Who We Are

Mara has called Charlotte, NC home since 1992 and is originally from upstate New York. She has a B.A. degree in Speech Communication/Public Relations from the State University of New York at Geneseo.  She has received three certifications through the Graphic Arts Association of America and Drexel University as a Print Marketing Specialist, Certified Print Marketing Specialist and Graphic Arts Specialist. Mara is a self-described “serial entrepreneur”, having enjoyed a very successful business and marketing career for more than twenty years. She has often been described by clients and associates as being as comfortable in a boardroom as she is in a sandbox.

Mara started her career in radio and television as a news reporter for a local NBC affiliate television station and at an all-news radio station. She has grown several organizations from ground-zero to multimillion-dollar concerns, including a hospitality consulting company in which, as a Senior Partner, she and the team grew the business to national and international reach.

Her expertise includes brand creation, social media marketing, strategic business and marketing planning, custom software development and marketing, and franchisor program start-up, expansion and communications.  And, using shovels and buckets to build sandcastles.

Mara has a strong commitment to giving back to the community by utilizing her business acumen.  She co-founded The Sandbox, a new organization which serves the individuals and families that are facing challenging circumstances in their lives, both emotionally and financially due to terminal disease and/or circumstance. The Sandbox was the host of 2011 An Evening of Stars, which provided a prom experience for 100 patients of Levine Children's Hospital. She also designed a non-profit program assisting the homebound, physically challenged and terminally ill to receive cleaning services free of charge. She is active in several organizations in Charlotte, including being a member of Matthews Toastmasters,  Board Member(Branding) of Small Business Professionals, Board Member of BENCH (Business Education Networking and Charities),  Board Member of S.E.E.D(Social Empowerment and Development)  and Board Member of TreeHouse. She volunteers with many non-profit organizations. Believing that positive thoughts breed positive actions, Mara is a member of Positive Thinkers Club and The World Positive Thinkers Club. Additionally, Sandbox Solutions is a sponsor of the Charlotte, NC organization, My Dream is Possible.

As a member of the Matthews Toastmaster's Club she achieved her Competent Communicators designation in less than one year. Mara is an accomplished public speaker, the author of numerous business publication articles and currently utilizing these skills in the various organizations she is a part of.

Married to Neil Campolungo, she has two stepdaughters and five grandchildren. She is also the very proud Godmother to five nieces and nephews. Mara and her husband are avid travelers and are getting close to their goal of putting their feet in the sand of every beach in the Caribbean.

Karen has lived in Charlotte, NC since 1989 and is originally a Jersey Girl. She has a B.S. degree in Business Administration/Marketing from Montclair State University and has completed graduate work in Marketing at Fairleigh Dickinson University, both in New Jersey.

Karen has enjoyed a successful marketing communications and printing professional for the past twenty-five years, and has been in Marketing management at large corporations like Duke Energy and Weyerhaeuser (now Domtar), as well as in advertising agencies. She was also co-owner of a franchised printing company in Matthews, NC for four years.

Most recently, she was Production Manager in Marketing for Baker & Taylor, the largest distributor of books, DVDs and music movies in the world.   For more than ten years, she managed the printing and distribution of 130 catalogs a year, trade show display and POP materials, Human Resources and Accounts Receivables print materials, and premium/incentive items. She also created and managed the company’s online store for company-logoed wearables and items for 3,200 employees and thousands of customers.

In 2004, she was voted “Print Buyer of the Year” by the national professional trade organization Print Buyers Online, and recognized for her focus on cost-savings and increasing efficiency, as well as for her organizational and planning skills.  And for using the right tools in her sandbox at the right time. 

Karen’s hearing loss that started in her twenties led her to become an advocate for people with physical disabilities, including making hearing loss educational presentations to civic and professional groups in Charlotte, serving on the board of the non-profit organization Learning How and on the Mecklenburg County Advocacy Council for People with Disabilities.  She is a CI-Borg, having received a Cochlear Implant in 2005.

As NC Assistant District B Governor for Toastmasters, VP of Public Relations of the Toastmasters Advanced Communicators of Charlotte club and a member of the Constructive Speakers Toastmasters club, Karen is an accomplished public speaker. She is the Brand Manager for the non-profit organization The Sandbox, and has been active in the Charlotte Postal Customer Council for more than seven years. The author of numerous business publication articles, she is currently writing a non-fiction book on online dating.

Married to Peter Dortschy, she has one teenage daughter and three stepchildren. She is an avid snow skier and gym rat, and enjoys training her two dogs, a Border Collie aptly named Cody The Rocket (Sandbox Solutions' Director of Digging) and a rescued Shih Tzu named Macie. She also likes playing in sandboxes and building sandcastles.

Cody the Rocket, known as “Cody,” is a North Carolina native.  Born in May, 2006 on a farm to two working sheepdogs, he now enjoys living the relaxed suburban life in Charlotte.

A purebred Border Collie, he always has to have a job and that includes digging holes (occasionally in walls), obsessively fetching tennis balls and playing a mean game of soccer.

He has had extensive obedience, agility, and rally obedience training and currently knows about 50 tricks, including knowing left, right and center.  This helped him win the blue ribbon in the “Best Trick Contest” at the 2009 Charlotte Bark In The Park dog festival.

Cody is part of the fun police in his neighborhood and patrols on several walks a day.  He also enjoys hiking, swimming and anything related to digging or a ball.