About me

Here’s a little bit about me.

ATLien by birth and Nashvillian by the grace of Cornelius Vanderbilt, I studied psychology and organizational development.

Since my time at Vanderbilt, I’ve helped:

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

 

Here are some things I like.

Marketing and Growth

When I was in college, I swore the three things I’d never do were marketing, PR, and finance. Then I got a job doing marketing and PR for a finance company. True story. But I fell in love with the strategic, creative, analytical nature of the work. Great marketing is honest, principled, and clever enough to add value to people’s lives even as we’re (generally) interrupting them. So let’s talk about ways to do growth and marketing without being sleazy.

Startups

A long time ago, I interned for the finance department of the city government. On my first day, the first thing I heard someone say was, “I don’t want to be here.” Needless to say, it was not my favorite work experience. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to work for small, fast organizations, on teams with other people from the Island of Misfit Toys. Mostly, I’m drawn to the idea of finding the biggest needle I can move, then moving it.

Climbing

I know that the photos on this website have been super subtle, and I wouldn’t blame you if you hadn’t picked up on this, but I really like climbing. I’m primarily a boulderer, which means I climb small rocks that aren’t very high off the ground with giant cushions at the bottom instead of using ropes. I also describe those rocks in completely unintelligible ways. Climbing is my release, and I find a lot of meaning in the ways it challenges me.

 

Music

Famously billed as a person who “has a lot of instruments for someone who’s not a musician.” I perform nightly concerts of my favorite songs to a sell-out crowd of my apartment furniture. Haven’t gotten a complaint yet. Genre doesn’t matter much to me, just emotional resonance. Here’s some of what I’m currently listening to.

Cooking

My grandmother, on top of having three master’s degrees and two doctorates, is a phenomenal cook. Me, I’m just trying to make a version of her jambalaya that doesn’t set off my smoke alarm. You can ask my neighbors how successful I’ve been in that endeavor, but you’ll have to knock extra hard, on account of the earplugs. Here’s my favorite cookbook.

Reading

I once heard that if you’re not learning, you’re dying, so I’ve chosen to stave off the reaper with piles and piles of books. I intend to live a robust, full 189 years, mostly because that’s how long I’ll have to live to finish the collection I’ve accrued up to this point. That estimate will be updated after my next trip to the bookstore across the street. I’m currently reading Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed

 

Also, should probably say here that anything I say on this site is completely unaffiliated with my current employer, and does not reflect their thoughts, feelings, opinions, hopes, or dreams.