After working in advertising and design for over two decades, Sam Landers returned to publishing by co-founding Trope Reader with Tom Maday in 2016. Previously, he was the CEO of Blast Radius, part of the WPP Wunderman Global Network, which he joined in 2008 when the branding and digital agency he founded, Designkitchen was acquired by WPP. During his time there, Sam worked in Chicago, New York and San Francisco ~ and traveled frequently throughout Europe, Asia and Africa (always taking his notebook & camera).

Tom Maday is a photographer whose assignments take him to every corner of the globe including Africa, the Middle East, the India subcontinent, Latin America, Europe and throughout Asia for clients such as ESPN, Abbott, Sappi Paper, Motorola and TD Ameritrade. His Tri-X and T-Max film pictures appear in the books Great Chicago Stories and After the Fall: Srebrenica Survivors in St. Louis. Over the years, his shooting gear has become lighter and lighter which helps him focus on the most important matter ~ the subject.