, logistics and operations.

Jim Williams is one of the design industry’s leaders with more than four decades of experience in developing award-winning designs for both corporate and consumer branding.

He provides unparalleled expertise on how design interfaces with strategy, and possesses profound sensitivity to form, color, scale and typography. Whether involved in the design of a logotype, symbol, package or website, Jim creates solutions that are relevant, unique, and aesthetically crafted. His premium touch has elevated brands for companies such as FAO Schwarz, Chase, American Express, Lipton, Quaker Oats, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, and Colgate.

Jim has worked for a number of prestigious firms — Peterson & Blyth Associates, Lippincott & Margulies, FutureBrand, CBX — as well as at his own New York City design consulting firm, Jim Williams Associates.

Maureen is an award-winning Senior Graphic Designer and Art Director with a long record of developing visual solutions aligned to client communication needs — creative that is compelling and on strategy, always within brand guidelines.

She does it all: developing the ad concept and copy, then styling and art-directing on set at the photo shoot. Her polished communication skills build strong relationships with creative teams, clients, and partners alike.

A Rhode Island School of Design BFA (with Honors), Maureen’s honors include multiple Connecticut Art Directors Club Excellence in Design awards, a Sappi Design Excellence award, and Rx Club and Simpson Paper recognition.

Janel Caudill leads digital marketing and web for the group — the engine that gets the team’s work in front of the right audience, online, and proves what it’s worth.

She designs and builds the websites and digital experiences that bring the brand to life, then runs full-funnel programs across SEO, paid and organic social, email, and content: reading the analytics to optimize spend and sharpen the story. Turning creative into measurable momentum.

Don Dempsey has been making photographs since the era of the Nikon F. Over many decades behind a lot of cameras — even a television camera at an NBC affiliate — he opened a 5,000-square-foot studio in 1986.

He is equally at home with commercial, advertising, product, still life, food, and editorial work. Having photographed everything from the Dead Sea Scrolls to heart surgery, his range is rare.

His clients span world-class brands — Xerox, General Electric, Danbury Mint, Mottahedeh, GlaxoSmithKline — and start-ups looking for a creative edge. Don earned a BA from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in communications from Fairfield University.