My title is VP, Creative Services

But I’m really like a tailor. I look at the material we have on hand and try to make something special out of it.

• My first job in marketing was selling subscriptions door-to-door for The Winston-Salem Journal.
• In this business I’ve been everything from the mail-room guy to the Creative Director.  I’ve worked on everything from software and banks to kids’ toys.  Throughout it all, I’ve noticed a lot more similarities than differences between them when it comes to persuading people.
• I got into this business because I could write, I could make people laugh and I could tell a good story.
• I think the smartest thing anyone said about marketing is Barry Levinson in his movie, Tin Men. “We’re just a bunch of guys trying to sell some aluminum siding.”  So drop the ego, roll up your sleeves and sell something.
• The strangest experience I’ve had so far is traveling around Europe for months recording children playing and making barnyard noises for a television campaign.
• I grew up in a lot of different places.  It taught me sympathy for the newcomer.  And never to be afraid to be the first one to put yourself out there.  If people react coolly, that’s their problem.
• I will always ask if we’re all sure about the Emperor’s new clothes.
• Being in an exuberant, but marginal band actually helped me prepare for this. Because I learned to learn my part and perform it every time like it was the first time.
• The first marketing or ad I remember is, “Thanks for the gumball, Mickey.”  A TV spot for a kids’ gum dispenser.  Parents actually used to buy stuff like that for their kids.
• When I’m not doing this I’m raising my kids to be good citizens.
• If forced to give up Chicago winters, I’d probably be all right.
• My favorite book is Les Miserables.  It teaches me perseverance, loyalty and the difference between authority and leadership.
• The way I like to work is in collaboration with prepared people.  I mistrust divas and lone wolves.
• Management by e-mail terrifies me.
• What I bring to each assignment are an open mind and a blank sheet of paper.
• I’m good at this because I take my clients’ money and problems extremely seriously.  I consider it my primary mission to solve a problem for my clients.