Experience Counts when it's your marketing dollars

How I Got Here...

I've been doing this for 25 years. Started as a journalist, realized I liked eating regularly, and pivoted to advertising.

In 1997, I went to grad school at Texas Tech for mass communications. The timing was lucky—the internet was just becoming a thing, and I had access to fast connections most people didn't. I spent my nights learning web development and wrote my thesis on e-commerce before most people knew what that meant. (I'm now on the advisory board there, which still feels surreal.)

After graduating, I landed at Weber Shandwick—the world's largest PR firm—and got thrown into the deep end. Day one: manage SEO for American Airlines and Hewlett Packard. I had no formal training in SEO. Nobody did back then. So I learned it at night and fell in love with it. Unlike most marketing, you could actually prove it worked.

The role grew. I took on bigger clients, managed teams, and got pulled into crisis communications. On 9/11, I ran American Airlines' digital response and ghostwrote the CEO's public letter. That experience shaped how I think about brand reputation—you don't get to practice crisis management. You just have to be ready.

A few years later, I took a job leading a search marketing firm. It was a mess. But it taught me what not to do, and in 2007 I started WrightIMC. It was supposed to be a consultancy. Former clients had other plans. It became a full-service agency, and for 17+ years we've helped businesses actually make money online—not just "build awareness."

Along the way: ADDY-winning TV spots, multi-million dollar deals, clients ranging from scrappy startups to Disney, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft. I've seen how Fortune 10 companies operate, and I've helped small teams punch way above their weight.

TexasCMO brings me back to what I love most—sitting at the strategy table, not just executing tactics. I've got the WrightIMC team behind me when we need to build or execute. But this is about helping companies get senior marketing leadership without the $300K salary.

The award I'm most proud of? Texas Tech named me an Outstanding Alumnus in 2017. That one meant something.

Let's talk. I'd rather learn about your business than keep talking about mine.