As a child, one of my most memorable experiences was visiting my Godmother in Chicago. I had the opportunity to spend the day with one of her friends who worked in Advertising. When I returned home, at 11, I told my Dad that when I grew up I was going to live on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago and work in Advertising.I'm almost there having spent my entire adult life (including college) in the pursuit of of a career in Advertising, an industry I love to its core. I can say without reservation that I have achieved my childhood goal and have had an incredible career in this wonderful, nutty creative business. I've spent a lot of time in boardrooms and conference rooms (eating terrible thai food, usually) trying to solve the issues facing all companies today. Complexity, technology, how to use data etc. And the truth is, when you focus in on an incredible idea, it all falls into place. I have now worked on the client side and gotten to see the inside as the Chief Marketing Officer at Bright Health Group. The company will have a planned IPO in 2021 with a currently filed public S1. I was able to participate in the refresh of the company Mission Vision and Values and rewrote the statement to include: Help all people live healthier and brighter lives. I was even able to change our call center script to end every call with "I hope I made your day a little brighter." That is the way to build a brand, not through only ads, but through thoughtful brand structure and service delivery.Prior to Bright, I was the CEO of Periscope, an agency in Minneapolis that we sold in early 2019 to Quad Graphics, a printer in Wisconsin. The agency was focused around creating world-class idea driven work across all channels. The process of packaging, negotiating and selling the agency was managed by myself and the leadership team and the transaction was a $132.5M all-cash deal. The mission of Periscope, and ultimately my career, is to do things that people love. At the end of the day, companies hire agencies to drive growth. Period. And the best way to drive growth is to help craft messaging and brands that people feel genuinely connected to. And the key here is understanding that this isn't about creating vanilla messages that appeal to everyone. In fact, the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. The industry is complex and ever changing and the opportunity to be a part of it is nothing short of inspiring. I am humbled to be a part of what is happening next.