I am responsible for helping shape our product strategy and ensuring we run a high-functioning, efficient product development process.

I'm responsible for developing our core market positioning, differentiators and messaging and infusing those fundamentals into everything our go-to-market teams create.

I'm responsible for delivering marketing generated pipeline. My work has focused on leading large-scale SEO and content marketing efforts, building a paid acquisition channel and optimizing conversion rates throughout the funnel. As my team knows well, I'm passionate about data, attribution, kanban and our company culture. One of the best parts of my job is leveraging a sophisticated tech stack (via RudderStack, of course) that enables extremely granular analytics, rich channel-level reporting for pipeline and even multi-touch attribution, both in the data warehouse and other tools.

I have co-hosted The Data Stack Show podcast since 2021. We have hosted almost 200 guests, spanning the spectrum from enterprise practitioners to data tech founders. If you listen to the show you'll get insights from the data people behind Intuit, Netflix, Airbnb, Apache Iceberg, Apache Arrow, Dagster, Hex and more.

I founded Yield Group and ran it for almost 3 years. The company is successful and still active, helping mid-market companies use strategy, data and technology to go to market.

I was the President of OffSite, an ad-tech platform that allowed site owners to drive additional revenue by monetizing their retargeting audiences. Our platform provided the most targeted display advertising on the web.

I helped start The Iron Yard in 2012, when it was still an early-stage software accelerator program in the TechStars network. In the first year, I cut my teeth on the world of startups and venture capital as I recruited companies, hosted mentors and helped make investments in early-stage companies around the country. As our portfolio grew in the southeast, we noticed that the number one request from founders was help on finding more engineering talent. Seeking to solve our own problem and provide more support for our companies, we started a training program inside the accelerator that taught people to build software. After several classes ran, we began to get inquiries from other cities and states asking us to launch additional locations. We followed the demand and an immersive code school was born as a new startup.In the beginning, I worked in both marketing and operations, but as the company scaled, I focused on building a world-class growth practice. Our team developed scalable channels for lead gen across the digital and traditional spectrums with a keen focus on attribution and gathering granular data on touchpoints in order to understand the customer journeys of various segments. Beyond being a growth lead, though, I was a founder, leader and a board member at a high-growth startup. I did a huge amount of work in developing our company culture, hiring, building (and re-building) company-wide processes, choosing (and re-choosing) software and tooling solutions, all in addition to helping take on a significant outside investment and managing the board of directors.

***Role OverviewIn partnership with another team member, I was tasked with managing the Liquid Wrench brand’s 2012 marketing plan and budget. The company’s goal included increasing brand relevance in the DIY market and developing programs to educate consumers on the benefits and additional uses of their products. Our strategy utilized a wide spectrum of marketing tactics, including content marketing, digital advertising, creation of educational video materials and design/execution of offline events at major retailers.***What I LearnedThis project provided me the incredible opportunity to run a full-scale, multi-channel marketing plan. Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned was how complex large, national-scale marketing practices are to manage. I also learned that I truly love the complexity of large-scale marketing plans, especially the challenge of defining success then figuring out how to track it. Even though it can be brutal, the retail consumer-packaged goods space is a great battlefield on which to learn those lessons.***Responsibilities and Skills• I was responsible for executing all elements of Liquid Wrench’s 2012 marketing plan. The strategy focused on creating content as a foundation to give the brand more relevance in the DIY (do it yourself) market, coupled with direct product education at offline events.• Website development and launch• Management and optimization of online ad campaign ($100K+ budget)• Content strategy, creation, editing, and publishing, including social media activity• Production of humorous, educational product videos• Offline events, including planning, coordination, and on-site execution• Hired and trained the first community manager / social media specialist for Liquid Wrench***Results• Doubled site traffic in the first month• Doubled traffic from online ads through optimization• Achieved a rate of 2 story submissions per week from readers• Significant increase in brand mentions on social media

***Role OverviewIn addition to other responsibilities, I served on the business development and speaking team at Brains on Fire. Specifically, I answered inbound calls from companies interested in working with us, helping follow and improve on a screening process and nurture qualified leads to the point of closing. I also spoke at events around the country and was a consistent contributor to the top-100 blog we ran.***What I LearnedI’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work on business development somewhat early on in my career. “Always Be Closing” becomes a whole lot more real when you have a potential client—and their budget—on the other end of the line. The best lesson I learned doing business development, though, was the best service companies have a high level of integrity as far as whether or not they can truly help. Saying no to potential work is hard, but can often be the right decision.***Responsibilities and Skills• I served as the initial point of contact for all new business phone calls, vetted clients for both project and budget fit, and played a role in securing business from several national brands• I led a team that developed a formal internship program. Personally, I wrote job descriptions and determined skill criteria, managed announcement and promotion of the positions, and interviewed and hired applicants.• The Brains on Fire blog is a new business tool, converting avid readers into clients over time. I wrote over 160 articles for the blog over a 3 year period (1 per week)• I spoke around the country about community management, digital shifts in marketing, word of mouth and brand advocacy at places like the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, American Advertising Federation, MIMA and WordPress WordCamp conferences***Results• Helped secure large, national-level clients (Anytime Fitness, Liquid Wrench)• Contributed to a 3000% increase in subscribers through consistent writing

***Role OverviewI had the chance to work with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to accomplish several goals, including increased engagement with customers and potential customers, improving the customer experience for both those planning visits and those on site and building a content strategy designed to collect user-generated content.***What I LearnedOne of the most valuable lessons I learned working with Colonial Williamsburg’s marketing team was the power of building bridges across departments. Their digital communications team and customer service team operated almost completely independently, which caused problems and inconsistencies for potential customers and actual visitors. I also learned the power of high-engagement with your top customers—small, noticeable acts can turn someone into a lifelong advocate.***Responsibilities and Skills• Conducted primary research to gain a firsthand understanding of the customer experience and incorporated those learnings into our strategy• Worked with the Colonial Williamsburg digital marketing team to develop a comprehensive Facebook strategy• Worked with client customer service department to build new systems for managing important guest notifications in real time on Facebook and Twitter (trip planning questions, on-site visitor complaints, weather emergencies, event cancellations)• Helped plan product testing by using social media to identify customers who could help pilot new programs• I worked with Colonial Williamsburg’s content team to build an editorial calendar and increase engagement online through content***Results• Grew total fan base by 170% through content and customer service• Grew active/engaged percentage of fan base from 15% to 70% in the same period• Opened lines of communication between digital communications team and customer service team• Developed process for identifying advocates through Facebook and rewarding them with surprise and delights during visits

***Role OverviewIn 2010 I had the privilege of working directly with John Grisham’s publisher on the launch of The Confession. Double Day was interested in a book launch that focused heavily on both social media and offline, word-of-mouth efforts by John Grisham fans. I ran the project end-to-end, helping develop the strategy, execute the social media content/contest plan and run offline events in cities across the country.***What I LearnedAlong with learning about the publishing industry, working with a long-time, successful author’s publisher taught me other valuable lessons:• Successful sales strategies don’t last forever. Said another way, even though John Grisham was producing the same, high-quality work, the landscape of book purchasing and sales had changed significantly and required a different strategy.• I also learned the power of working with a passionate customer base developed over years of time. Word of mouth is hard to harness and track, but can be very powerful.• I cut my teeth on developing custom tools for social media.***Responsibilities and Skills• I developed and executed a strategy designed to identify top John Grisham fans/influencers and work with them to lead events designed to generate word of mouth and awareness about the book.• Worked with a third party developer to design and implement a custom contest application on Facebook• Managed the development, production, and delivery of all print collateral used by advocates• Planned content and structure of various offline events, including partial release of book excerpts through the John Grisham advocates• Built viral conversation through a content strategy that included staged release of content prior to the book going on sale***Results• Received over 500 applications for 25 advocate positions• Increased pre-release online conversation about the book• Facilitated advocate-led offline events across key John Grisham sales markets

***Role OverviewIn 2008, Best Buy piloted a handful of musical instruments stores inside of their existing retail locations. The program was successful and the leaders of the pilot began to scale from 5 to 100 stores starting in 2009. I was tasked with 1) creating an internal community among employees for knowledge transfer since no formal employee training program existed and 2) working with employees to create content that established credibility for Best Buy as a place to buy high-end musical instruments from knowledgeable staff.***What I LearnedFirst, I learned first-hand the monumental challenge of scaling brick-and-mortar operations in a highly competitive market. Second, I learned about the challenge of overcoming established brand perceptions. Best Buy had invested years into establishing themselves as a consumer electronics retailer, so musical instruments didn’t fit the mold. Third, I cut my teeth on implementing large software projects. ***Responsibilities and Skills• Managed production and launch of the largest website built on the BuddyPress community software platform (a WordPress tool)• Managed Mi11 online community of both Best Buy employees and customers, including content collection and publishing, forum moderation and contests• Managed and produced / curated content across all social media properties• Managed production, packaging, and delivery of all offline collateral (print material, t-shirts, guitar pics, etc.)• Panned, organized, and documented a national tour of concerts, gatherings, and guitar giveaways, including an active partnership Gibson/Epiphone for sponsorship and product giveaways***Results• 35% of the employee base joined the community in the first 6 months• Online and offline efforts achieved 22% increase in conversations about Best Buy Musical Instruments• Increased amount of positive sentiment in the conversation to 75% (with 2% negative and the balance neutral)

***Role OverviewWhen I studied marketing in college, I had a particular interest in consumer behavior, which I followed to the doorstep of marketing research. I joined Brains on Fire as a Research Specialist, working directly for a PhD of neuroscience. My role included building programs to collect qualitative research, including surveys and focus groups, and combining that data with quantitative research reports from clients.***What I LearnedI will be forever grateful for this role because I saw first-hand the power of data-driven marketing. Technology has changed significantly since 2008, but the principles of using data to make smart decisions and run tests is are timeless and, as I’ve learned over my career, should be the basis of most business activities.***Responsibilities and SkillsI performed research projects for several national and local companies, including:• Fiskars• Best Buy• Jason’s Deli• Bon Secours Hospital SystemFor qualitative research collection I wrote questionnaires, detailed criteria for participants, conducted group sessions, and processed the resulting data. On the nerdier side of things, I analyzed quantitative data from clients and online mining partners to identify market trends, determine their relation to local trends, and find data that helped build surveys and discussion guides. I actually used the math I said I never would. ***ResultsMy work was used to build strategies for several of Brains on Fire’s highest-profile clients.

Cumulatively, I taught over 1000 kids how to wakeboard. I was also responsible for training employees participating in wakeboard instruction and helped develop operational strategy for the camp.

I was responsible for identifying and researching new business opportunities and the logistics of their implementation.