An Introduction
Early Life
I was born in Victoria, a smallish Texas town. But when I was very young, my family moved first to Delaware and then to Houston. My dad worked in the oil business.
I think I grew up pretty typically. Captain of my basketball team in high school. Two of my best friends were Del Harris' sons. Del Harris was the assistant coach for the Houston Rockets and then became Head Coach. Going to practices and shooting around with Calvin Murphy was normal back then. Looking back, it was incredible.
Upon graduation, I went to the University of Texas and graduated with a double major - Finance and International Business.
Then I headed off to Law School where I made Law Review and that's when my real copywriting training started.
I wasn't done with the University of Texas, however. I returned to get my MBA.
Career
After Law School, I took a job with a boutique litigation firm in Houston. But in a few years, I struck out on my own.
I became a trial lawyer as much by accident as by design.
In the mid-90's, I found my way back to Austin. This was during the dot-com bubble and Austin was rocking.
I saw everyone getting rich on stock options and thought I'd give that a try. So I went in-house with one of the first internet banking companies in the US. After about 6 months, the CEO convinced me to leave the legal department and oversee product. That was the end of my law career and the start of something else.
Long story short, I didn't get rich on stock options at that company, but I learned a lot. Since that time, I've worked at the intersection of product and marketing, mostly as a Chief Product or Marketing Officer at several companies.
People often ask me what does law have to do with marketing? Surprisingly, quite a bit. As a trial lawyer, your job is to get whomever you are speaking with - judge, jury, opposing counsel - to adopt your point of view. And isn't that the job in marketing as well?
Now I partner with creators and influencers to help them develop their own digital products and sell those directly to their audience. While also building an email list.
That way, they are no longer subject to the whims of the algorithm and they can take control of their revenue stream.
Giving Back
I'm an avid volunteer. Mostly the soup kitchens. I think everyone should volunteer a little. And I encourage my friends to do so.
A few years back, I was on the board of the Austin Chapter of "Back on my Feet." A great group that endeavored to get people out of the homeless shelters and living independently through running, among other things.
Personal Life
I am single, never married. I was engaged once but it didn't take. I did live on a sailboat for about a year and a half, roughly 10 years ago. Not hard to do when you work in tech and can wear shorts and t-shirts to work pretty much daily.
She was a Catalina 36 named Victoria. That's her on the right.
I loved uncluttering my life and living simply. And I'm sure I will do it again.
