I got into marketing through a side door.
Music came first. I'm a musician, and years ago my friends' bands needed photos more than they needed another guitar player, so I bought a camera and learned to shoot: clubs, festivals, dance halls, anywhere in Texas with a stage and bad lighting. The photos got good. Then came the uncomfortable lesson every artist learns eventually — good work doesn't distribute itself. Getting eyes on those photos was my first real marketing problem, and I've been working on versions of it ever since.
The résumé version goes like this. Two years running day-to-day operations for a DTC homebrew supply brand, later acquired by MoreBeer. Three years as a project manager at an integrated marketing agency. Four and a half years as a Senior Google Strategist at OMG Commerce, one of the country's top performance marketing agencies, where I managed millions in monthly spend and helped stalled brands break their own growth records. Most recently, I led Google and Microsoft Ads at Grüns through the run-up to their $1.2 billion acquisition by Unilever. Somewhere in there I picked up an MBA in marketing, which mostly taught me how much of this business you can only learn by doing it.
The camera never went away. I hold an FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate and have worked as a director of photography for Interstate Batteries, Polycom, and Midtronics. That side of the practice now covers commercial, real estate, ranch, and oilfield work across Texas — there's a whole page for it.
Why I work alone
Years ago I picked up an idea from the writer Robert Anton Wilson that never let go of me: communication is only possible between equals. Information degrades as it climbs a hierarchy, because each person tells the one above them whatever keeps the meeting short. Agencies run on that physics. The specialist sees something in the account, the account manager translates it, the director softens it, and by the time it reaches you, nobody is describing the same account anymore.
I work independently, and I report to no one. When we talk, you get the unfiltered version: what the data shows, what I'd do about it, and what I'd skip. It's a better arrangement for everyone except the meeting industry.
- MBA, Marketing Emphasis
- FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot
- Certified Google Media Buyer
- 10+ Years in Performance Marketing
- Google Strategic Partnership
- eCommerce & DTC Specialist
- Omnichannel Campaign Experience
- Shopify & WordPress Expertise
