Directors who came from the theatre.
We started Sage Nine Creative in 2020, the two of us, with a shared belief: most small businesses don't have a marketing problem. They have a clarity problem, and clarity is a craft.
We come at it from different directions. That turned out to be the point.
Brandon Anderson
Brandon spent 24 years at Shadowbox Live in Columbus, from 2001 to 2025, as a Resident Artist and Communication Director. On stage he wrote and performed original comedy. Off stage he scheduled 40 to 65 artists and staff across a dozen or more new productions a year, wrote the grants and sponsorship pitches, and turned a weekly email that was basically a coupon into something people opened.
He was the writer on the development team that tripled the company's earned income over a decade. He has been the one on stage and the one making sure there was a stage to be on.
It turns out a theatre is a good place to learn branding. You can't hide a weak story. You can't fake a voice for two hours. And a clear identity is what fills the seats when nobody has a marketing budget.
Noelle Anderson
Noelle is a Columbus native who has worked as a professional performer for nearly 25 years: singer, actor, and musician on piano and flute. Favorite roles include Jean in POTUS and Maureen in Rent. She joined Shadowbox Live as a performer in 2001 and has since been its Box Office Manager, Vocal Director, Director of Data Systems, and Operations Manager of the Up Front Performance Space. Since September 2025 she has been Shadowbox's Vice President of Operations, and she still performs with the ensemble.
She is also the person who builds what the audience never sees: web and mobile apps, CRM systems, automation workflows, and a custom box office that opened the stage to independent artists. As Sage Nine's Chief Technology Officer, she brings that same work to our clients. She's known for explaining complicated technology in plain language and for making sure it serves the creative work, not the other way around.
Noelle is the one who makes the show run. She finds where a business's systems are fighting it and fixes them so the work gets easier instead of louder. She also founded Your Girl In The Chair to help business owners stop being run by their business.
At home, she and Brandon spend too much time spoiling their Jack Russell Terrier, Archie.
What that means for your business
We start with the story, not the logo. A brand that looks good and says nothing is a poster for a show that doesn’t exist.
We tell you the truth. Directors give notes. Ours are direct, kind, and specific.
We build what we design. Identity, website, systems, and content come from one team that knows how they fit together.
We stay close. You work with the people doing the work. No handoffs to a junior team you’ve never met.
Where art and engineering meet
Sage Nine pairs the artistic side with a practical, technical one: websites, automation, CRM tools, analytics. Beautiful work that can't be maintained or measured is a nice night out. We build brands that last the whole run.
Who we work with
Small businesses at a turning point. You've outgrown the DIY version of your brand, you know what you offer, and you want a team that takes the work seriously and takes you seriously too. If you're just starting out and want to build on your own, SiteLift is probably the better fit. It's a different tool for a different stage, and we'd rather point you there than sell you something you don't need.
Come to the first rehearsal.
The Brand Direction Session is a 90-minute conversation that ends with a written script for your brand.