“Before there was LinkedIn, there was Ken Chen.”
EM Marketing is founded
1st project at Intuit
The Break agency launches
The Start
Ken Chen founded EM Marketing in 2003 immediately following a health crisis that led to spinal cord surgery. He’d recently left a start-up and didn’t want to go back to a traditional, full-time job; he was sick of politics, tired of the endless meetings, unenthused by document polishing, and tired of the daily commute. So, he tried his hand at consulting.
The First Match
Ken landed his first project with Intuit, and soon a second followed; he was able to string together one project after another. Eventually he had more work than he could handle, so he strategized ways to involve others in what he was doing. He knew so many unhappy, full-time marketers. Ken began dedicating his Fridays to both seeing clients and building a bench of freelance marketers. In 2005 he matched consultant #1, Darci Robson, with a client.
True Work Life Balance | The EM Community
In 2008, with word quickly spreading that there was a way to get top notch marketing help from a vetted source, Ken set out to build a community focused on helping marketers find True Work Life Balance. Not the kind that corporations give lip service to, but one driven by a consultant’s need to work when, where, how, and as much as they want — all for a fair price.
The EM Team & Home
To support its growing community and expanding client list, EM added team members across business development, account management, talent, operations, and finance. Ken found team members who were authentic, put team & people first, and prioritized relationship building; he looked for consultants in the same mold. In 2015, Open Canopy was established as EM’s physical home.
The COVID Effect
When the entire world went through unprecedented change starting in 2020, so did EM Marketing. EM launched a mentorship program and services were expanded to include Full-Time Search in 2021. And, EM launched its creative-forward sister agency, The Break, in 2022.
Our Commitment to Inclusion
EM Marketing strives to create an environment that values diversity, equity and inclusion. Helping people find fulfillment in their careers runs through our veins, and our goal is to provide access to opportunities for everyone.
We want everyone at EM Marketing to have a sense of belonging, be respected, and feel valued so they are free to bring their full selves to work. We commit to celebrating our diverse community and being a leader and role model for change for our consultants and ask our clients and partners to join us as allies.
A New Chapter
EM’s community is 1,500+ specialized marketers strong and continues to grow nationwide. After 20 years of building the company brick by brick, Founder Ken Chen retired from day-to-day operations and handed his partners, Kathy Jung and Dan Holmes, the leadership reins. In January 2026, long-time Senior Consultant and Account Lead Charlie Mock was named as Chief Executive Officer. EM is still relentlessly committed to helping our clients hire higher – and achieve their goals.
Hire Higher
At EM Marketing, we’re elevating the hiring process for marketers with a proven, people-first approach that is built on human connections. We love AI. But we’re even bigger fans of EQ. A higher hire reflects a deeper understanding of client needs, matches talent with culture, and, ultimately, builds trust between the client and the candidate. That’s EQ, and that’s EM Marketing.