Profile
Experience
- Mar 2011 - PresentMentor / JumpStart Foundry
- Apr 2001 - PresentFounder / CEO / Creative Director / cabedge.com, LLC
- May 2011 - Nov 2011Founder, Jumpstart Foundry Participant / iAgree, Inc. (dba GoodJob)Originally created as a "promise facilitator" iAgree, Inc. was accepted into Jumpstart Foundry's inaugural class in May 2011 and has continued to evolve and has become GoodJob, a process/toolset for fast, formal and mobile documentation to impact a $370 billion/year corporate productivity problem by engaging and empowering employees with timely and consistent team communication.
How? On-the-spot mobile video. The same mobile video you probably have on that smart-phone in your pocket right now. The difference? GoodJob makes it extremely fast and easy to use. No complicated maze of screens, filters, or email addresses to navigate. Just a simple shoot, then save and they’re done.
Although my day-to-day focus is back on cabedge now, GoodJob continues to evolve as we seek HR communications partners and improve the process. - Jun 2005 - Dec 2007Founder & Co-Owner / Hot Faucet, LLCHotFacuet was a wild ride of ideas, utopian dreams and a whole lot of life lessons. The concept was based on the premise that my fellow founders and I knew what it took to assess, refine and transform ideas into businesses. We didn't charge for our services or receive any fees for securing financing. Instead, we invested our intellectual and human capital in return for an ownership share of each new venture.
Riding high on the bubble, we developed a nice business plan that involved real-estate. It started to get traction and some attention from the VCs. We even had an investor actually use the words, "I'm in boys!" while he downed a tiny little shot glass of some very expensive booze. A few short weeks later... POP! The bubble burst and the dream was... well... the dream was a darned good learning experience.
There sure were some good character building lessons in that one. - Mar 2000 - Apr 2001Creative Director / Weberize, Inc.This is where I learned the most important business lesson. It is important for a company to make more money than it spends. Seems like a pretty common sense thing to know. Unfortunately, in the time of the dot-bombs, nobody really followed that rule. I left before the bottom dropped out.
Responsibilities included Creative Direction, company self-promotion, and client branding /brand advocacy. - Feb 1999 - Aug 1999Manager of Interactive Design & Development / Buntin GroupManaged a department of 1 (me). This really meant doing everything myself. In the years prior to joining Buntin, I had done everything from Art/Creative Direction to Project Management and Account Management. After years of selling, managing, and directing, this was a great "awakening" for me, making me realize what I missed most ... design. I used this opportunity to re-learn the intricacies of the tools of design and further explore the new tools of interactivity.
- Sept 1995 - Feb 1999Partner & Creative Director / EdgeNet MediaMy actual title probably looked something like this .... Creative Director / Designer / Project Manager / Supervisor of Project Management / Account Executive.
After my company, The Creative Syndicate, merged with The Edge, we got very busy, very fast. It was essential that I fill whatever role needed the most help. When the company continued to grow bigger and more technology focused on one particular product, I chose to leave and explore more design related projects while retaining my shares of ownership in the company. - Aug 1994 - Sept 1995Founder & Lead Designer / The Creative Syndicate, Inc.The Creative Syndicate was a partnership of 3 key people specializing in print design and CD-ROM development. My specialty at the time was Print. Responsibilities included everything from design and account maintenance to accounting. Major accomplishment: Awarded the State of Tennessee's first Internet development contract.
The Creative Syndicate merged with The Edge to form EdgeNet Media. - Feb 1994 - Aug 1994Art Director / Comdata CorporationDesign and production of printed material for in-house marketing department. Primarily consisting of trade show and newsletter support material.
Comdata continued to be a client for 3 years after I founded The Creative Syndicate. - Dec 1992 - Feb 1994Designer / Acuity MarketingDesigned and produced newsletters and ads.
- Nov 1990 - Dec 1992Student Designer (Intern) / Western Kentucky University - Department of University RelationsDesign and paste-up production of official University Relations "propaganda".
- Jun 1991 - Sept 1991Production Artist (Intern) / Dye, Van Mol & LawrencePaste-up artist. (Yes, I did old-school paste-up and actually used a stat camera.)
Education
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1988 - 1992Western Kentucky University
Additional Information
Websites:
Honors:
* 2011 Best Places to Work award from the Nashville Business Journal (cabedge)
* 2011 Nashville Lifestyles Magazine - The Ones to Watch / 100 Reasons to Love Music City
* 2009 Nashville Business Journal's Forty under 40
* 2008 Nashville Business Journal - EO Young Entrepreneurs
* 2007 Best in Business Award
* 2007 Nashville's Future 50 Award
* 2007 Nashville Business Journal - Young Entrepreneurs Spotlight
* 2006 Best in Business Award
* 2006 Nashville's Future 50 Award
* Communication Arts' Site of the Week
* Yahoo's New and Notable
* USA Today "Hot Site"
* Macromedia’s Shocked Site of the Day
* Netscape’s What’s New Feature
* Lotus Top 100 US Internet Developers
* The Web Marketing Association's
* DesignInteract.com Insights Contributor & Feature
* A whole bunch of Addy Awards (50+ see http://cabedge.com/recognition/ That list includes a bunch of Graphic Design USA awards too.)
Interests:
Idea generating, crafting and growing entrepreneurial endeavors.
