Our Team

At Merge, we’re a passionate team of designers, developers, strategists and creative thinkers guided by the belief that our success depends on your success.

Michelle Dodd

Co-founder + Technical Strategist

Michelle is still fascinated by web tech after two decades of building websites and web apps for small businesses and non-profits. A diverse background in multiple business ventures and experiences shapes her world view.

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Dina Barnese

Project Manager + Master Juggler

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Julie Tuerk

Web Developer + Code Creator

Julie brings a diverse background to her practice of web development. She has studied computer programming, art, and psychology, and is also a certified sommelier.

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Nicole Judge

Front End Developer

A web developer, web designer, and graphic design artist. Nicole has been a bit of a swiss army knife in her professional life and has many backgrounds to pull from to add dimension to her style of web development + design.

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Mark Hunt

Creative Strategist + Visual Designer

With 20+ years of design experience, Mark brings experience in strategic design and branding for both web and print.

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Stacey Schultz

Co-founder

It was Stacey’s passion and enthusiasm for helping small businesses and non-profits elevate their online experience and digital strategy that led to her co-founding Merge.

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Our Story

Merge was founded on high standards for quality work, communication, and innovation. We share a desire to do only the best work, with the best people, for the best clients.

We help small businesses and non-profits achieve strategic and creative brand experiences that align with, and elevate, their organization’s mission. We deliver a full range of creative services from graphic design and branding to web design, web development, and digital marketing.

We strive to:

SUPPORT your organization’s business goals
CONNECT with your audience to engage, inform, and inspire them to action
SERVE the needs of your stakeholders and board members

We’re a small studio by design, delivering a personal, hands-on approach with senior talent. We measure our success by your success. You’ll be treated as a partner, we’ll communicate honestly, and you’ll get work that reflects your brand’s unique personality.

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What we’re listening to

Wonder what inspires us while we work?

We'd love to hear your ideas and see how we can help.

Say Hello

Contact Us

303.257.0335
hello@merge.studio

Located in beautiful Boulder, Colorado

Michelle Dodd

Co-founder + Technical Strategist

With 20+ years in web development, Michelle loves her work and enjoys getting to know clients as she helps them achieve their goals. She’s worked in and for non-profits, built marketing sites for numerous small businesses, and contributed to web apps that help millions to learn, invest, and get organized. Experience in usability testing and analysis keeps her focused on the user and she continually evolves in areas of accessibility, SEO and the details that set a great site apart from a good one.

Michelle finds solid, efficient, and affordable solutions to the unique needs of each project. With clear communication and enthusiasm, she enjoys the process of creating beautiful websites that make a tangible difference for clients.

Michelle has planned and experienced several multi-month, self-supported bike tours, sea kayak expeditions, and through hikes. These days she finds joy in camping, mountain biking and skiing with her husband and daughter, and playing indoor and sand volleyball.

Dina Barnese

Project Manager + Master Juggler

Dina is a project manager with a vast background in IT. Her two decades of experience include end-user hardware and software support, database design, web back-end development, business analysis, and enterprise-level project management. Not one to let the grass grow under her feet and always seeking knowledge, she sought new opportunities throughout her twelve years at Northern Arizona University, steadily advancing in the IT department. In 2013, she took her skills to the world of healthcare, where she managed complex projects to implement electronic healthcare record systems.

Intending to add to her management skillset, Dina attended mediation training in 2005. She was hooked and thus started her side hustle of becoming a mediator. She served as a volunteer court-appointed mediator for eight years, during which time she continued training in advanced facilitation, negotiation, and mediation skills.

Dina joined the Merge team in 2017. She approaches project management with a goal of guiding the client’s vision to reality, keeping the big picture in mind while managing details and tasks.

Outside of the IT world, she is a potter, musician and nature lover. She serves on the board of directors for the Flagstaff Foundry, a nonprofit performing arts incubator, and emcees the PineStories Story Slam.

Julie Tuerk

Web Developer + Code Creator

Julie brings a diverse background to her practice of web development. She has studied computer programming, art, and psychology, and is also a certified sommelier. Her eagerness to learn new technical skills has enabled numerous small businesses and nonprofits to create an online presence, improve website functionality, and manage data.

Julie loves solving problems with creative solutions, but is equally at ease using traditional methods to help clients realize their vision.

Nicole Judge

Front End Developer

A web developer, web designer, and graphic design artist, Nicole has been a bit of a Swiss army knife in her professional life and has many backgrounds to pull from to add dimension to her style of web development + design.

Nicole has always followed a passion to help. Her career began in Natural Resources where she managed conservation easement programs, working to restore riparian areas in the PNW. She ran her own company as a massage therapist focusing on athletes’ recovery, pre and post-partum massage, and rehabilitation following car accidents. Nicole also worked as a Studio Manager for a purpose-driven marketing agency in Boulder and has been working as a freelance web developer and graphic designer.

Nicole’s varied experience has helped her to gain connection and empathy with a variety of entrepreneurs and business owners, allowing Nicole to create design, copy, branding, web sites and a web presence that business owners can feel connected to.

Outside of her professional life, Nicole has collected a lot of hobbies and activities. Roller derby has been a passion for quite some time, locally playing with the Boulder County Bombers, Denver Roller Derby, and representing the state on Team Colorado. When she’s feeling more mellow, she tends to get crafty and create things through drawing and illustration, painting, and working with fibers. She recharges with outdoor activities, traveling & being in and around bodies of water.

Mark Hunt

Creative Strategist + Visual Designer

With 20+ years of design experience, Mark brings experience in strategic design and branding for both web and print. As an Art Director, he spent 11 years at Starz Entertainment, helping them shape and build their brand.

Mark enjoys serving a wide range of clients, from start-up ventures, non-profit organizations and established corporations, fostering solutions that fuel great design and building brand value.

Mark is entrepreneurial in spirit and committed to meeting the specific needs of each client by delivering innovative, tailored solutions with a personalized approach. He prides himself on getting to know each client and gaining a deep understanding of their business, their purpose, and their passion.

Stacey Schultz

Co-founder

It was Stacey’s passion and enthusiasm for helping small businesses and non-profits elevate their online experience and digital strategy that led to her co-founding Merge. With a 20-year career in marketing + design, she felt enormous value could be added by leveraging her background on large projects and developing a business model – combining strategy, creative and technology – that made the same quality results and seamless work flows accessible to smaller companies.

In 2019 she stepped back from Merge to pursue other interests. With her co-founder, Michelle Dodd at the helm, Merge continues to serve up great work for great people, causes, and companies. You can get in touch with Stacey here.