All I wanted as a kid was to be a rock star. So when I was 18, I packed up my 1987 Jeep pickup truck (yes, they made those at one point) and I moved to a city that I had never even been to. I was alone. I wanted to make it in music. L.A. was far, and New York was cold, so I landed in Nashville. For 6 years, I immersed myself in the music. I learned songwriting and music publishing. I love the writers - their stories are at the center of everything else that happens in Nashville. "It all begins with a song," right? But my story there came to a very natural end when the company closed.Then I developed a passion for politics.On August 9, 2008 I left Nashville and moved home to Raleigh. On August 9, 2009 I moved to Washington, D.C. to begin the next adventure. I attempted to save the world, working in the non-profit political world. In the process, I refined unique skills revolving around the power of social media: Influencing influencers, moving the political needle through the power of the internet, and training other people to use online tools to accomplish their goals. When it came time to leave Washington behind, I had the opportunity to help build a media company that included an array of sites covering news, music, sports, and everything in between. An audience of over 60 million monthly visitors and a vibrant distribution marketing team drove impressive results and taught me a lot about the relationship between content and audience.Facebook forced us to diversify our distribution methods, and in that period we expanded newsletters, SEO, Instagram, Pinterest, and paid promotion into a robust distribution portfolio.After I had kids, I realized that I needed to refocus. I wanted to create. I wanted to be honest with myself in my skills, my passions, and the life I wanted to build. So I started publishing poetry. I started writing novels. I started building community to do it alongside me.Through it all, I have grown to love people. I love words. I love connecting with an audience, through music, the written word, and powerful visuals. Creating something that matters and bringing it to people that care is something that will always excite me - whether it's a song, a book, or social media.