I started as a writer.

I began my career editing magazines. Then I created the satirical site Unhappy Hipsters and wrote a book based on it, published by Chronicle Books in 2011. I’ve spent more than a decade in brand work and nearly as long inside a bootstrapped, profitable software company during its fastest period of growth.

Now I build strategies.

Most marketing problems are really the problem of not having decided what to say and why it matters. The work I love most is positioning, messaging, content systems, and, increasingly, the AI projects that run them.

I also advise CEOs directly. My most successful engagements are the usually ones where I’m the person the founder calls first, whether the question that week is a hire, a launch, or what to say to the board.

I live on Cape Cod, where I partner with a few independent businesses on growth marketing they can run themselves. I take new work by referral only.

Past client work and bylines include: Boston Globe Magazine, Disney Publishing, McSweeney's, Nowness, Walmart, Trulia, Morgan’s Hotel Group, Powell’s Books, Nike, Aha!

A few problems I’ve solved…

The disjointed software company

They thought they had a content problem. Sales had written its own one-pager because the website gave them nothing to use, and leadership believed more content would move customers. The real problem was that no one could say why the company existed. Over a series of workshops we decided what the company was for, in three sentences, then rebuilt the messaging around them. The one-pager retired itself, and sales closes more, with less explaining.

The aspiring thought leader

He had more to say than time to say it, and everything that went out under his name sounded like a press release. We built a system: a short list of arguments he actually believes, and a process that turns a conversation into an essay in his voice. He publishes more now and spends less time doing it.

The maker with a shop

Beautiful work, loyal customers, and no way to know which marketing to invest in. We set up the AI tools so she can run SEO, social, and email marketing in a repeatable way. These initiatives drove significant year-over-year growth in online sales, average order value, and repeat purchase rate, while also increasing site traffic and conversion rates from both paid and organic sources.