There I was…wandering around in a graveyard.

I had no idea what I was doing. I was given this SEO assignment as the final part of my interview process with Spreadshirt, a global e-commerce DTC company that sold t-shirts. I just turned down teacher tenure at the New York City Department of Education and was scrambling to get a job. Any job. Entry level. Whatever. I applied to over a hundred job postings. I was considering going back to school to become an electrician or plumber or anything. I had wasted $98k on a master’s degree about 5 years earlier and it was time to pay the student loan piper. This SEO Coordinator role at Spreadshirt was my only option, and I didn’t even know what SEO was before I applied.

Like I said, there I was…wandering around in a graveyard close to my apartment trying to understand what a “landing page” was and what “optimizing” it entailed. This was in 2011 and ChatGPT was just a glint in Sam Altman’s eye so I couldn’t prompt engineer my way out of this. The tombstones were my version of AI (they didn’t respond to any of my prompts). I threw something together, sent it off to the hiring manager, and hoped for the best. Surprisingly, I got the job and thus began my career as an accidental marketer.

My original plan was to go into politics. During my senior year at Rutgers I interned in Washington, DC and loved running into people like Hillary Clinton (technically I rode an elevator with her) and Donald Rumsfeld (um, maybe I shouldn’t mention him) and John Lewis (such a special man near and dear to my heart). But I didn’t like not having a life, nor being tribute for the DC hunger games. So I did what any sane person with a BA in political science would do: I went to seminary and tried my hand at religious studies. I moved to Denver, CO and obtained a Masters of Divinity degree. My seminary education gave me special powers like being able to walk on water and turn water into wine and speak ancient Greek and Hebrew. I had God on speed dial. But I didn’t feel right taking advantage of my divine powers for personal gain. I tried being a NYC public school teacher next. For 3 years I taught 6th and 7th grade english language arts, social studies, and science. What I learned is that middle school students are not “children.” Nor are they “human.” Nor was my sanity worth the salary I was paid. “The worst thing about [school] was the Dementors. They were flying all over the place and they were scary and they’d come down and they’d suck the soul out of your body and it hurt!” I turned down tenure.

Fast forward to 2016.

I wasn’t all that bad as a marketer. I headed up North America marketing for Spreadshirt and was on my way to being promoted and relocated to global headquarters in Germany. The only problem was I couldn’t uproot my family (spouse and two young daughters) and take them to a foreign country. So I decided to leave Spreadshirt and stay in the US. I accepted a position as Director of Marketing at a competitor. I would be their first marketing hire.

Then, on August 10, 2016…

Wham! I got hit by a car while crossing the street. I blacked out for 10 days, but according to the police reports I was flung into the air and then run over. I suffered a traumatic brain injury with 2 skull fractures, dislocated shoulder, and lots of broken bones in my face. I almost died. When I “woke up” I was being transported to a rehab facility. I learned that apparently during those 10 days I claimed to be the President of the United States and tried to escape the hospital multiple times before they put restraints on me.

My greatest fear was that I had somehow “lost my marketing edge” with my brain injury. I had short term memory loss and aphasia. How could I possibly run a marketing program at this new company if I couldn’t trust my brain? Well, long story short, after years of rehab and therapy I realized that I could trust my brain and still excel in marketing. But..

Now I run a one-person business that helps overwhelmed marketers or founders who have to juggle marketing duties identify, develop, and scale their marketing programs. When I’m not working on my business, I’m a mentor to digital marketers and a consultant for start-ups and early stage ventures. I do this because I’ve been lucky enough to work with amazing colleagues. I’ve had excellent mentors who’ve taken me under their wings and taught me how to think, how to learn, how to lead, how to execute, and how to be the best version of myself. I am indebted to all these people who have dramatically impacted my life for the better.