About
Left Field Labs.
We are a design and engineering partner for the audacious. Operating within Stagwell as an autonomous, founder-led agency.
We turn the promise into the proof.
The audacious want to build what's next. Most of what they hear is talk. They want a partner who can actually make it real.
Strategy without execution is just a hallucination.
Founded in 2008. Still here. Still in love with the work.
We started Left Field Labs because no one was building brands, shipping the products that carried them, and staging the experiences that made them real. The agencies couldn't ship the platforms. The dev shops couldn't see the brand. The consultancies wouldn't touch the production code.
So we built the practice we wanted to work in.
Decades later, we're still here. Now part of Stagwell, which gives us the scale of a global network and the muscle to compete on enterprise platform work. Still founder-led, still autonomous, still measured by one thing: whether the work we said we'd ship actually ships.
What We Believe
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Technology should empower people, not impersonate them.
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Strategy doesn't count if it doesn't ship.
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Proof outranks promise.
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Adoption is the only metric that matters.
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If it can't be built, it isn't a strategy.
Collective intelligence, operationalized.
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Sarah Mehler
Founder & CEOFounded LFL in 2008 on the bet that brand, product, and technology belonged in the same room. Now leads a 100+ person practice that ships for Google, Salesforce, Ford, Meta, Amazon.
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Eric Lee
Chief Technology OfficerLed design, build, and deployment of hundreds of software projects. Two decades running technical organizations. Sits where strategy, UX, and engineering meet.
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Melissa Palazzo-Hart
Chief Financial Officer, Executive BoardTwenty-five years as a CFO, COO, and CEO across media, professional services, and technology, leading organizations through growth, transformation, and M&A worth more than $1B in revenue. Now advises CEOs, founders, and boards navigating reinvention, conflict, scale, and high-stakes decisions. Also serves on the Leadership Development Board of YPO. Speaks globally on leadership and collective intelligence.
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Ian Smith
Chief Operating OfficerIan builds the operational infrastructure that makes big bets paired with real outcomes possible. Driving revenue growth and overseeing P&L, they optimize resources and mentor cross-functional teams. He ensures our internal operations scale with the same exacting precision as the transformational digital products we ship.
Peer-reviewed innovation.
2026
- Webby Winner Games. Game On: Redefining the Event Invite with Prism Shift, for Google I/O.
- Shorty Awards Gold Physical and Digital Convergence. Agentic AI on the American Main Street for Salesforce / Dreamforce. Bronze in Creative Use of Technology. Finalist in Event & Experiential.
- Event Marketer EX Award Winner Use of Event Technology. Salesforce Dreamforce.
- Eventex Gold Corporate and Community Events: B2B (Salesforce). Customer Engagement Event Gold (Salesforce). Branded Games Gold (Google).
- Eventex Silver Brand Experience: Technology (Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit). Multiple Silver honors in Conferences, Tech Events, and Event Storytelling.
2025
- Experiential Agency of the Year Nomination. For Salesforce Agentforce City, Snapdragon Summit, Microsoft Build, and Qualcomm at Davos.
- Toy Industry Game of the Year Twister AIR with Hasbro.
- Webby Winner + People's Voice Best Use of Augmented Reality. Twister AIR.
- Webby Best Installation or Experience. Android @ CES.
- Shorty Awards Gold Immersive. Snapdragon City for Qualcomm. Silver in AI and XR.
- Built In LA Best Places to Work, Midsize Agencies.
- Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators.
Inside Stagwell. Built differently.
Left Field Labs operates within Stagwell as an autonomous, founder-led agency. Stagwell gives us scale; enterprise infrastructure, global client access, and a network we can pull from when the brief demands it. We give Stagwell proof; the innovation that ships, not decks.
When the network needs something future-facing designed, built, and deployed, they call us.