I grew up in the country about 35 miles inland from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Outside of school, I took care of goats and hunting dogs, cleaned up after hurricanes, and was trusted with a chainsaw at an age that would make most parents very nervous these days. Went to a small public high school, under 100 kids in my graduating class. I marched in the band, played baseball, and was an honors student. And the summer before my senior year, I started dating the woman who would eventually become my wife.
I went to college at Coastal Carolina University. I commuted from home to start, but moved out midway through my freshman year and waited tables to make ends meet. Eventually landed an internship at LURHQ, one of the first managed security services providers (conveniently headquartered in Myrtle Beach!). My wife and I got hitched in a small ceremony at the family church, and honeymooned in Gatlinburg, Tennessee — the Myrtle Beach of the Smokies. Graduated cum laude with a double major in management and marketing, and went from intern to full-time Marketing Coordinator. Also, got a small dog!
When LURHQ merged with SecureWorks, we moved to Atlanta. SecureWorks needed product marketing, and inside of me is a giant geek who likes to make compelling arguments and explain things. So I became their first product marketer and eventually built out the team. We also built out our family: three kids in the span of a few years, no extended family nearby, mostly figuring it out as we went. The marketing team at SecureWorks was incredibly supportive through all of it. When Dell acquired SecureWorks, a lot changed. Eventually, the call came to lead marketing for PhishLabs in Charleston. It was a hard choice, but it was a chance to build from scratch and be closer to family.
We spent nearly a decade in Charleston, building PhishLabs from a founder-led operation into a scalable business that was eventually acquired by HelpSystems (now Fortra). Meanwhile, our family was growing fast in every sense. Three kids in constant motion, a Corgi rescue dog, and weekend escapes up I-26 to the mountains of western North Carolina that slowly got longer and more frequent. We fell in love with WNC. When our oldest was finishing elementary school, we realized the window was about to close: move before the kids got too old to uproot or stay put for a really long time. So we moved!
The WNC years have been full in the best way. We added a mini-Aussie to our family. We've also added horses. Yes, those large four-legged creatures that seem to grow into any budget. (I had hoped that a couple years of barn chores would cool our kids' enthusiasm about them, but they proved me wrong). The kids play viola, trumpet, and oboe. Our oldest wraps up her senior year this spring and heads to college in the fall, which is bringing up all kinds of feelings in our household.
Outside of work
Based in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where the mountains and waterfalls have a way of keeping things in perspective. When I’m not thinking about go-to-market strategy, I’m on a mountain bike trail, in the kitchen cooking something up, or being a barn dad. (Still can’t believe that part.)
I’m also a devoted builder of things — teams, brands, categories, companies. If that’s what you’re working on, I’d love to talk.