About Us

Marketing Experts for a changing landscape

Empowering brands and reshaping industry norms

Let's Build Together

Our Story

In 2017, Zach and I merged our freelance design and marketing work into a single company called BigIronBucket. With backgrounds in marketing and production, we repeatedly encountered the same pattern: businesses needed steady, reliable design and technical support, but their agencies-on-record were structured for big ticket projects, not every day execution. We catered to the technical side of Marketing, and quickly found ourselves embedded in various teams as an essential part of their marketing operations. Our motto was simple: We’re easy to work with and get things done.

Prior to BigIronBucket, I spent 8 years executing Marketing for various B2B organizations from within large CRM’s like Salesforce, Oracle, and HubSpot, and recognized an opportunity to support  the hand off between Marketing and Sales teams as a high-demand service. In 2020, we carved our niche out of the intersection between Marketing, Sales, and Operations to form Space Age. Years spent managing websites, producing content, building connected CRM workflows, and implementing analytics transformed our company into a broader strategic agency. We had become operators, strategists, and systems-minded marketers. 

Throughout COVID, we worked alongside Ashlee Hayes of By Design Marketing on the 40th presentation of Red, White, & BOOM! in Columbus, OH. Ashlee quickly recognized the difference we made with our methodology, and we saw Ashlee as a brilliant strategic marketer that could help us take Space Age to the next level.

When Space Age launched, it didn’t feel like a pivot so much as an evolution. The brand formalized what we were already doing behind the scenes: aligning marketing, sales, and operations into a cohesive engine, and treating funnels, data, and internal process as intentional infrastructure instead of afterthoughts. 

The impact confirmed the direction as we became a fractional Marketing Operations partner for B2B organizations. Cleaner systems  meant sharper execution, and better alignment meant more measurable growth. What began as a design partnership had matured into a different kind of agency model, one built for consistency, precision, and accountability. 

What we stand for

  • Accountability and lasting value
  • Everyone has a right to good design
  • Consideration for the next person downstream
  • Mastering adaptability and problem solving
  • Continuous improvement over one-time wins

Meet the crew

Tom Rauscher

Digital Marketing Specialist

Tom is an owner of Space Age Design Group, bringing 15 years of hands-on experience across design, web development, and marketing. A trained designer, former brand manager and email marketer, Tom has spent the past 15 years helping small and mid-sized businesses strengthen their marketing programs. He also served as a board member and marketing committee lead for the Creekside Business Alliance in Gahanna. His work spans multiple industries, including pharma, science, sports, and more.

Zach Carlson

Brand Designer & Marketing Production Expert

Zach is an owner of Space Age Design Group. His six years of leadership oversaw more than 300 digital marketing campaigns for various brands. He brings a “do-it-right-the-first-time” approach to design processes, pipeline management, and campaign execution. Before Space Age, Zach spent five years as a design department manager handling quick-turn projects across a wide range of industries in both print and digital channels.

Ashlee Hayes

Marketing & Brand Architect

Ashlee is the owner of By Design Marketing and a partner of Space Age Design Group. She brings eight years of leadership shaped by her background in design, tourism, and commercial recreation. She has become a strong voice in experiential marketing, promoting major events such as Red, White & BOOM!, the largest fireworks show in the Midwest, and the Vintage Ohio Wine Festival. Before By Design, Ashlee spent most of her career with the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, where she led organizational brand marketing and helped promote major citywide events like The President’s Cup and the NHL All-Star Weekend.