As COO, I am responsible for building a culture of execution. My approach to leadership is to communicate the vision, relinquish control, and provide unrelenting support. My approach to strategy is informed by my background in software engineering. I embrace constraints as guidelines. When you understand constraints, you know when and where to break them. On a daily basis, I think about how to:- Balance focus with fluidity to run an agile organization- Serve the needs of our team to the best of my ability- Communicate purpose and cultivate passion- Protect the culture

As VP of Ecommerce, I am responsible for executing the vision and achieving the goals that I set forth for State Supply’s ecommerce channel. My focus includes:- Content strategy and information architecture- User-centric design achieved by reducing friction and optimizing paths to completion (lean UX)- Frontend and backend development with semantic HTML, CSS and JavaScript- Continuous deployment/iteration guided by the build, measure, learn feedback loop- Oversight of content production and cross-platform/channel content utilization- Staying on top of industry trends, tools, and technologies

Sceneclips was a failed startup that targeted the motion picture industry. The failure of Sceneclips remains the most important learning experience of my professional career. Below are the critical lessons I learned from Sceneclips' failure:Lesson 1: Never outsource your core competencySceneclips was intended to be a web platform that would change the way films get funded. The failure of Sceneclips in the context of lesson one was not the market size, business model, nor the idea itself. The failure was that I didn't know the technology well enough, nor surround myself with people that did.Lesson 2: Set attainable goals within reasonable time framesEntrepreneurs often neglect to acknowledge their success because the paradigm through which they view success exists far from reality. This paradigm however is entirely necessary. It is what builds greatness. Lesson two means providing a tangible and realistic means to recognize success. This ensures a semblance of accomplishment in a continuous uphill battle.Lesson 3: Know your role and shut your mouthHumans are programmed to affirm. In a web startup it is easy to get seduced by the latest technology as well as your competition and say yes. Yes, let’s include that new feature because competitor “X” has it. Yes, let’s broaden our target market to also include “X”, “Y” and “Z” customer groups. Yes, let’s market to customers through that new channel.It is much more difficult to say no. No, that new feature does not help solve our customers’ problem. No, our market is “A” and “B” and we don’t care about “X”, “Y” and “Z”. No, fragmenting resources on another marketing channel dilutes the effectiveness of those that are working.No is difficult. No is the opposite of affirmation. No goes against human nature. Entrepreneurs must focus on what problem they are solving and for whom. Yes is the enemy of lesson three. Said bluntly, “Know your role and shut your mouth”.

As the Marketing Manager at State Supply I developed and implemented strategies for content marketing, search engine optimization and social media. My focus was to both to acquire new customers and strengthen relationships with existing customers through inbound marketing. Below is how I accomplished it.- Used Google AdWords to test the effectiveness (conversion) of campaigns in order to guide content strategy- Launched State Supply's email marketing program using MailChimp and custom-coded email templates, achieving open and click-through rates that were (and still are) 300% higher than the ecommerce industry average- Launched State Supply's YouTube channel and implemented URL tracking, along with targeted landing pages to increase conversion rates on ecommerce transactions- Published a series of dowloadable industry white papers using Wufoo forms on custom landing pages for lead generation and setup API integration with MailChimp to seamlessly pass opt-ins to our email newsletter

In a previous life, I was an actor in Los Angeles co-starring on shows such as ER, CSI Miami, Lie to Me, and Greek as well as numerous commercials and independent films. I studied at schools across Los Angeles, including The New York Film Academy, The Larry Moss Studio, and The Film Actor’s Workshop. The skills learned around the creative process, storytelling, and psychology are some of the most valuable skills I've acquired in my life. Every day I apply them in the business world.