Christina Z. Griggs
CEO
Christina is Canadian-born and grew up in the beautiful lake city scenery of Toronto, Canada. She has spent her entire life in and around the business world. Her family owned and operated the oldest family-owned business in Canada until recently. The family shoe business went through many changes, challenges, and triumphs, with the development of discount stores and a rapidly changing business environment. Exposure at such an early age to the business challenges her family faced led Christina to Principia College to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration so she could work with CEOs and business owners to see their vision come to life and navigate through dynamic business conditions.
During her professional career, Christina has worked in many verticals, including environmental and business consulting, property management, investment banking, corporate housing, real estate brokering, commercial and residential construction, electrical engineering, personal investment planning, IT Services, association management, government, publishing, and web development. For these companies, she created stronger operations, built solid financial structures, and improved customer relations.
Christina founded Gemsbok Consulting in 2001 to assist companies in building a solid foundation from which to grow and stay resilient in ever-changing markets. Over 20 years later, Christina has worked with hundreds of companies to help them develop and maintain efficient financial and operating structures. She is a spreadsheet and modeling wizard and loves to create tools for business leaders to really understand the impacts of various decisions – not only in the short term but the long term.
When Christina is not processing numerical data, she enjoys spending time with her husband Jay, daughter Sarah, and son Jack. Her children keep her busy attending Taekwondo, swimming competitions, and ice hockey games. Christina always makes time to play ice hockey, take Crossfit classes, and spend time outdoors hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, climbing, and camping.
Favorite music and travel destinations: Christina’s ears listen to whatever music is playing, and when it comes to traveling Maui is a huge favorite but nothing beats returning to Europe where she started her career (London, England). Scuba diving excursions are always a must on family vacations.
Education & Awards
College of Financial Planning, Denver
- Certified Financial Planner
- Acquired Series 7, 63, 65, 31 and Life & Health Insurance licenses
Principia College
Bachelor of Arts: Business Administration Degree, Minor in Biology
- College Honor Roll, Deans List, Graduated with Honors
- The Lincoln Academy of Illinois Student Laureate Award
- Scholar-Athlete Award
- Helen Summy Woodward Memorial Award
- Charles F. Buckwalter Athletic and Academic Honors Award
Read and follow Christina’s blog
Christina Griggs ColoradoBiz Magazine news story
Brenna Karamigios
Director of Client Services
Brenna is a Colorado girl, one of the few unicorn natives left in the state. She grew up in the Denver area and received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting at Metropolitan State University. Brenna joined Gemsbok Consulting in 2022 and brings with her 15 years of expertise as a bookkeeper and staff accountant within the property management industry and as a senior accountant and accounting manager at a civil engineering firm.
She loves working through accounting issues, pinpointing where the problem lies, and figuring out the best/most effective way to fix it. Once Brenna sets her mind on a task, she works at it until it’s complete. She enjoys working with business owners to help them build the most effective and efficient processes.
When Brenna is not crunching numbers, she is outdoors having fun on the Colorado mountain biking trails and concentrating on her interval training. Life is even better when she gets to adventure outdoors with her husband Dean and 4-legged pooches, Gepetto and Ludo.
Favorite music and travel destinations: Brenna enjoys most music, especially 90’s hip-hop or pop. Her favorite place she’s traveled to so far is Scotland, and of course, she’d love to go back someday and have more adventures mountain biking with her husband.
Alisha Bignell
Accountant
Alisha is a second-generation Colorado native who loves spending time outdoors and appreciating all the great state has to offer with her husband Aron and goldendoodle Apollo . She grew up in the Denver front range area and after a quick stint at Syracuse University in upstate New York, she returned home and received her Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Alisha joined Gemsbok Consulting in early 2023 and brings with her broad experience in customer service, human resources, and operations. Before starting her professional career, she spent many years working in high end food & beverage and hospitality, where her love for interacting with and being of service to people blossomed. In her professional experience, she has proved to be detail oriented with an eye towards process analysis and a love for solving problems. Her people focused yet analytical and organized nature positions her to be a great asset to Gemsbok Consulting.
When Alisha is not supporting clients, you can find her up and down the front range, either spending time with family and friends, at Deer Creek Canyon hiking, or at Red Rocks, whether it be for an early morning workout or a late-night concert.
Favorite music and travel destinations: While she enjoys live music, Alisha primarily listens to Colorado Public Radio or Colorado Sports Radio, as those are the only two stations she has programmed in her car. Her favorite travel destinations include Cabo, California wine country, and the beautiful national parks of Utah.
Melissa Christopher
Accountant
Melissa graduated with a Bachelor’s in Social Work with a Minor in Business Administration from Colorado State University (CSU). Melissa also acquired her Master’s in Social Work at CSU, go RAMS! Melissa has a strong ability in building relationships and is an effective communicator. She has an eye for detail and recognizes the importance of being a good advocate for others’ businesses and finances.
Before her start at Gemsbok Consulting in 2022, Melissa was a school social worker for 10-plus years. Her experience in restaurant management and administration also lends to her extensive experience. Melissa continues to learn day in and day out and is proud to say she is an Intuit Certified Bookkeeping Professional, Intuit QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, and holds a Coursera Intuit Bookkeeping Professional Certificate.
When Melissa is not busy supporting clients you’ll find her spending time with her family. They enjoy trips to local parks and of course shopping at Cabela’s. Melissa now lives in Parker, Colorado, with her husband, chasing 2 young children and 4 pooches.
Favorite music and travel destinations: Melissa doesn’t listen to tons of music, but when she does she enjoys listening to worship music. She’s been blessed with the opportunity to travel the world and so far her 2 favorite destinations have been Austria and Italy
