About Pen & Petal

Founded in 2001 by Kerstin Ouellet, Pen & Petal is a full-service marketing agency servicing the green industry. With horticulture as specialty, Pen & Petal provides cutting-edge marketing with the technical know-how to back it up. This distinct combination of creativity and experience is a cornerstone of the business. In addition to its staff, Pen & Petal utilizes outside talent in order to be able to offer its clients all types of marketing-, advertising- and PR-related services.

Kerstin Ouellet

As President of Pen & Petal, Inc., Kerstin Ouellet brings thorough knowledge of the international horticulture industry to the table. She received her Master’s Degree in Horticulture in 1994 from the University for Applied Science in Weihenstephan near Munich, Germany. Before coming to the United States, Kerstin worked at nurseries in Germany and Denmark in various sections of the industry. She successfully applies her diverse work experience and familiarity with the European market in her current position.

Kerstin’s company, Pen & Petal, is a full-service advertising, marketing and PR agency for the green industry. Before founding Pen & Petal in 2001, Kerstin worked as marketing director at EuroAmerican Propagators, where she made large contributions to the success of both EuroAmerican Propagators and the Proven Winners marketing cooperative.

Kerstin is a well-known speaker at industry- as well as home gardening events. She is also a renowned author of articles in trade- and consumer magazines. Kerstin is the author of two books on container gardening. The EuroAmerican Container Garden Cookbook was the first container gardening book targeted at professional growers. Her latest book, Contain Yourself – 101 Fresh Ideas for Fantastic Container Gardens, is a popular container gardening book for home gardeners and professionals.

Ellen C. Wells

Ellen C. Wells is a writer, editor, and marketing communications specialist who is passionate about all aspects of the Green Industry.

Ellen has worked with both sides of the green industry – commercial and consumer – and understands the intricacies of both. Coupled with her skills as a writer, marketer, and graphic designer, Ellen’s work with Pen & Petal offers clients a great range of expertise and services.

She has a Master’s degree in horticulture from Cornell University, and is a former field editor for Greenhouse Grower, a top-rated greenhouse industry trade publication. Wells moved on to consumer-related communications work at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and gained experience in marketing and graphic design on the staff of a Boston-area college. All the while, Wells was continuing her ties with the industry as a freelance writer. She writes a gardening column for a Boston-area newspaper, and contributes to the Boston Sunday Globe Magazine, Boston Magazine, Today's Garden Center and Green Profit, among others.  Wells also lectures on gardening topics, most recently about the challenges of urban gardening at the New England Spring Flower Show.

Ellen is a member of the Garden Writers Association and is actively involved in her local community garden and its annual neighborhood garden tour.

Claudia Defibaugh

Claudia Defibaugh has studied graphic arts since 1986, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in graphic design in her native Germany and a Master of Art degree in Art emphasizing graphic design from San Diego State University. She is the owner and creative director of Braunwarth Design, which she established in 1997, and is now working for Pen & Petal part time.

Her project experiences emphasize print advertising, including corporate identities, packaging, catalogs and brochures, advertisements, direct mail, showroom graphics, and web banners. Among her previous clients are many companies in the categories of infant and children’s products, high tech, bio tech, financial and law services, and the arts. Defibaugh works from her office in Encinitas, CA.

Osmana Nagata

Osmana Nagata is Pen & Petal's office manager and bookkeeper. Nagata has more than 14 years of office management and computer experience.  She earned her Associate of Arts degree from the Institute of Financial Education in Chicago and has attended the University of California, San Diego for her studies in Classroom Instruction.  She spent 16 years in the lending industry and 13 in Adult Instruction. In addition to her work with Pen & Petal, Osmana also is a contracted computer instructor and is starting her second year as president of her Parent-Teachers Association.

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Pen & Petal Inc.   Phone: (760) 451-2385    Fax: (760) 477-7502    info@penandpetal.com