That’s me on Piha Beach, New Zealand for a Whirlpool appliances TV commercial 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. But after almost a decade of working on appliances at one of the largest global agencies, I needed a change. In 2009, I left to become Executive Creative Director at Walton Isaacson, a fast-growing boutique agency. I oversaw the creative output of their three offices (NY, Chicago, LA) and led the charge for clients like Lexus, Verizon and Unilever. It was there that I was able to finally scratch the directing itch I’d had for a long time. Once that happened, there was no going back to the conventional way of doing things.

I decided to leave at the height of my career in 2013. It was less to do with the agency itself and everything to do with the industry as a whole. After 20+ years in the business, I believed there was another way to craft richer, more impactful brand stories. It also aligned with the growing importance of video, the democratization of filmmaking and increasing client desire for new approaches to old problems. I had been helping companies identify their values and follow their true purpose. I realized it was time for me to do the same.

By packaging my experience in a consultancy model, I’m able to offer clients a fresh, unencumbered perspective. Edify Story Foundry sits at the intersection of all three of my passions: strategy, creativity and filmmaking. When I’m writing strategy, I’m thinking about how it can guide the creative. When I’m developing creative, I’m also considering how it impacts the production in terms of technique and budget. And as a director, I love shaping ideas into engaging storytelling using all the filmmaking tools at my disposal. The result is a more seamless, more efficient brand-building process. Now I work directly with companies and organizations, helping them discover their inner brand.