My Philosophy

I, like many brands, have fallen victim to a trend before. During my freshman year of college, I bought a fake Gucci belt to look like the rest of my peers. Was it successful? Sure, probably. Do I look back now and cringe? Yes, certainly.

But because I also believe every mistake is a lesson, I think about that Gucci belt a lot. It’s my northern star in marketing.

Because when something is contrived, it’s usually painfully obvious. It’s a feeling. Like, this is not true to my/your/their soul.

Like a brand saying “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” just because everyone else is saying it. Spoiler: it says nothing. It says they’re like everyone else. Where’s the tongue? It needs to be in the cheek!

Brands likely don’t need to be part of every conversation. Sometimes, actually, people don’t want them there at all. Being a consumer-conscious marketer means knowing which conversations make sense to be in.

A brand needs soul, intention, vision. It needs to know what it believes in and what it values. Those things need to be the differentiator. Sometimes that means shutting up!!! Get out of the TikTok comments… We’re trying to build brand trust.

The Work Precedes Me

  • One day I’m learning the ins and outs of IBM i managed services, the next I’m writing about hearing aids, industrial cable management or how to build your own picture frame. I work across B2B and B2C, which means getting very good, very quickly, at understanding who I’m talking to and why they should care.

    I develop strategies and content calendars, concept and write posts, plan shoots, script and edit short-form video, run influencer campaigns and look at performance to figure out what we should do next. But I also write emails, build WordPress pages, develop campaigns, work on SEO and AEO, report on results and present ideas directly to clients. In short, I’ve learned how to know a little about a lot, then learn a lot very quickly.

  • Writing for Impossible Foods, Big Ass Fans and Sazerac House has taught me how much good copy depends on understanding the brand behind it.

    I’ve written everything from emails and product marketing to social content and short-form video, shifting between completely different voices, audiences and objectives.

  • The Guthrie is where I learned how much range digital marketing actually requires. I wrote weekly emails for an audience of roughly 160,000, managed social content, worked with designers and photographers and created a TikTok series that became the theater’s highest-performing social content at the time.

    I learned how to make Shakespeare interesting on TikTok, communicate with longtime theatergoers over email and adapt the same organization’s voice for very different people without losing what made the Guthrie the Guthrie.

  • I moved to Spain and taught English to students who, naturally, did not always want to learn what I was saying.

    It made me much better at explaining things. I learned to change my approach instead of repeating the same thing louder, pay attention to how different people process information and make complicated ideas accessible without talking down to anyone.