Communications. It’s my life. Always has been – even when I was a kid dancing, singing and talking earlier than all the other kids. It’s the principles of communications, that I love the most. Clarity, know your audience, be responsive and listen – to name a few. I have it nailed, and it has served me well for the past 25 years of my career.Singing and dancing aside, my adult life in communications has been largely in the tech sector. After leaving the land of the Green Bay Packers to attend school in enemy territory (AKA Minnesota), I ran PR for several tech companies including DataCard and Digital River – helping take the latter through their IPO. I left the Midwest in 2000 to try my hand at agency life in San Francisco during the first tech boom. It was a whirlwind time and l gained invaluable experience working at The Benjamin Group and Weber Shandwick with clients in storage, Linux OS, networking and telecommunications.NetApp came wooing in 2004 and I spent the next 10 years working in and eventually leading global communications for the Fortune 400 storage company. This is where I honed my craft managing everything from public relations and integrated communications to crisis communications and digital. As the role was global, I also learned how to manage numerous agencies in multiple geos. Two of my greatest accomplishments were consolidating from 17 firms globally to four and helping establish a content strategy for the company. An opportunity to manage the SF office and U.S. Tech Practice for Hill + Knowlton allowed me to work with world-class clients from start ups to established brands alongside some remarkable communications practitioners. Most recently I went back to my in-house roots to manage global communications for Equinix, a Fortune 500 digital infrastructure company. At Equinix, I have been able to lead all aspects of communications while working on strategic projects including creating the company's Purpose, implementing a framework for responding to societal issues and leading comms for a company redesign. I continue to challenge myself and my team and fuel my passion for my chosen profession: communications.
Listed skills include Media Relations, Public Relations, Public Affairs, Media Studies, and 15 others.