So, tell me about yourself.
Back in 2014, I packed a rented white minivan with my stuff, removed 'polar vortex' from my vocab, and drove cross-country to LA. Though I told my mom I was only staying for a year, fast-forward to today, and I bought a Jeep (olllllo), met a girl (who’s now my wife), rescued a pitbull (despite the photo, he likes the couch way more than the mountains), and just recently welcomed a beautiful baby girl to the our family (she’s too blessed to know a world without Aaron Rodgers as the Jets QB1). I even put oat milk in my coffee sometimes nowadays.
When I first moved to LA, someone told me, “You don’t move to LA, you move to California.” That stuck with me, and I think about it every time I take a weekend trip to places like Palm Springs, Big Bear, San Diego, Santa Barbara, or Los Alamos (where we got married). However, even though the Cali sunshine has won me over, my NY sports allegiances remain - Yankees (thankfully), Knicks (unfortunately), and Jets (usually I’d say, “very sadly,” but Aaron Rodgers has fan hope at an all-time high).
So, tell me about yourself, professionally.
I’m currently a Creative Strategy Lead at Snap, Inc., where I’ve been working since 2017 when our offices were still in Venice Beach loft apartments (I’d occasionally take client calls from the shower in search of some quiet). It’s been an incredible journey from the early days of convincing clients that AR isn’t just for barfing rainbows, to today when brands build full creative campaigns on the platform. Creative is what I’m best at, but over the past three years, I’ve helped stand up two new teams (Snapchat Brand Lab & Platform Creative Strategy), which has given me great experience with management, working with many cross-functional teams, and how to work operationally efficient.
Before that, I spent time at:
VaynerMedia - I was an Associate Creative Director, and started back in 2012 when they were 100 people in a small NYC office. In 2014, I moved to LA to help open their new office
FanFeedr - a sports news aggregation startup who was acquired by Samsung
iHeartRadio - where I learned how to tie a tie without looking (amongst other things)
NY Titans - a now defunct member of the National Lacrosse League, who played their games at Madison Square Garden (I even got to man the penalty box during games)
What about some of your, like, skills?
Creative Strategy & Creative Direction - experience and passion for both disciplines. Knowing the best creatives are strategic, and vice versa
Storytelling - a belief that people remember stories, not slides (or ads)
Making Stuff - working with a team to not only come up with great ideas, but to bring them to life
Writing - the former English major and copywriter in me still comes through in my work. Also generally allergic to marketing jargon
Entrepreneurial Spirit - I’ve worked at startups, helped open new offices, and launched new teams at big companies
How about some random facts?
I’m a dual citizen of Ireland
I ran a Twitter account (@RealTimeYanks09) that recapped every day of the ‘09 Yankees World Series season, 10 years later. At its height, it had 5,000+ followers and received consistent engagement from former players and beat reporters (including one who sent me a copy of his book)
I once successfully scaled the American Ninja Warrior “Warped Wall”
My wife (begrudgingly) and I started a podcast (Gettin’ Hitched) for our wedding. Episodes included “The Foodie Ep,” “The Mailbag,” and an exclusive interview with the flower girl
I’ve been to over 75 Phish concerts
Read any good books lately?
Though I was an English major in college and used to read a lot of fiction, my recent favorites include topics such as biographies, sports, history, and music:
The Breaks of the Game - widely recognized as one of the greatest sports books ever written, it’s less about the Portland Trail Blazers, and more about a much less popular version of the NBA in the 1970s
The Wright Brothers - a story of curiosity, innovation, and persistence, and the origins of human flight
Is This Anything? - Jerry Seinfeld’s treasure trove of jokes spanning his entire career. As a creative, “is this anything?,” is a question I ask constantly when brainstorming, and it’s kind of magical seeing his ideas and jokes evolve over time
Life - aptly named. Keith Richards has had the most fascinating life
The Last Boy - Mickey Mantle is arguably the greatest baseball player of all time. But, his story was more complicated than that, and this book masterfully ties his ups-and-downs to post-WWII American innocence
Do you have any podcast recommendations?
Beyond the popular picks like Bill Simmons or The Daily, here are a few of my favorites related to music, storytelling, history, and culture:
Disgraceland - a podcast about musicians behaving badly. Great rock history storytelling, from John Lennon provoking the FBI, to The Rolling Stones’ Hells Angels security disaster, to Ozzy Osbourne’s drug-fueled benders
Hardcore History - examines the most important historical moments with energy and creative storytelling that makes history interesting even for people who find it boring
Plain English - a refreshing big picture look at culture and news
Where are some places you’ve studied?
Bachelor of Arts in English, University at Albany (it was so cold and snowy they had underground tunnels on campus)
UCLA Extension Program - Screenwriting (consider it a moving-to-LA right of passage)
LA Voiceover Workshop (enough people told me I had a silky-smooth voice)