-CV-
CV stands for Curriculum Vitae, which is a fancy Latin phrase for “Resume.” You bet I took Latin in college…but let’s not talk about that… 😉
Early in my career, my goal was to gain experience with many different kinds of businesses. I started at an agency which allowed me to work with lots of different brands while learning how agencies function. I moved on to startups after that, and then got some corporate experience as well. For the last 5 years or so, I’ve focused on applying the skills and experience I had developed to high-growth leadership opportunities.
-POSITIONS-
The positions listed here meet the criteria that they were full-time engagements that most contributed to my career path & professional evolution.
VP of Marketing & Brands | 2020 — Present
VP of Marketing & Brands
2020—Present
Joined during COVID crisis to lead marketing and branding initiatives for one of the largest print-on-demand facilities in the US and its subsidiary brands. Established new brand strategy and org alignment initiatives. Rebuilt marketing and sales teams to better support and scale operations.
Key Contributions:
- Led brand marketing strategy & execution for 8 owned B2B & B2C brands
- Executed full rebranding & repositioning of top business unit — CustomCat
- Created Bespoke Labs parent brand to unify org mission & nurture high-value partnerships
- Overhauled front end systems, lead generation processes, pricing strategies
- Led & executed go-to-market strategy for DIGISOFT™ print technology brand
↑ YOY Revenue
↑ Profit Margin
↑ Account Signups
↑ Retail Accounts YoY
Total Revenue
Marketing Director -> CEO | 2018-2020
Marketing Director -> CEO
2018—2020
Recruited as Digital Marketing Director & served in this role for 8 months. Presented ownership with improved strategic direction & promoted to CEO end of August 2019. Tasked with 1) providing strategic direction 2) launching new website by October 1st 3) maximizing sales & units in Q4 4) improving systems & operations. Achieved each objective & positioned business to become net profitable in 2020 while increasing YOY revenue over 200%.
Key Contributions:
- Increased revenue 26% in Q4 versus the prior 3 quarters combined – over $450k+ in revenue
- Increased profitability by 2.5x on 22K units
- Built & migrated new website & 5000 products with 4 weeks notice & delivered on time
- Increased customer satisfaction & generated 225 new reviews averaging 4.5 stars
- Improved conversion rate by 37% overall
- Increased email subscribers by 36% & email revenue 250%
- Identified problems with original business model & implemented fixes to dramatically increase profit.
- Mitigated I.P. infringement risk by establishing legal processes & recruiting new artists to platform
- Managed $200k+ in ad-spend – managed Google, Bing, & Facebook ad campaigns
↑ YOY Revenue
↑ Conv. %
↑ Email Revenue
Customer Rating
SEM Analyst | 2018-2020
Search Engine Marketing Analyst
2018—2020
Company’s lead SEM resource reporting to the VP of Digital Commerce. Worked across all business units company-wide as well as directly with executive teams, including the CEO, president, & international heads. Tasked with launching & managing multi-million dollar paid advertising programs in-house, including all strategy & tactics. Oversaw deployment of Adobe Marketing Suite of products including programmatic PPC & analytics tools. Developed & oversaw SEO strategy, tactics & performance across all units & products. Instituted CRO program for organic & PPC marketing channels. Managed digital marketing vendor relationships.
Key Contributions:
- Directly responsible for launching & managing PPC program in-house that resulted in 40% YOY improvement in revenues while lowering CPA 13%, accounting for 1/3 of all new direct web business & 25 million in TLV.
- Attained the number one organic search ranking for top keyword “classic car insurance,” & other top phrases, resulting in double digit organic lead growth each year.
- Implemented new paid search & organic marketing strategies for Canada & UK business units, resulting in a 25% increase in web business YOY.
↑ YOY Revenue
↓ CPA
↑ Digital Revenue YOY
Marketing Manager | 2014-2015
Marketing Manager
2014—2015
2nd marketing hire at fast paced Detroit Venture Partners portfolio startup tasked with improving organic & paid search performance principally through digital strategy development, content creation, media management, & data analytics. Implemented & managed conversion rate optimization systems & products. Managed development of rich media assets including promotional videos, webinars, testimonials & more.
Key Contributions:
- Oversaw organic search & paid media operations which contributed to triple digit revenue growth YOY
- Developed primary media assets including demo reel & product demos used at Dreamforce & on the web
- Managed & published hundreds of pieces of content in order to grow search traffic & convert leads
Strategist -> Strategy Manager | 2013-2014
Strategist -> Strategy Manager
2013—2014
Developed & implemented marketing and business development strategies for Ecommerce business accounts, with emphasis on SEO, CSE, & affiliate marketing efforts. Promoted to Strategy Manager after 9 months with the task of overseeing the in-house marketing team, deploying personnel assets, mentoring & training new hires & co-workers, developing new products, streamlining internal processes, improving service quality, & aiding in new business acquisition.
Key Contributions:
- Reorganized product offerings to improve quality of service while increasing profitability
- Landed largest new business partner of the year..
- Worked with complex Ecommerce websites to increase sales & streamline marketing efforts.
-SKILLS-
Just a list of my marketing competencies.
- Performance Marketing
- Branding
- Brand Design & Building
- Brand Messaging & Alignment
- Brand Reclamation
- Strategic Planning
- Competitive Analysis
- Advertising
- Paid Search
- Paid Media
- Paid Social
- Content Creation
- Copy Writing
- Video Creation
- Graphic Design
- Data Analysis
- KPI Development
- SEO
- Earned Media
- SEM
- Content Strategy
- Email Marketing
- Social Media
- Influencer Marketing
- Affiliate Marketing
- Events & Promotions
- PR
- UX Design
- Conversion Funnels
- Conversion Optimization (CRO)
- Lead Generation
- Customer Journey
- Demand Generation
- Business Development
- Sales
- Sales Enablement
- Org Structures
- Team Building
- Internal Processes
- Customer Activation & Retention
- Customer Success
- Communications
Brands By Type
The section below includes many of the brands I’ve worked with in some capacity, organized by business type. So to see ecommerce brands I’ve worked with, click Ecommerce and it will filter for those brands.
Brands by Role
Same idea as above, but this time you can filter for my role. So if you click Strategy, you’ll see brands where my role involved defining & executing the business/marketing strategy.
Life Experience
Experiences from all parts of my life have informed & influenced my thinking when it comes to marketing & business. Below are parts of me, past & present, that have helped me become who I am.
Father
I recently became a father, & as you might imagine, it's been a transformative experience. My sweet little baby daughter Nico, who is 15 months now as of writing, has shown me how to see the world with new eyes as I watch her learn about herself & the world around her. It's been a challenging & rewarding experience that deeply influences my thinking & how approach to the work I do.
Musician
I grew up playing a lot of music & played professionally into my mid-twenties. I was fortunate enough to experience playing music around the country, in front of big crowds (& VERY small ones), make recordings, and play with some of my favorite musicians. Music taught my brain how to process complex creative thoughts & form them into tangible expressions. Much of my success in marketing involves very similar ways of thinking, just with different objectives in mind.
Daytrader
If music represents one side of how my brain works, trading is the other. I got into it not long after I first learned of Bitcoin (in 2014) & its immense potential to reshape our thinking on finance & currency. This interest led me into learning about markets, technical analysis, trading strategies & the like. Trading, charting, & market analysis has helped sharpen my own analytical & decision-making frameworks, which has paid dividends (get it!) in my marketing.
Bartender
My wife, Sarah, & I both worked bartending jobs in our 20s. If you ask her, she'll tell you that everybody should have the experience of working a service industry job because there's no better way to learn empathy & compassion for others.My experience had a similar effect on me. Bartending & waiting tables looks easy, right? I thought so until I tried it, & then struggled HARD. In fact, it was one of my first real failures. & while it helped me learn what I wasn't good at, it also taught me how to treat people with greater compassion & empathy, because man I appreciated it when that's how they treated me.
Athlete
OK I was never a SERIOUS athlete, but athletics has played a big role in my life. For starters, I just love playing games & competing. I play hockey in an adult league & still feel like a little kid every time I get to play. But what I really love is being a part of a team. To me, it's the best of the human experience. When individuals work toward a common goal as a team, there's no telling what can be accomplished. I feel extremely loyal to those on my team, & there's no better feeling than accomplishing the mission together.