Brand Strategy
Developing integrated brand platforms and comprehensive marketing strategies that give institutions and nonprofits a clear identity, a consistent voice, and the positioning to compete for students, supporters, talent, and reputation.
Purpose-drivenmarketing andstorytelling.
Building intelligent enterprise marketing operations that help higher education and nonprofit organizations connect strategy, story, and service to the communities they serve.
I've spent more than two decades at the intersection of strategy, storytelling, and leadership, helping organizations find their voice, build their brand, and connect with the people who matter most to them.
My career has taken me from early-stage digital work in the early 2000s through executive marketing roles in healthcare and agency work, to leading systemwide marketing for Tennessee's largest higher education system, and now serving as Associate Vice Chancellor, Chief Marketing Officer of a private R1 research university in the Rocky Mountain West. Along the way, I've also consulted for organizations across the legal, healthcare, nonprofit, and retirement sectors.
Beyond the professional work, I've spent two decades mentoring students toward college access through tnAchieves and UT Achieves, coached capstone teams at the University of Tennessee, and served as president of both the Tennessee College Public Relations Association and Open Nashville. I currently serve on the national executive committee for PRSA's Counselors to Higher Education, and previously served on the Middle Tennessee Advisory Board of Youth Villages, a national nonprofit helping children and families facing serious emotional and behavioral challenges build successful lives. That connection to community matters as much to me as anything I do professionally.
Everything I do is anchored in a simple belief. Purpose-driven work, rooted in clear values, honest communication, and a genuine commitment to the people you serve, produces better results and leaves the world a little better than you found it.
At a glance.
- Experience
- Two decades spanning higher education, healthcare, agency, and consulting
- Education
- Ph.D., Leadership (Organizational Intelligence)
- Master of Organizational Leadership
- B.S., Business Administration / Management Information Systems
- Credentials
- Accredited in Public Relations (APR)
- Tennessee Certified Economic Developer
- Research
- Marketing Operations
- Organizational Intelligence
- Leadership Effectiveness
- Recognition
- Otis Floyd Jr. Award for Excellence in Higher Education Administration
- Charles Holmes Award
- Based In
- Denver, CO & Nashville, TN
What I do.
These are the areas where I work with organizations as a consultant and speaker.
Business & Organizational Intelligence
Applying research and systems thinking to understand how institutions learn, adapt, and make decisions. Building marketing capability that is structural and durable, not dependent on any one leader or budget cycle.
Marketing Operations
Elevating marketing from a production function to a strategic business driver, with governance structures, measurement frameworks, and operating models that scale and sustain results.
Reputation & Crisis Management
Developing proactive reputation strategies, issues management frameworks, and crisis communications plans that protect institutional trust when it matters most.
Leadership & Organizational Development
Building and leading high-performing teams, fostering cross-functional partnerships, and driving organizational change in complex, matrixed organizations, from universities to nonprofits.
Content & Social Strategy
Shaping what an organization says and where it says it: editorial direction, social channels, and the storytelling that connects people to the mission.
Digital Strategy & Analytics
Connecting digital investment to institutional outcomes, from SEO, AEO, and GEO to paid media, analytics infrastructure, web governance, and data-informed campaign planning.
Research and Musings
All postsRecent writing.
- When You're Opportunity Rich, Where Do You Start?There's a particular kind of leadership challenge that doesn't get talked about enough. It's what happens when you step into an organization and realize there are more opportunities to improve, grow, and innovate than you could possibly tackle at once.Read
- An Amazing Employee Just Quit. I Couldn't Be Prouder.A few thoughts on developing people, supporting their ambitions, and remembering that we work to live.Read
- When Marketing Is Invited Too LateThe best marketing strategy in the world can't always rescue a poorly conceived organizational strategy. And yet we keep asking it to try.Read