After a childhood in Brussels, Tokyo and Paris, my family moved to the East Coast and then Malibu, California for my father's job as VP of Warner Bros. Growing up in L.A. was cool but I wanted to live on the East Coast. Once I graduated from UCLA, I moved to Boston and started my career in advertising at two of Boston’s hottest agencies with some of the region’s greatest talent. Then a client hired me as Director of Marketing and I stayed on the client side in consumer goods, retail and media before returning to the agency side with the dawn of interactive—which I love. A stint as Director of Marketing at a full-service law firm gave me a surprisingly good opportunity to be creative in almost every type of marketing, growing the firm’s billings nearly 40% in four years.
What I love about marketing is being fresh and generating new ideas that inspire the audience. I love great creative backed up by a solid well-thought-out plan, seamless execution and—best of all—collaborating with smart people to grow good ideas into great ones. I have been fortunate to lead numerous organizations to powerful positions that have consistently exceeded revenue goals.
My other creative pursuits inform my marketing work (and vice versa), whether it is getting the steps in the right order (sewing), what works/does not work visually and explaining it to others (designing and making jewelry), or effective written expression (voracious reading).
How it shaped my viewpoint
- Seeing from many different perspectives
- Understanding all kinds of clients and audiences
- Thinking both creatively and with discipline
- Observing what works--or doesn’t—in many situations
- Being sensitive to the message and moment