Stephanie Mazza

Like all kids, Stephanie Mazza designed a family newspaper when she was eight. Oh, that’s right, most kids don’t do that. But Stephanie wasn’t most kids. From an early age, she was obsessed with drawing, making cards for everyone and any occasion, and creating all sorts of things to express her creativity. Being a practical eight-year-old, she figured she’d work for Hallmark, a dream crushed by the realization that Hallmark was based in Kansas City, Missouri — and who would leave Sonoma Valley for Missouri?!

It wasn’t until she was attending Pacific Union College in Napa Valley that Stephanie figured out graphic design was an actual, plausible career path. Ultimately, she earned a B.S. in Graphic Design with an Art History minor. Along the way, she took a year-long detour to work as an au pair for a French family. It was a snap decision (two weeks from an internet search to landing at the Marseille Provence Airport) that influenced the course of her life and career.

During that year, Stephanie spent most weekends snowboarding in the French Alps. When she returned to the States, her goal was to get a job that would take her to the Sierra Nevada mountains where she could combine her design interests with her love for snowboarding.

After a five-year stint at a California marketing technology firm — where she worked on some large international brands and saw her work on a global stage, including Disneyland and the Super Bowl — she did make it to the Sierras. Stephanie landed a job at Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority where she led design efforts for the internationally marketed Visit Reno Tahoe brand. Over four years she honed her design and branding skills in a wide variety of mediums — from social media graphics to video production, trade show booths to trucker hats. Working in-house on the client side also gave her a valuable perspective that continues to serve her as Associate Creative Director at Estipona Group.

Stephanie is driven by the impact her work has on others, which is one of the reasons she was excited to join EG. Working on public health campaigns and with essential government agencies and educational institutions keeps her excited to come to the virtual office each day. She proudly champions accessible design and enjoys solving tricky client problems in elegant, unexpected ways.

Stephanie is a member of City of Reno's Arts and Culture Advisory Board and also serves as Chairperson for the TMCC Graphic Arts & Media Technology Program Advisory Board. She’s passionate about fostering creative culture in Reno and always seems to be in the middle of a volunteer project or about to dive into a new one. Life at home is a blur of kid chaos, dog hair, and art supplies, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.