Zambezi is expanding its leadership bench as the independent agency marks its 20th anniversary and continues to grow across creative, media and operations.
The agency has named Marina Recalde group account director and Candace Chasteen group media director, while promoting Stephanie Ramos to head of people and operations and Christian Damon to group account director.
All four report to Zambezi President Laura Stayt.
The moves come as Zambezi projects nearly 50% year-over-year growth from 2025 to 2026. Its media arm, Scale by Zambezi, has also grown 40% year over year over the past three years.
Chasteen’s appointment adds a second group media director following Zambezi’s win of Nex Playground earlier this year as creative AOR plus media strategy, along with expanded work across Generous Brands. She and Recalde will co-lead the Nex business.
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Recalde joins Zambezi with nearly two decades of experience across brands including Meta, TikTok, Expedia, Walmart and Hilton. Her agency background includes Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis, Omnicom Group, Monks and Pereira O’Dell, with work spanning brand campaigns and performance marketing in U.S. and international markets.
She was selected to co-lead Nex Playground in part because of her experience in technology.
Chasteen will lead media strategy and planning across clients including Nex Playground, Generous Brands and longtime client UKG. Her responsibilities include campaign execution, team development and strengthening integration across disciplines.
“I was completely sold on the agency’s entrepreneurial spirit,” Chasteen said. “My goal is to help further how we work together across departments to deliver impactful work for clients.”
Ramos, who has been with Zambezi for more than a decade, expands her remit from director of people to head of people and operations. She will now oversee recruitment, resourcing, HR, IT operations and agency workflow.
“It’s a shift from just managing the people within the system to architecting the systems themselves,” Ramos said. “I’m now equally obsessed with our mechanical health as I am with our cultural health.”
Damon has been promoted to group account director overseeing Zambezi’s 12-year relationship with TaylorMade.
Most recently, he helped lead “Finding Fast,” TaylorMade’s first long-form branded content project, a 17-minute documentary chronicling the brand’s history and the development of its Qi4D driver.
Together, the appointments reflect Zambezi’s effort to add leadership depth across account management, media and operations as the agency continues to expand its integrated offering.
REEL 360 News wishes Marina, Candace, Christian and Stephanie the best of luck.
