Data Driven. AI Powered. Explore our innovative data and AI practice.
Data Driven. AI Powered. Explore our innovative data and AI practice.
At Prowess Consulting our teams are motivated by the chance to come
together and do challenging, high-quality work for tech clients.
We’ve been working alongside innovators in the technology industry for over 20 years, helping them craft the future of the digital world. Since 2003, Prowess has focused on building trust, delivering quality, and thriving at the cutting edge. We were founded to meet the needs of tech companies in the growing Pacific Northwest region by combining a technical skill set with strategic solution expertise. Since those early days, we’ve expanded our offerings and locations, along with the multitude of clients we serve. We continue to support our clients’ operations and growth in new and exciting ways.
Lots of other organizations specialize in the creative side—with focus on content, user experience, and design. And then other agencies might have system integrators and dev houses that specialize in engineering disciplines. At Prowess, we are different. Clients find that we have the trusted ability to deploy collaborative teams that have extensive and proven expertise in both areas, making Prowess a one-stop, collaborative, and unified firm."
We’re always looking for great people who are passionate about communications, technology, and marketing.
Prowess is proud to be recognized as a minority-owned business by SupplierGateway in 2024.
We celebrate our diverse team and their commitment to equity and inclusion.
Recognizing our commitment to diversity and inclusion, Prowess is honored to be certified as an MBE by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMDSC), a leading authority in minority business certification.
Explore our history, our values, the story of who we are, and how we approach growth.
As founder and CEO of Prowess, Aaron Suzuki has led the organization to become a thriving business filling the important space between technology development and marketing teams with technology, applications, content, and analytics.
Aaron was also the founder and CEO of SmartDeploy, a Seattle-based IT management software company. SmartDeploy simplified the secure configuration and management of business computing endpoints for thousands of customers globally.
Earlier in his career, Aaron served as Director of Business Development at Entirenet, a Seattle-based technical services firm. Before moving to Seattle, Aaron was President of Inetz Media Group, a web application development company based in Salt Lake City.
Aaron holds a B.S. from Brigham Young University and a M.S. from the University of Iowa. An avid cyclist and passionate skier, he also serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Devils Performing Arts, a youth performing arts non-profit.
Melyssa is the driving force for quality at Prowess. After co-founding the company in 2003, she served as CEO until 2006, laying the foundation of the business by establishing key relationships and defining core competencies and fundamental business processes. As Chairwoman, Melyssa helps with the day-to-day management of Prowess, implementing policy and instilling processes in production and management that ensure consistent quality standards company-wide.
Before Prowess, Melyssa worked in software quality assurance, where she gained key technical insight and low-level business-process experience. She began her career in public relations and marketing, where she developed her skills in communications and relationship management. From there, she entered the IT space, working in PR and marketing roles for technology firms.
When she’s not steering the ship from our Seattle headquarters, you might find Melyssa teaching art as a docent at the local elementary school.
Ted Fitch joined Prowess Consulting in 2011 to help launch and manage the redesign of Microsoft’s internal SharePoint employee communications portal. Since then, he has continued to leverage his background in technology, sales, project, people, and change management to help Prowess’ clients be successful.
Ted manages operations for the company, supporting multiple teams focused on employee communications, storytelling, web design, program and project management, digital content marketing, technical documentation, and technical product demos.
Prior to his time at Prowess, Ted’s roles included Vice President, Sales and Support for Qdabra Software and Business Manager at ACES, Inc.
Ted holds a B.A. from the University of Washington and a certification in “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” from edX. He enjoys biking and is an assistant coach for the Rain City Flyers, a children’s cross country team.
As CFO, Laurie Cansler leads the financial operations and strategic planning for Prowess. In 2021, after helping grow SmartDeploy, Prowess’ software-as-a-service (SAAS) business, Laurie ensured a smooth and successful exit to a private equity-backed software group.
Before joining Prowess in 2020, Laurie built a strong background in the venture capital and private equity technology industry. As CFO for a number of software and professional service companies, she gained deep knowledge in financial planning, fundraising, M&A, and business operations.
Laurie has led successful exits to a number of large enterprise companies, including both Microsoft and EMC (acquired by Dell). Her deep experience with multijurisdictional organizations provided her with a unique skill set she has put into action as Prowess navigates their national and international expansion.
Laurie holds a B.A. from the University of Washington and an M.S. in Taxation from Golden Gate University. She was born and lives in the same town where Prowess was founded, Bellevue, WA. Laurie is an enthusiastic traveler who enjoys hiking and exploring the globe.
In his role as Vice President, Engineering Services at Prowess, Nathan Johnson wears many hats, his current work including account management, personnel management, and strategy. As the longest running Prowess employee, aside from Melyssa and Aaron, Nathan began his journey with Prowess in 2003, performing engineering and content work for clients.
As the company grew, Nathan’s role expanded into IT and he supported hiring processes, team building, and even performed some project management duties, while continuing to keep his engineering skills sharp by contributing to the success of client projects. He attributes his long tenure at Prowess to the supportive culture and tech-forward focus.
Prior to his time at Prowess, Nathan worked in IT for a web development company and consulted in engineering. He has his name on several patents and has been tinkering with computers for most of his life. He currently lives in West Seattle, where he’s raising two boys.
As Vice President of Operations at Prowess, Jennifer Walts is instrumental in developing the processes used to deliver quality projects at scale. She also builds and refines best practices, and leans on her deep experience managing both marketing and technical projects and programs. Jennifer is especially inspired by the chance to work alongside the strong group of talented and exciting individuals at Prowess.
Before joining the company in 2011, Jennifer was a marketing manager at Microsoft, where she first began to develop her project management skills. Her background also includes time spent at a tech company focused on customer relationship management (CRM).
Jennifer has held a Project Management Professional (PMP) designation with the Project Management Institute since 2013 and holds a B.A. from Purdue University. She lives in Portland, Oregon, loves dogs, and enjoys cycling in her free time.
