Ivan Vislavskiy

Ivan is Comrade Digital Marketing’s co-founder and fearless leader, spearheading the agency’s production department. An advocate of lifelong learning and professional development, Ivan consistently strives to better serve Comrade’s clients. He adheres to the motto: “To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together,” and indeed Comrade’s culture embodies this very spirit. The word “comrade” is defined as a “companion who shares a common activity with another.” Since its inception, Comrade has been this type of virtual partner with its clients.

Ivan combines his creative, technical and marketing experience to deliver a truly holistic approach to digital marketing. While Comrade may have started as a web development agency, it has since grown to offer a full suite of digital marketing services with a proven track record helping clients achieve their goals.

With a passion for marketing from an early age, at 16 Ivan built his first website for a business in his hometown in Russia. The website was attractive, easy to navigate and above all, effective, and the business owner was more than pleased. With this first portfolio piece in hand, Ivan and fellow Comrade and university classmate, Stan, founded “CF Style, Inc.,” the precursor to the Comrade Digital Marketing we know and love today.

Ivan and Stan continued to apply the skills they learned at university to help local clients, but in time wanted to spread their reach. Ultimately, they decided to take the big leap and move to the U.S. to further their shared entrepreneurial vision.

Slowly but steadily, Comrade acquired other talented, passionate team members and over the following decade the agency deployed more than 300 web projects.

Whether a business is in need of e-commerce website development or deployment of a full-scale, holistic digital marketing strategy, Ivan understands that for any entrepreneur, the process of breaking into a competitive marketplace can be difficult. Ivan loves the process of helping small and midsize companies grow in measurable ways. He derives a sense of accomplishment and joy from each client’s success, having gone through many of the very same hardships and joys they have.

Under Ivan’s leadership, Comrade has won numerous awards, been featured by 10 Best Design Network, Clutch and Yelp and was recognized as one of Chicago’s top Web Designers and SEO Companies.

While Ivan began in the Chicago web development space focusing on a few niches, he and his team have grown Comrade into a full service agency ready to help any business with any marketing challenge that may arise. Ten years after its founding, Comrade continually strives to outperform itself, ensuring professional growth not only for Comrade, but its clients.

When Ivan is not working with clients or engaged in a competitive game of foosball at the office (one of the perks of working at Comrade) he loves to travel, explore new cultures and above all, make new friends. He’s a passionate hockey player, active in his local community, and has now embarked on his most rewarding and exciting adventure as parent to a newborn.