Speak to the Heart
That's me on Piha Beach, New Zealand for a Whirlpool appliances TV shoot. At that time, I was Group Creative Director at Publicis NY. When I got into advertising, my goal was to work on big-budget, global campaigns, and somehow I found myself traveling the world living my dream. New Zealand, check. Easter Island, check. Patagonia, Argentina and Chile, check, check and check. We created over half a dozen Super Bowl-level ads over the course of a couple years.
After almost a decade of working on appliances at one of the largest global agencies, I made the jump to Executive Creative Director at Walton Isaacson, a fast-growing boutique agency. I oversaw the creative output of their three offices in New York, Chicago and LA, and led the charge for clients like Lexus, Verizon and Unilever.
Spanning a career on both sides of the agency and consulting divide, I’ve come to believe that the richest, most impactful brand stories speak to the heart. Strategy gives a brand its clarity, but it's the emotional truth in the work that makes people actually care. When I'm writing strategy, I'm already thinking about how it will guide the creative. When I'm developing creative, I'm thinking about how it will hold up in production, in technique and in budget. I care about the work being right in every detail, all the way through to how it's made. My love of filmmaking has even allowed me to direct some of the video content that I wrote and concepted.
I've since put that belief to the test directly with clients, carrying ideas from positioning through to finished work without the disconnects and inefficiencies that usually creep in along the way. The result is a proven body of work that has built audiences and grown revenue. It's the kind of thinking I want to bring to future client partners, building brand work that stays sharp and true from the first strategic idea to the final execution.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
My Personal Manifesto
DISCOVER THE OVERLOOKED.
CELEBRATE THE JOURNEY.
SHARE THE SUBLIME.
When you see things as GREATER THAN what they are,
you learn to never let WHAT IS get in the way of WHAT IF.
Look beyond the obvious and you’ll find
the deeper, more meaningful connections.
Start with the WHY and you realize what we share
is infinitely more powerful than what makes us different.
Focus on possibilities and it becomes clear
that HOPE AND OPTIMISM are humanity’s default settings
and the true driving forces behind INNOVATION AND CHANGE.
I believe that if you do these things,
you can CRAFT stories that inspire,
SHIFT people’s perceptions,
MOTIVATE them to take action
and perhaps, even CHANGE the world.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .