You see chaos. I see through it.
I started as a designer and developer. Twenty-five years later I'm Partner and CFO at EPIC Creative — and I've done most of the jobs in between. Mad Squirrels is the work I take on outside EPIC — selectively, with operators who'd rather talk to someone living the same problem than someone with a deck about it.
About Timmothy Merath
I'm Partner + CFO at EPIC Creative. I understand the work, not just the results. An engagement starts with understanding the problem — not with canned solutions.
Engagements
- AI integration — Tool selection, governance, rollout, and how to know if it's actually working. I've led this for my own shop.
- Operations — Margin, utilization, pricing, capacity, org structure. Diagnose what's slowing you down, then fix it.
- Advisory + board — Independent perspective for agencies and services firms. Ongoing or seated.
- Other — The most interesting problems usually don't have a clean category. If you're sitting with something messy and unresolved, that's exactly the right reason to reach out.
Selected outcomes
Just a few examples of the impact I have had.
- 25 — Every role from designer to CFO, with most stops in between. Thirty-five people to fifty-five. Revenue from $3.8M to $10M. Built the web, creative, video, and project management departments. The infrastructure running the agency today is the infrastructure I built. (Experience)
- 400 — Hours saved building EPIC Traffic Control app. No dev team, no dedicated project time — evenings, lunches, and downtime alongside a full-time CFO role. AI-assisted development made the speed possible. Twenty-five years of operational context made sure it actually worked. (Expertise)
- Built to hold.0 — Systems and structure that scaled from 35 people to 55, absorbed a pandemic without losing money, drove write-offs from 20%+ to under 10%, and still earn the same comment from everyone who joins from another agency: they've never seen operations run this well. (Understanding)
Frequently asked questions
- Is this right for my situation?
- If you're dealing with a margin, utilization, AI adoption, or org structure problem you haven't been able to crack — probably yes. If you're not sure, that's what the first call is for.
- Do you work outside the agency world?
- Yes. The background is agencies, but the problems — margin, operations, AI adoption, org structure — aren't exclusive to them. If the problem fits, the context usually does too.
- How do you charge?
- Depends on the engagement. The goal is the most meaningful progress possible within what you have to work with — not a package I've decided in advance. We'll figure it out on the call.
- Where are you based and how do you work?
- Southeastern Wisconsin. Remote or on-site — whatever the work calls for.
- Why Mad Squirrels?
- It's a long story from my childhood. It's memorable and fun. I figured, why not?