Frankie Russo is a native of Lafayette, Louisiana and a graduate from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and minors in business and marketing. He developed Potenza with his brother, Giorgio Russo, as a creative firm, but determination to succeed and commitment to their clients led them to expand into more industries and created a family of companies.

The Potenza family of companies include a marketing firm, a creative agency, a digital ad agency and an Ad Tech company. The growth of Potenza lead Russo to understand marketing under various disciplines, and thus discovered a way to provide a better and more effective marketing service; one that could provide businesses with a comprehensive way to track their marketing budgets. Furthermore, Russo saw this marketing need as an opportunity as technology, creativity, and data converge more and more everyday. Thus, he teamed up with industry veteran Aaron Lozier to co-found the newest company, Potenza Innovations. Potenza Innovations is an ad tech company with a marketing automation and intelligence software as the centerpiece of their offerings.

Russo’s broad-spectrum outreach continues to fuel Potenza’s growth. With 53 marketing, creative and technology enthusiasts on staff, Potenza’s family of companies serve clients in 93 markets ranging from regional auto dealers to national food chains to local TV stations. Their locations have even expanded further, becoming now international by opening their first office in India. Russo has been featured as a Keynote speaker at the Apple Partner Symposium in New York City addressing owners of Apple retail centers from around the US. He has also been in Las Vegas at the Fox Affiliates Meeting during the National Association of Broadcasters Convention addressing the CEOs of all the US FOX affiliate stations.

Most recently, Russo has published his first book titled “The Art of WHY”, a book he had been writing since the beginning of his professional journey. In the book, he walks readers through a step-by-step process of mastering your WHY or your purpose in order to live your dreams. In it he shares his story of overcoming failure and losing it all in order to live his true purpose and dream.

Giorgio graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a bachelor’s degree in Visual Art and a concentration in Graphic Design. He began Potenza while in college in 2007, where despite the discouraging statistics in the economy and especially the arts, he felt determined to pursue his dream. Notwithstanding the difficulty of starting his own company, with no experience nor prospects, Giorgio’s persistence and passion for not just good, effective art but for reliable service earned him a reputation that later helped his business thrive. Once partnering with is brother, Frankie Russo, Potenza took flight in May of 2007. Giorgio moved up from being a graphic designer to be a Creative Director one project at a time and his experience and success has earned him recognition such as winning an ADDY for Facebook Advertising and being published by New York Arts Magazine for winning an award in an Infinity Art competition and having the opportunity to exhibit his art in NYC.

Aside from earning recognition as a visual artist, Giorgio also expresses his art in other forms such as music with his band Lilly Brave, where he is the lead vocalist and plays keys and guitar. He’s had the opportunity to play South By Southwest and Downtown Alive, a local concert series and has also been a notable actor in TV spots performing comedic roles that have earned the company favorable recognition.

Natalie attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to study Interior Design. Prior to joining the Potenza family she worked as a Loan Processor at Russo Consulting Group. In 2008, she joined Potenza as a Traffic Manager and Bookkeeper. Her experience has led her to become the Chief Business Officer of Potenza, where she oversees not only the overall business of the company but researches what marketing media and strategy benefits our clients the most.

When not taking care of business, Natalie enjoys spending time with her family and painting with her daughter.

Kayli graduated cum laude from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Public Relations with a minor in Business in 2010 and worked in marketing prior to joining the Potenza family in 2012. Her first job at Potenza was to manage all social media influence and later became the Director of Sales. A problem solver, what fuels Kayli is thinking of solutions for clients that make their ideas come to life — better than they even imagined.

When not managing accounts or mapping out solutions, Kayli likes to travel, spend time with her family and friends and especially with her dog, Cupcake.