Bill Uhler started at Ogden Publications, Sunflower Publishing’s parent company, in 2004 as director of operations. Quickly promoted to general manager and then Publisher, he’s now responsible for leading both publishing organizations as well as Capper’s Insurance Services.

Before joining Ogden, Uhler spent 14 years at CMP Media. While there, he honed his marketing and message-development expertise in a variety of roles, including direct marketing specialist, group circulation director, sales director and publisher. He won CMP’s inaugural Sales Director of the Year award, as well as two Addys.

Uhler graduated from Washburn University with a bachelor of arts in communications with an emphasis in advertising and public relations, and a minor in business management.

Brenda Escalante began her career at Cappers Insurance Service in 2001 while completing her education at the University of Kansas.  She transitioned to Ogden Publications shortly thereafter, where she served as accounts receivable manager before being promoted to business office manager.

In 2010, Brenda joined the Advertising Department as the Operations Manager and then later moved up to supervise convergent media sales.

Brenda accepted the position of Advertising Director in 2020.  She currently oversees all aspects of advertising and event sales, including traditional, convergent, and sponsorship platforms for Ogden Publications.

She enjoys helping our partners connect with rural consumers to grow their businesses and supporting our knowledgeable sales team in their daily efforts.  When she is not at the office, Brenda is with her two daughters at their school activities, traveling, or spending time at their family farm.

Since 1996, Ross Hammond has overseen Ogden’s financial operations, including developing business plans for strategic investments, performing due diligence for acquisitions, overseeing forecasting and financial modeling processes, and accounting reporting and procedures. In addition, Hammond manages the company’s custom media/fulfillment, mailroom, human resources and business office departments.

Hammond constantly looks for ways to help grow Ogden’s business, keeping the broader strategic picture in mind. His expertise lies in working with other departments to develop accurate forecasts, business plans, pro formas and web analytics to maximize opportunities for existing projects and new opportunities.

Before joining Ogden, Hammond worked for Palmer Cos., a regional newsstand wholesaler. He earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Emporia State University and holds a certified public accountant certificate.

Robert “Bob” Cucciniello spent 12 years at CMP Media starting in fulfillment then circulation before he moved up to sales manager and later interim publisher.

Cucciniello started at Ogden Publications in July of 2007. He is currently the Production and Newsstand Director overseeing the purchase of materials and production of all print publications, as well as their newsstand distribution and sales. In addition, he oversees the fulfillment and facilities operations at Ogden’s main building in Topeka, Kansas. In 2010 he was named Folio: Audience Development’s Newsstand Manager of the Year.

Cucciniello graduated from Washburn University with a Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Political Science. He taught history and political science at Highland Community College for 20 years before “retiring” to spend more time with his family.

Bob Legault oversees all sales activity for Ogden Publications, including insurance initiatives through its Capper’s Insurance Service Inc. division and advertising sales for Ogden’s eight advertising-supported magazines and associated websites. He is charged with implementing a strategic vision and providing support for Ogden’s internal and external sales forces.

As the leader of a wide-ranging team with aggressive goals, Legault’s relationship-building skills and optimistic disposition come in handy. His sincere interest in helping businesses succeed and a natural curiosity also help when meeting with clients to assess their goals and needs.

Legault began his career at Ogden Publications in 1980 as an agent for Capper’s Insurance Service. He has held positions as district manager, regional manager, sales director and assistant general manager. As assistant general manager, he manages Capper’s Insurance Service’s day-to-day operations.

He received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from SUNY-Plattsburg.

Cherilyn Olmsted oversees Ogden’s audience development department, encompassing circulation, customer care, social media, and digital marketing initiatives. These teams work together to improve upon the integrated marketing efforts across all titles, drive more traffic to the websites, grow and engage readership through print and online marketing efforts, improve the customer experience, develop larger and more targeted e-mail databases, and increase overall print and online revenues.

Olmsted has worked in the publishing industry for over 33 years. She began her career as the business manager for a small family-owned publishing company in Lawrence, KS. She then flipped to the marketing side and spent nine years managing the audience development efforts for four high-tech publications at Miller Freeman and CMP Media, before joining the audience development team at Ogden Publications in 2005.

When she’s not working on the latest marketing campaigns, you can find her enjoying time with family and friends, tending to her backyard garden, kayaking at local lakes, or exploring the bike trails near her home town.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ottawa University.

With a degree in journalism and business communications from the University of Kansas, Andrew Perkins joined Ogden in 1999 as an associate editor for GRIT. Since then he has served several different roles in the company, including advertising sales associate, sales manager, group publisher, director of merchandising and, now, his role as Director of Merchandising and Events.

In 2009 and 2010, Andrew led a team charged with producing the company’s first consumer event – the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Fair – which debuted in September 2010, at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania, to much fanfare. That led to the development of a full-fledged events business with several events executed around the country, and events have become a large area of growth for the overall business.

Andrew and his wife Laura, who oversees the company’s creative services group, have two children – Madison and Luke. When not at work, building new business for the company, the couple enjoys spending time with their kids, playing tennis, hiking and sailing.

Tim Swietek started at Ogden in 2001 as the Director of Information Technology. He is responsible for guiding the strategy, vision and direction for web application development, technical infrastructure, work-flow operations and e-commerce systems, as well as the in-house fulfillment systems. Tim leads a multifaceted department that is charged with supporting all areas of our internal operations and that reaches out to our customers, clients, vendors and more.

Tim has more than 30 years of experience with Information Systems, Programming, and he played a key role in establishing Ogden’s technical infrastructure and operations.

He graduated from Washburn University with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems with an emphasis on business management.

Marissa Ames began her editorial career in 2013 as a freelance writer for Backyard Poultry magazine. Since then, she has taken on roles editing multiple livestock and homesteading magazines before moving into the position of Editorial Director for Ogden Publications. Her “career” as a homesteader began long before that. At age 10, her mother quit her day job and raised 90 percent of the family’s food in order to save costs, while Marissa spent evenings and summer vacations working in the garden and caring for small livestock. Those skills became lifelong habits as she grew vegetables, raised meat and eggs, and made her family’s food to avoid high prices at the grocery store.

Marissa and her husband travel to Zambia to teach sustainable farming to rural villages and schools, where they have partnered with villages to trial saffron as a potential cash crop that doesn’t compete with local farmers. Currently, she is working on sustainable methods by which Zambian farmers can battle devastating armyworm infestations without purchasing cost-prohibitive pesticides. She volunteers on the board of a local nonprofit that protects food sovereignty and sustainability in rural communities, and she teaches homesteading classes for her local chapter of the National Grange organization. Marissa works to save a critically endangered American breed by keeping rare San Clemente Island goats. Her small homestead has a large vegetable garden where she studies and develops drought-tolerant crops, and makes her own cheese, bacon, soap, bread, and much more.  She spends her free time eating lunch.