The man behind the magic.

Stephen E. Terrell is a creative director, brand strategist and fractional CMO. For more than three decades he has worked behind the names, images and stories people encounter: finding the possibility, making the connections, writing the words, choosing the talent and directing the work.

For 23 years he led marketing at The Lifeline Program, where he proposed and then directed Betty White as the company's brand spokesperson for a decade. Today he is Creative Director at Ocean Bridge Media Group in Los Angeles, Editorial Director and co-founder of MyLifeLonger.com, and a monthly opinion columnist for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. He studied journalism at Kent State University. He is based in Ohio and works with clients nationally.

• 1992–2016
  The Lifeline Program (Wm. Page & Associates). Chief marketing officer for 23 years, as Senior Vice President of Market Development & Branding and later Executive Vice President. Helped build the company from a two-person operation to sixty-four employees. The full story
• 1994
  The first billboard for a viatical settlement company, Fort Lauderdale. The essay and the press record
• A decade
  Betty White as brand spokesperson for The Lifeline Program: national campaigns, a radio spot recorded together, and the image The New York Times carried the week she hosted Saturday Night Live. The case
• Campaign
  Barbara Eden for WeBuy75.com, a separate engagement: a national campaign he created and directed, photographed by Mike Ruiz, which the client pulled for funding four months after its launch date. The case
• 2025–2026
  LGBTQ+ press for Cashing Out, The New Yorker documentary short, shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. The press record
• Now
  Creative Director, Ocean Bridge Media Group, Los Angeles · Editorial Director and co-founder, MyLifeLonger.com · Opinion columnist, Cleveland.com / The Plain Dealer · Volunteer creative director, Project Noelle

• MarCom Awards: seven Platinum, three Gold.
• Telly Award, Silver.
• Digiday Award.
• Communicator Awards, two, including B2B writing.

• ServicesBrand strategy · Brand reinvention · Fractional CMO · Talent pairing
• PressCoverage, campaign coverage and press secured for clients
• One-sheet (PDF)The record on a single page