Still remember being a Jr. Copywriter in NY and hearing my first radio spot come through the little magic box. Exciting. Still is. I love writing dialogue. Solving business problems by mixing those 26 letters with sounds—like a marketing Sudoku puzzle. 

But creativity isn't some "gift" from heaven. It takes time. Thought and research.  It takes being able to piece it all together. There are no real "new" ideas. Just two old ideas blended in a new way. I put that theory to practice at Ogilvy NY as a Sr. VP, Copywriter. And later, as a Creative Director at the National Football League running a department of 19 and developing creative for the licensing and marketing groups. 

In Chicago, my East Coast work ethic followed me to J. Walter Thompson as a CD. Then, off to Los Angeles, freelancing at many agencies both large and small. At the same time, writing, producing and performing in a sketch comedy group I co-founded called “YO MEL”. We performed for 9 months on the main stage of the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip. That ultimately let to writing screenplays. One of which became a top 10 finalist at SLAMDANCE. Still enjoy the art of crafting a compelling story.

Writing movie trailers and one sheets- taught me how to say the exact same thing 5000 ways. (the opposite of compelling.) Wrote for Fox’s International marketing division. Then, a founding partner in an internet startup--MyPokerBiz.com which featured a WPT Champion teaching online poker. We lost all our chips. Onward. A stint as a marketing consulting for the Arena Football League followed. Until they folded. (That one’s not on me thankfully.)

Now, I’ve come full circle. Taking all my past experiences and transforming them into fun, story-driven radio spots and campaigns. That’s the joy of doing this for a long time. You get to do what feels right, and what you’re good at. And do it with people you enjoy doing it with. In the end, Steve Jobs said it  best--as usual.  “It’s more fun to be a pirate than join the Navy.” Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….


Things you might want to know about me: (or not)
NFL football addict, helped bring TED talks to Austin, studied improv @ Second City, collect NY baseball caps (56 at last count), collect antique cameras and photograph street art (manhole covers to be exact), J.F.K. Assassination nut (psst. The Mob did it), I’m an aspiring Buddhist from New Jersey… Buddha Bing, I do a world-class Sly Stallone impression. “Absolutely”

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