I grew up in the small, unassuming town of Pittsboro, Indiana. The town of 1,500 Hoosiers sat 10-miles west of Indianapolis and the nearest suburb to Speedway, Indiana, the home of the Indy 500. It was the type of place where life revolves around cornfields, family business, faith and community. I had envisioned joining my own family’s business which had been around since the 1950’s, but its fall during the market downturn of the early 2000s meant a change of plans.
Leaving the comfort of a small private school, I embraced the challenge of a large, urban university at Indiana’s campus in downtown Indianapolis. Joining the speech and debate team, I discovered a passion for current events and journalism, leading me to dual majors in political science and communication studies. Balancing nights at FedEx, sleepless hours in my van, and a rigorous academic schedule, I had planned to eventually attend law school. While interning for three years at the TechPoint Foundation for Youth however, I was introduced to the Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship.
The Orr Fellowship accepted me, despite my modest grades. This marked a turning point where I began my career journey. The Fellowship provided access to mentorship from executives, a network of technology leaders in Indiana, and a community of entrepreneurially-minded young professionals. At Brightpoint (now Ingram Micro, my “host company”), I delved into the complexities of big data and supply chain solutions consulting. During my tenure, I was involved in helping global telecomm’s drive supply chain efficiency through global sourcing, import/export at a serialized level, programming and kitting of hardware, and fulfillment operations into the dealer and retail networks. Brightpoint gave me exposure to C-Suite executives at global brands; I learned how they interpreted our analysis to effect positive change in the supply chain.
After two-years at Brightpoint, after learning the value of “big data” in a global enterprise, my journey took a twist with a venture into web development and digital marketing, challenging me to apply my skills in new, real-world contexts. Under my personal LLC, Redwoods and Pineapples (MediaSeed at the time), I began developing SaaS solutions for small businesses, nonprofits, political campaigns, community events, and more. Understanding how global data is collected and used to make 9-figure business decisions at Brightpoint was an easy application into the early days of digital marketing. After all… every human is as unique as a serial number… MORE so even. Using data to drive personalized engagement and experiences, and the corresponding business outcomes, was my new passion.
After two-years focused solely on my database and digital marketing practice, I reconnected with another Orr Fellow who was working at ExactTarget, a digital marketing startup in Indianapolis. I joined in 2011 as a Relationship Manager for the mid-market team. While at ExactTarget, I was afforded opportunity to work with some of the best brands in the world, solving real-world problems in adopting digital transformation; Many of these solutions are still being used today across the world. I focused on large insurance & financial services brands alongside my peers in professional services, customer success, support. After an IPO and an acquisition by Salesforce, I spent time serving customers and prospects in the enterprise media, communications, retail, and CPG verticals.
Since 2018, I’ve enjoyed exploring the startup community within B2B SaaS with a focus on data-driven platforms enabling brands to activate their data to build meaningful experiences and valuable business outcomes. A success in this phase of startup focus in my career was Emarsys, the first platform with truly connected CDP and execution for retail & eCommerce. Emarsys was acquired by SAP where, in addition to my time at Salesforce, I continued learning from the best in the enterprise software ecosystem. Moreover, learning concepts like ERP and operational technology (HR, Finance, etc.) was vital in rounding out my exposure to the end-to-end technology lifecycle and ecosystem at brands, big and small.