Our Story
About us
We here at Rock Paper Coin celebrate the dreamers. The doer’s.
We root for the underdog and cheer on the risk takers. We ourselves are dreamers, passionate doers and believers in hard work and trying no matter what.
Our Team
Creating an environment that fosters collaboration, creativity, happiness and personal and professional growth is something we take seriously here at Rock Paper Coin. We are committed to creating a diverse environment not only internally for our current and future team but for our community and industry as well.
Strengthening our culture and initiatives to support our ongoing diversity and inclusivity efforts will always be at the forefront of our business and our hiring practices. Our women-led team is proudly represented as 60% female, 25% BIPOC, and 9% veterans. While our Rock Paper Coin office is located in Northwest Portland, we have team members, consultants, and investors from across the country.
Interested in joining us? Head over to our Careers page for up to date information on available positions.
A Portland native and founder of Bridal Bliss, INC, Nora is an expert in all things wedding and is the definition of a boss babe. Born to Iraqi immigrants, she was raised in a culture of over the top celebrations and from her beginnings, event planning was in her blood. While leading a team of 30 women who produce upwards of 150 weddings and events each year, Nora noticed a gap in the planning industry and developed Rock Paper Coin, a forum that brings together event professionals and couples to streamline the often daunting contract and invoice process.
When she isn’t busy running Bridal Bliss and Rock Paper Coin, you can find her spending time with her husband and two rambunctious boys, Dylan and Gavin, traveling, grooving through a sweaty spin session, adding sparkle to just about anything, or having a long family-style dinner with her nearest and dearest.
A Portland native and founder of Bridal Bliss, INC, Nora is an expert in all things wedding and is the definition of a boss babe. Born to Iraqi immigrants, she was raised in a culture of over the top celebrations and from her beginnings, event planning was in her blood. While leading a team of 30 women who produce upwards of 150 weddings and events each year, Nora noticed a gap in the planning industry and developed Rock Paper Coin, a forum that brings together event professionals and couples to streamline the often daunting contract and invoice process.
When she isn’t busy running Bridal Bliss and Rock Paper Coin, you can find her spending time with her husband and two rambunctious boys, Dylan and Gavin, traveling, grooving through a sweaty spin session, adding sparkle to just about anything, or having a long family-style dinner with her nearest and dearest.
A Portland native and founder of Bridal Bliss, INC, Nora is an expert in all things wedding and is the definition of a boss babe. Born to Iraqi immigrants, she was raised in a culture of over the top celebrations and from her beginnings, event planning was in her blood. While leading a team of 30 women who produce upwards of 150 weddings and events each year, Nora noticed a gap in the planning industry and developed Rock Paper Coin, a forum that brings together event professionals and couples to streamline the often daunting contract and invoice process.
When she isn’t busy running Bridal Bliss and Rock Paper Coin, you can find her spending time with her husband and two rambunctious boys, Dylan and Gavin, traveling, grooving through a sweaty spin session, adding sparkle to just about anything, or having a long family-style dinner with her nearest and dearest.
Co-founder of Rock Paper Coin, Elizabeth Sheils never pictured a career in tech. Yet, while leading a team of wedding planners out of Seattle, her decade-plus of industry experience opened her eyes to the market gaps that presented challenges for herself and her planner colleagues. Ever the innovators, she and her sister-in-law set out to solve an enduring problem in the industry: a lack of vendor collaboration over client management.
In 2018, Elizabeth and Nora launched Rock Paper Coin, the first-ever software to bring together event planners, couples, and vendors into one system for managing contracts, paying invoices, and sharing documents. Her shift from wedding planning to software development revealed the power of technology for businesses — and how underused it was in the event industry. Her desire to solve a problem transformed into a passion for enlightening others about technology's many possibilities.
Since 2020, Elizabeth has shared her expertise on stage and inspired audiences to embrace technology as a catalyst for rapid business growth. She has spoken for groups of all sizes, including NACE, WIPA, The Special Event, and Wedding MBA. A passion for innovation and an urge to educate has ranked Elizabeth on Special Events’ Top 25 Event Pros to Watch, as well as The BizBash 500. In 2022, Rock Paper Coin was recognized by The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, earning Gold for Startup of the Year and Bronze for Women-Run Workplace of the Year.
Wedding industry expert and lover of all things events, Elizabeth comes from a large Irish family that jumps on the chance to celebrate any occasion. Joining Bridal Bliss in 2008, she helped open the Seattle branch and is a lead planner in the Portland area. Along with Nora, Elizabeth saw a great need for a technology to help organize the contract and invoice process for both event professionals and couples. In comes the concept for Rock Paper Coin; a game changer in the world of weddings.
Aside from Bridal Bliss and Rock Paper Coin, Elizabeth is a wife–thanks to a blind date set up by Nora, dog-mom to Sheepadoodle Penny, and new mom to a baby boy, August. She too loves quality time with friends and family, a good stout, hikes in Forest Park, and a relaxing beach vacation every now and then.
A Portland native and founder of Bridal Bliss, INC, Nora is an expert in all things wedding and is the definition of a boss babe. Born to Iraqi immigrants, she was raised in a culture of over the top celebrations and from her beginnings, event planning was in her blood. While leading a team of 30 women who produce upwards of 150 weddings and events each year, Nora noticed a gap in the planning industry and developed Rock Paper Coin, a forum that brings together event professionals and couples to streamline the often daunting contract and invoice process.
When she isn’t busy running Bridal Bliss and Rock Paper Coin, you can find her spending time with her husband and two rambunctious boys, Dylan and Gavin, traveling, grooving through a sweaty spin session, adding sparkle to just about anything, or having a long family-style dinner with her nearest and dearest.
Kelly is no stranger to events – or technology! She was born and raised in Oregon, but discovered her love for events in Arizona where she served as event planner for a 12,000-resident community. She represented La Tavola Fine Linen Rental as their southwest sales executive and ran operations of a nationally recognized cake and confectionery brand. In 2015, she switched things up and went to work for a rapid-growth digital marketing startup in Bend, OR. There, she honed her skills in marketing strategy and helped her clients navigate the ever-changing digital world.
Kelly is thrilled to combine her passion for events and client experience with her expertise in the technical space. Kelly is rarely seen without her Golden Retriever and loves hiking and exploring the outdoors in her home of Boise, ID.
A Portland native and founder of Bridal Bliss, INC, Nora is an expert in all things wedding and is the definition of a boss babe. Born to Iraqi immigrants, she was raised in a culture of over the top celebrations and from her beginnings, event planning was in her blood. While leading a team of 30 women who produce upwards of 150 weddings and events each year, Nora noticed a gap in the planning industry and developed Rock Paper Coin, a forum that brings together event professionals and couples to streamline the often daunting contract and invoice process.
When she isn’t busy running Bridal Bliss and Rock Paper Coin, you can find her spending time with her husband and two rambunctious boys, Dylan and Gavin, traveling, grooving through a sweaty spin session, adding sparkle to just about anything, or having a long family-style dinner with her nearest and dearest.
A Portland native and founder of Bridal Bliss, INC, Nora is an expert in all things wedding and is the definition of a boss babe. Born to Iraqi immigrants, she was raised in a culture of over the top celebrations and from her beginnings, event planning was in her blood. While leading a team of 30 women who produce upwards of 150 weddings and events each year, Nora noticed a gap in the planning industry and developed Rock Paper Coin, a forum that brings together event professionals and couples to streamline the often daunting contract and invoice process.
When she isn’t busy running Bridal Bliss and Rock Paper Coin, you can find her spending time with her husband and two rambunctious boys, Dylan and Gavin, traveling, grooving through a sweaty spin session, adding sparkle to just about anything, or having a long family-style dinner with her nearest and dearest.
Katie is a respected leader in the Wedding, Event, and Creative Industry and has had the honor of working for brands such as HoneyBook, The Rising Tide Society, Aisle Planner, and Dreamworks Animation. After spending nearly a decade as a business owner of a destination wedding and event planning company Katie now devotes her time working with companies to grow and develop their genuine communities, foster ongoing education and diversity and build strong and healthy brand partnerships.
Known for being the biggest advocate and kindest hype-girl for the modern-day wedding industry, she’s beloved by colleagues and the community for her open heart to mentor, willingness to keep learning, deep-rooted love for encouragement, and genuine friendship.
A born and raised California girl, Katie now lives in North Carolina with her husband Josh, kiddos Beckett and Olivia, and two beloved pups. She escapes to the coast whenever possible, starts every day with an oat milk latte, and is a proud Enneagram 2.
A Portland native and founder of Bridal Bliss, INC, Nora is an expert in all things wedding and is the definition of a boss babe. Born to Iraqi immigrants, she was raised in a culture of over the top celebrations and from her beginnings, event planning was in her blood. While leading a team of 30 women who produce upwards of 150 weddings and events each year, Nora noticed a gap in the planning industry and developed Rock Paper Coin, a forum that brings together event professionals and couples to streamline the often daunting contract and invoice process.
When she isn’t busy running Bridal Bliss and Rock Paper Coin, you can find her spending time with her husband and two rambunctious boys, Dylan and Gavin, traveling, grooving through a sweaty spin session, adding sparkle to just about anything, or having a long family-style dinner with her nearest and dearest.
A Portland native and founder of Bridal Bliss, INC, Nora is an expert in all things wedding and is the definition of a boss babe. Born to Iraqi immigrants, she was raised in a culture of over the top celebrations and from her beginnings, event planning was in her blood. While leading a team of 30 women who produce upwards of 150 weddings and events each year, Nora noticed a gap in the planning industry and developed Rock Paper Coin, a forum that brings together event professionals and couples to streamline the often daunting contract and invoice process.
When she isn’t busy running Bridal Bliss and Rock Paper Coin, you can find her spending time with her husband and two rambunctious boys, Dylan and Gavin, traveling, grooving through a sweaty spin session, adding sparkle to just about anything, or having a long family-style dinner with her nearest and dearest.
Diving into the special events world full-time at the start of 2020, Sari is no stranger to fostering strong, positive relationships in a virtual world. With her small business roots and passion for the event industry, Sari is excited to be a part of the RPC team to help grow our awesome community one connection at a time. Sari’s years of eclectic professional experience in strategic communication and storytelling gives her a unique perspective on various industries and how we can connect through shared experiences.
A strong advocate for work-life balance, Sari loves life on the road exploring outside her home base of Seattle, Washington. In the city, on the coast, or in the mountains, she’s usually on the hunt for the best matcha latte to start the day and an epic sunset to end it.
A communicator by profession and in the wedding business by passion, Melissa merges her experience and expertise to share Rock Paper Coin with everyone she encounters. She loves meeting new people, cultivating relationships, and constantly striving for success as she helps grow Rock Paper Coin. Melissa’s background includes time spent working in the Oregon State Capitol, and leading public affairs and public relations departments, as well as years in the startup world, after she launched her wedding startup, WedBrilliant, in 2014.
Born and raised mostly in Africa, Melissa still loves to travel the world and is probably mid-planning her next getaway with husband, Matt, and her two sons, Grady and Nolan. Home is now in Portland, Oregon, where she keeps busy dining at some of the best restaurants in the country. Melissa’s also not opposed to substituting dessert for pretty much any meal!
A communicator by profession and in the wedding business by passion, Melissa merges her experience and expertise to share Rock Paper Coin with everyone she encounters. She loves meeting new people, cultivating relationships, and constantly striving for success as she helps grow Rock Paper Coin. Melissa’s background includes time spent working in the Oregon State Capitol, and leading public affairs and public relations departments, as well as years in the startup world, after she launched her wedding startup, WedBrilliant, in 2014.
Born and raised mostly in Africa, Melissa still loves to travel the world and is probably mid-planning her next getaway with husband, Matt, and her two sons, Grady and Nolan. Home is now in Portland, Oregon, where she keeps busy dining at some of the best restaurants in the country. Melissa’s also not opposed to substituting dessert for pretty much any meal!
A communicator by profession and in the wedding business by passion, Melissa merges her experience and expertise to share Rock Paper Coin with everyone she encounters. She loves meeting new people, cultivating relationships, and constantly striving for success as she helps grow Rock Paper Coin. Melissa’s background includes time spent working in the Oregon State Capitol, and leading public affairs and public relations departments, as well as years in the startup world, after she launched her wedding startup, WedBrilliant, in 2014.
Born and raised mostly in Africa, Melissa still loves to travel the world and is probably mid-planning her next getaway with husband, Matt, and her two sons, Grady and Nolan. Home is now in Portland, Oregon, where she keeps busy dining at some of the best restaurants in the country. Melissa’s also not opposed to substituting dessert for pretty much any meal!
A natural-born coordinator and creative, Danielle can look back at her childhood and smile, as she was already planning and designing events when all the other kids obviously were not!
Danielle is known for her endless ideas and relentless pursuit to bring visions to life. After her varied experience in event coordinating, technology, sales, and at other startups, Danielle is thrilled to have found her “Cinderella glass slipper” fit with Rock Paper Coin as a Community Engagement Coordinator. She loves to developing relationships with like-minded people in the event space and helping them simplify and optimize their processes from start to finish!
Danielle is a Cleveland sports fan (which makes her the eternal optimist and a hopeless romantic). She is also a foodie, certified yoga instructor, and huge animal lover who enjoys traveling, live music, and dancing. She is deeply passionate about creating connections among friends and colleagues alike!
Alex had her first taste of coding at 10 years old by creating a Christmas tree in BASIC at 5am in the morning & she’s never looked back! She graduated from UNM with a B.S. in Computer Science, worked for several big tech companies including Intel and AOL. At AOL she was the primary developer of the HTTP server and saw traffic increase from 10 million to 13 billion hits per day. She then discovered her love of startups and the joy that comes from being an Engineering manager on a team that believes in what they’re doing.
Between tech jobs, Alex found herself co-chairing and volunteering at elementary school events -- as a byproduct she became very familiar with all sorts of event planning software. She didn’t know it was possible to merge her love of teams, coding, event planning, & female-founded endeavors until she found RPC. Which is why RPC is the perfect place for her to be!
A transplant from New Mexico to the Portland area, Alex loves spending time in the sun or around water by paddle boarding, kayaking, moving plants around in the garden, reading magazines or golfing with her husband. She has recently been teaching her two teenage sons to drive (yikes!) and playing with the family’s new Golden Retriever puppy and his brother, Blueberry & Pie.
Krishna grew up in the mountains of Lake Tahoe, California. She received a B.S in Applied Mathematics at UC Merced which sparked her curiosity in robotics. Shortly after, she found herself pursuing Software Engineering professionally and enrolled at DevLeague.
Since then, she has worked in various different industries, which brought her here at RPC.She currently resides in Reno, Nevada, just outside the city life! Aside from her work, Krishna is a snowboarder, gamer, tennis player, and an avid nerd of all things mystical and adventurous. (Also a huge foodie)!
Originally from Central Oregon, Reid spent most of his life working in kitchens before switching gears into software development. His shift to software was put in motion when he decided to quit his job as a chef, and begin his education in coding. Now, he's cooking up code for Rock Paper Coin! When not sitting in front of a keyboard, he spends his free time playing games of all kinds, tinkering with single board computers, playing frisbee golf, and reading.
Deets on Tiffany coming soon!
Deets on Tiffany coming soon!
Deets on Tiffany coming soon!
Born in California, David spent his childhood in New Mexico. However, he found his home in the PNW when he moved to Oregon as a teen. As a fintech startup veteran, David's focus is on solving real problems for small businesses. With Rock Paper Coin, he is excited to continue that pattern, helping to build a world class experience that meets the needs of event planners, vendors, and their clients.
As a new dad, David spends much of his time playing with his son... and then picking up the same toys for the 12th time in a row. He is an ardent DIYer, having remodeled multiple rooms in his house. Each project is an opportunity to learn a new skill (or buy a new tool). He also loves playing tabletop games, enjoying local food and drinks, and going for walks with his family. Did we mention his dad joke game is strong?
Originally from India, Phani came to the US to pursue her Master’s degree in Computer Science. Since then she has worked in companies like Intel, Nationwide and multiple successful startups where she held executive roles. Her expertise is in software development, Cloud and AI technologies. She wants to combine her technology expertise and business acumen to help female founders build strong technology companies. She has been advising multiple female founded companies in the past few years.
When she is not building and designing software, she is busy playing with her 8 year old identical twin girls and her 2 yr old Godendoodle puppy. She also coaches her twin’s basketball team. She loves staying active with running, hiking and camping(when weather permits) in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
With a proven track record of delivering software to market from bootstrapped startups to industry giants, Damon brings to RPC expertise in implementation, operations, solution architecture, product and project management and client success.
He employs a complimentary mix of strategic leadership and tactical execution to help us identify, plan and deliver on our growth goals.
Our actions
We know we play a big part in helping shape the future of our industry and community and it’s not a job we take lightly. In our forever commitment to providing transparency and honesty to our community, below are just some of the actions we take:
- At the end of each year, Rock Paper Coin donates to each employee’s charity of choice on their behalf. We are firm believers that giving, even—now, especially—when times are tough, is a top priority.
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We believe events can be beautiful and viable. That's why we work with third party vendors committed to recycling solutions and sustainability. And, here at RPC, we’ve gone paperless–because who doesn’t love the ease of an e-signature and a digital payment? Cheers to saving a tree, one event at a time.
Our diversity pledge
Rock Paper Coin is committed to creating a diverse environment not only internally but for our community and industry as well. We celebrate diversity, inclusion and individuality and are proud of the fact that our customers come from all walks of life, just as we do.
- We believe that everyone has a voice and deserves to be heard.
- We believe in fighting for what’s right and not stopping when things get uncomfortable.
- We promise to continue learning and growing.
What we simply won’t tolerate is hate.
Rock Paper Coin does not stand for any kind of discrimination, slander, harm, abuse, shaming, or promote illegal activities of any kind.
Rock Paper Coin is proudly powered by:
