Our Core Team

We are the storytellers who can help you listen to the future.

Craig McAnsh

Craig is the founder and chief trend storyteller. He is indefatigably curious about people and how they respond to the changing world around them. Craig has been studying trends and insights for over 10 years. Most recently he worked for Kantar’s Futures Practice in New York and Chapel Hill where he identified trends and insights for clients as diverse as BestBuy, DanoneWave, Chase Bank, Ford Motor Co, McDonald’s and Dart Container Corp.

Allyson Cumming

Allyson recently joined TrendStories to help us keep a pulse on youth trends. She lives in the Boston area and is a prolific consumer of all things pop culture. We feel it’s critical to see the world through the eyes of all consumers — including Millennials and GenZ. Allyson has 2020 vision into both of these cohorts. Allyson is married with 2 young daughters and 2 very charming English Bulldogs.

Mallory Michael

Mallory Michael is a hands on project coordinator with a knack for streamlining communication and an innate ability to break down large projects into manageable, bite sized pieces.  She brings a calming force and steady hand in this world of constant change and big ideas. Her time spent running around in the mountains with her dog, Ludo, keeps her sharp, well balanced and ready to untangle the most frazzled of projects.

Brett McCall

Trend hunter, game theorist, coach, and skilled facilitator, Brett brings a unique zeal to the worlds of cultural and trend intelligence. He has over 20 years experience in excavating and interpreting trends in technology, design, and human performance. He is a relentlessly curious curator. Brett also leads his virtual reality company, Better Than Unicorns, and provides corporate culture consulting through Delivering Happiness.

Gerald Olson

For Gerald, curiosity is the spark of all bright ideas. As a hybrid creative mind - advertising creative director and screenwriter  - he is always on the lookout for when an enduring human truth intersects with a social trend. These universal truths are the things that fuel breakthrough - and birth the best stories. He has over a dozen years experience crafting and sharing those stories in fashion, beauty and entertainment worlds.

How Curious Are You?

What is your CQ? Your curiosity quotient is likely more important than your IQ in our rapidly changing world. If you want to better understand your CQ, check out this HBR article. Let us know your score and if you’re interested in working with TrendStories.

Mia Cole

Mia is a creative and innovative project coordinator with a background in social media and digital marketing. Highly organized and communicative, she is passionate about writing, design, and content creation. After earning her degree from the University of North Carolina Asheville, Mia began working at Native Marketing with the goal to blend storytelling and advertising together. Outside of work, Mia enjoys knitting, reading, and spending time with her twenty-pound cat, Bear.

Kevin King

Kevin is passionate about frontier markets. The seemingly nascent trends or technologies that require strategy, vision, and a good deal of passion to unearth and become cultural norm. Kevin grew up in Kinston, NC and has spent most of his adult life in NYC and San Francisco with a keen eye to emerging startups in the entertainment and streaming verticals, usually accompanied with a new craft beer.

Are You a Seeker?

We are looking for curious people who continuously seek new ideas, products, movements — and are interested in learning how to interpret and imagine the impact of it all on our future. A genuine interest in facts/data plus solid writing skills are critical as well.