Our values

We don’t make hollow promises to our clients, or to each other. We’ve built a team of problem solvers who care about people as well as their work.

Start With Why

From design decisions to what drives us to start work each day, we value the ‘why’ of things.

People Matter

Our team and our clients are people deserving of our care and respect, and we want to help.

Take Pride

We don’t half-ass it. We encourage ourselves and each other to become masters at our craft.

Do Good

We make the world better through our collaborations and promoting inclusive, respectful ideals.

The team

We can often be found crafting winning strategies and code in our pyjamas, from locations around Vancouver, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Okanagan, and even the Cariboo.

Shawn Johnston

He / They
Founder and Lead Strategist

A professional designer and strategist with 26 years of experience, Shawn is the Founder and Principal of Forge and Smith. He plays a variety of roles from client rep to sales person, project manager to head bottle washer.

My Why

I love the process of craft… the learning, experimentation and honing of it. To collaborate with people and create something that other people can use and benefit from? That’s a great way to make a living.

Troy Kelly

Operations Director and Partner

Troy’s extensive knowledge of a sites life cycle ensures he’s always hands on with our ongoing project work. If he’s not analyzing or creating project scope and milestones he’s ensuring that the team is staying on track and in budget with upcoming product releases or site builds.

Pam Berg

She / Her
Director of Strategy

Pam’s backgrounds in journalism, private investigation, and public libraries all flowed into her ultimate career in digital strategy – she loves good storytelling! She’s a master of content writing and an analytics nerd. In her “spare time” (lol) she hangs out with the many animals on her ranch and reviews Westerns.

My Why

In every job I’ve had, my favourite thing has always been translating complex stuff into words people can easily understand. Whether it’s analytics data or the mechanics of WordPress or the best flow of content on a page to get a conversion – I love to help!

Oscar Santiago

He / Him / His
QA Lead

Oscar is a versatile and experienced digital project manager, which makes sense since his favourite thing to do is watch The Flash with his sons. When he’s not helping our clients get to the finish line, he’s training and competing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitions. Watch out!

Andrea Iñurria

She / Her
Client Services Manager

As a former freelance commercial photographer with over 10 years of experience, Andrea learned to pay close attention to her clients’ wants and needs. Then COVID happened, and she started to look around for a career change. Forge and Smith gives her that freshness as no project is the same, and she gets to work with a fantastic team in an agency that genuinely cares about its people. She enjoys having deep conversations with her furry son, Ander the Pug, building forts with her human son, hiking and enjoying a death-cold pale ale.

My Why

I’m all about creating a fun, stress-free experience for our clients. Plus, the cherry on top is seeing their smiles and goo-goo eyes when they see their websites launched.

Serena Embree

She/Her
Project Manager

Serena has never figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. With her background in Graphic/Web Design, QA, Sales, Digital Marketing, and Customer Service, image specialist on the Content Team at F&S was a perfect landing place for her many talents. When she isn’t looking for the perfect image, she’s also a hairstylist and nail tech, and when she’s not working, can be found playing with one of her 3 pet snakes or singing karaoke.

My Why

I get my job satisfaction from helping people, be it to look their best or to put their best foot forward online.

Damian Jolley

He / Him
UX/UI Design Lead

Damian is obsessed with creating engaging digital experiences. He brings to his role at Forge and Smith over 10 years of design experience in digital design, branding and marketing. User interface and experience (UX/UI) is where Damian combines his love for systems and processes and his obsessions with design and typography. Damian grew up in Australia, and moved to Vancouver in 2009. Outside of work, Damian enjoys biking, concerts, tennis, coffee – and any kind of adventure, big or small.

My Why

I love hearing people’s stories, how they started their organization, why they care about what they do – what makes them unique. Creating websites for these companies, I get to work with the most passionate people across various industries. I love being a part of helping people and organizations grow and achieve their goals – it’s extremely rewarding.

Lizzie Scott

She/Her
Senior UX/UI Designer

Lizzie is a UI/UX designer with a diverse background in design, digital marketing and communications. When she’s not designing, you’ll likely find her at the beach or in the trees, always equipped with coffee and a camera.

Cameron Lindsay

Lead Engineer

Cameron thinks coding is fun, and his friends and family hope against hope that one day he’ll come to his senses. He has a wife and a dog, drinks a lot of coffee and loves Manilla Road.

Vanessa Bertoletti

she/her
Product Engineer

Vanessa is a passionate web developer with a background in international trade. Vanessa has a strong sense of ethics and a driven, results-oriented personality. When she’s not debugging, she travels, watches cat videos, and dies her hair in crazy colours.

My Why

Since the turn of the century, the web has been paramount to most of us. Being part of enhancing our experiences in this constantly mutating realm, making it clear, accessible, and following new technologies, has been highly fulfilling. Besides, programming is another way of being creative. Not exactly in the visual sense, but solution wise.

Tim Waugh

He / Him
Product Engineer

Tim is a former musician turned developer from Kitchener, Ontario. When Tim isn’t working, he’s making music, playing in beer leagues, or at the local cinema.

My Why

This line of work offers so much to my personal growth, the challenges and problem-solving are incredibly fun and rewarding. It’s also a lot of fun to create and this job allows me to do that.

Sarah Nachia

She / Her
SEO Strategist

Sarah is what you call a chameleon in design. She takes on all forms, a natural problem-solver conquering challenges along the way, and an advocate for self-development. She’s known for going past the limit to achieve her fullest potential, with a winning attitude. Apart from being a young grasshopper as an SEO specialist, you will most likely find her curating the best Spotify playlists, a Masterchef of UberEats, training in boxing, and a Formula 1 enthusiast.

My Why

What’s not to love about the digital world? I get to evolve with it like a Pokemon and strengthen my artistry into mastery. All I can say is “put me in coach!

Sabrina Stolb

she/her
Junior Front End Developer

What do you get when you combine an eye for detail, a pinch of pedantry, and just enough sense to cover her face right after bringing yet another issue to a developer? You get Sabrina. With a background in Web Development (to know how the websites tick), Management (to know how to get teams and clients to their goals), and Education (to know how to handle both second graders and devs) she really is the QA Specialist that dreams are made of. When she isn’t gleefully tagging errors on websites you will find her painting, working on her many 3d printers, or getting trapped in YouTube video essays for hours on end.

My Why

As someone who’s had access to a computer and the internet since I was a toddler, I know exactly how important it is for a website to be a well made and enjoyable experience for users. Getting to be the hand that polishes and hones in the sites after they’ve been forged by an amazing team? That’s pretty satisfying work.