Our team is what sets us apart.
We are a team of production experts, accounting wizards, and payroll specialists who are dedicated to serving the commercial photography industry.
Leadership & Operations
Mary Domenico
Founder & CEO
Mary is an award-winning costume designer and artist with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her boundless creativity, grit, and nurturing spirit power a unique family of companies—Blackbird Tailoring, LuLu Artists Collective, BULA Billing and OOTB Solutions—that serve the commercial photography industry. OOTB Solutions combines her industry knowledge with her bizarre love for numbers and relationships. Behind the scenes, she incubates ideas and oversees the building of our systems, platforms and processes, all while continuing to cultivate client relationships. She believes that the heart of a successful business is a team of amazing people who are willing to constantly push themselves for excellence. Mary is the master of wrangling chaos, numbers, and creatives.
Philip Chigos
Co-Founder
Phil builds the infrastructure that is the foundation of our company. His ability to navigate the complexities of insurance, financing, and business law is essential to OOTB’s success. He started his first business when he was fourteen and has since pursued a varied career in real estate and insurance brokerage, financial services, and tax consulting. A Bay Area native, he graduated magna cum laude in sociology from Northeastern University. When Phil is not working on business strategy, he’s planning the next office party.
Michal Kumpf Walters
Chief of Staff & Client Relations
Michal guides clients through the intricacies of staying both in budget and compliant. She addresses her multiple roles at OOTB with a straightforward vision and a meticulous attention to detail honed by working in banking for over 15 years. Michal graduated from Sonoma State University with a B.S. in Finance. Being a mother of three, she has mastered the art of communication and juggling everybody’s needs. If you ever need a craft beer recommendation, she’s your girl.
Sarah Woods-LaDue
Lead Operations Coordinator
Sarah assists our team with the training, implementation, and maintenance of the infrastructure that holds OOTB and its sister companies together. Her dedication and skill at turning ideas into reality continually support the OOTB vision. Sarah is also a professional dancer and yoga instructor. Clients, crew, and our own team all benefit from her constant practice of sincerity and generosity.
Finance
John Fortune
Financial Controller
John uses his expertise with numbers to continually develop and improve OOTB Solution’s financial systems and infrastructure. His extensive experience as a strategic financial business partner in professional services, education, software, and online retail organizations of varying sizes has given him a broad knowledge of the many operational and financial elements that drive a successful business. John is really smart. When he’s not working for OOTB, he’s working for NASA (they’re not nearly as fun).
Nikki Luckfiel
Senior Financial Analyst
Nikki is OOTB’s virtuoso of reporting and accounting. She loves numbers and takes great pleasure in managing our clients’ accounting with eagle-eyed detail. Nikki is a CMA and received her accounting degree at Sonoma State University. She brings the experience and knowledge of working with large financial and accounting firms to OOTB’s accounting system and excels at developing streamlined processes and workflows that adhere to accounting best practices. Nikki’s German-born humor and wit can make number puzzles fun.
Account Management
Filiz Rezvan
Senior Account Manager
Filiz manages enterprise client accounts with accuracy and consummate attention to communication and relationships. She is originally from London, England and received a BA Hons from the University of London, with a specialization in Screenwriting at the British Film Institute. She is an award-winning producer, writer, and director with years of experience in estimating, producing, post-production, CGI and video post-production, and business management within the US and in Europe. Filiz’s laugh is the best damn thing in the world.
Kaitlyn Vega
Account Manager
Kaitlyn supports OOTB’s account managers with all things related to onboarding and payroll. She graduated from San Jose State University with a BA in Psychology and has worked in payroll and business management for over ten years. Her financial knowledge and passion for building relationships make her truly exceptional at coordinating details and people. She supports clients and employees with precision and warmth. She lives in the East Bay with her husband, three kids, and two dogs. They keep her very busy, but when she’s not being a kid chauffeur, Kaitlyn enjoys going to country concerts and kickboxing.
Megan Buck
Account Coordinator
Megan assists our account managers and clients with their payroll and billing needs to help wrangle all things production. She is expert at juggling many projects at high speed and is a sweet and quiet force who keeps her coworkers and clients sane. She has a B.A. in mathematics from Lewis & Clark College, is an avid long distance runner, loves to crochet and sew, and recently completed her 200-hour yoga teaching certification.
Saige Tessler
Account Coordinator
Detail-oriented and always open to learning, Saige helps employees feel taken care of and has a gift for asking the questions that guide her team towards better solutions. She has a degree in environmental studies and has worked in the nonprofit, farming, and hospitality worlds. She has even been a professional dog walker! She previously lived and worked in Australia, where she met her husband, and now resides in Eugene, where she likes doing crafts, going outside, and cooking different dishes from around the world. She is also currently studying to become a CPP.
Billing
Shannon Kurashige
Billing Director
Shannon is the behind-the-scenes magician who makes sure that all vendors are paid accurately and on time. She wrangles receipts, mileage calculations, W-9s, and a million other details. Shannon is also a professional dancer and choreographer. She survived ballet boarding school and applies the persistence and ingenuity she learned there to help producers and talent successfully navigate their way through payroll and billing.
DeeAnna Merchant
Senior Billing Coordinator
Dee is the kind mama bear who assists OOTB’s vendors with their onboarding needs. She coordinates billing and vendor communication and wrangles invoices to ensure they are paid accurately and on time. Her years of experience in customer service and project management help her keep track of the many moving pieces of the billing puzzle. DeeAnna graduated from the University of Georgia, is the mother of two children, and is a passionate advocate for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and CF community. She has spoken before Congress, so no billing complications will faze her.
Payroll & HR
Alan Gomez
Payroll Manager & HR Specialist
Alan is our payroll maven who knows all the ins and outs of production payroll. He assists with HR and compliance, ensuring fairness for employees and peace of mind for OOTB clients. Alan graduated from UCLA and has focused his career on employment law and compliance. Prior to joining the OOTB team, he worked for a multi-state PEO where he developed processes and reviewed compliance for the payroll department. Alan is a voracious reader who also enjoys planning road trip adventures to national parks. His charming smile brightens every Zoom call he joins.
Latrice Bazile
Payroll Coordinator
Latrice guides employees during the onboarding process and helps usher them through a successful payroll each week. She also helps producers navigate the wild worlds of HR and payroll. She loves interacting with people and supporting them with information and solutions. She brings an outstanding academic record, a background as an all-around athlete, and over a decade of payroll experience to our team. Latrice is uniquely comfortable with both numbers and people, and is a great team player. She currently resides in North Hollywood, but Houston, Texas will always be her heart and home. An excellent multitasker, Latrice also runs a mobile bartending business that specializes in private events.
Marketing & Content Creation
Megan Kurashige
Marketing Manager
Megan manages OOTB’s digital assets and written content. She is also a professional dancer, choreographer, and writer. She has worked as a project manager, event coordinator, and lead administrator for several Bay Area arts organizations and has had short fiction published both here and abroad. Megan translates our many ideas into communication that is comprehensible to the outside world. Let’s be honest: who wants to read about payroll?
Sonja Dale
Research Specialist
& Administrative Associate
Sonja uses her sharp mind and flair for words to help create OOTB’s wide-ranging informational content. Her tenacious research and ability to distill information with clarity and humor allow her to create appealing content that educates our clients about all things payroll and compliance. She also wrangles internal administration for the OOTB team. Sonja is a professional dancer and ballet instructor whose many years of working with artists give her the stamina and patience to tackle any topic.
A team that is actually there for you.