As a media executive I've closed up to eight figure deals deals with broadcasters and production companies on six continents and worked with billion dollar brands.
As an entrepreneur, I co-founded and ran a craft brewery in Saigon.
As a lifelong learner and lover of systems and processes, I've earned certifications in Scrum and Scaled Agile Framework.
I also love spreadsheets.
Originally from Minnesota, I grew up learning to take pride in a job well done and to view every setback as a learning experience.
I began my career in television as an assistant, working my way up to Director of International Sales at Mark Burnett Productions thanks to a combination of metaphorical sweat, an incredible mentor, and being in the right place at the right time.Â
Wanting to spread my wings, I moved to Singapore and joined FremantleMedia. I closed six and seven figure deals with partners including JetStar Asia, Las Vegas Sands Corp, Tune Hotels, Air Asia, and Unilever, and I spearheaded launching projects including Apprentice Asia and Asia's Got Talent.
The entreprenurial bug bit me hard, and I co-founded a brewery in Vietnam where I looked after almost everything initially and built an amazing team who later took the reigns of various departments and later all day to day with incredible hard work and zest.
I returned to Minnesota and figured out what I wanted to do next. I worked in housing (becoming a Certified Manager of Community Associations), contingent labor (becoming a Certified Contingent Workforce Professional), and even had a brief stint as a consultant. Eventually, I decided to get back into media and looked after content partnerships for Red Bull where I managed relationships with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and slew of other streamers and production companies.
I love to learn. I grew up scouting (reaching the rank of Eagle at the age of 14) and I will always remember a quote from scoutings founder "don't be content with the what; get to know the why and the how." That fits me to a T.
I make spreadsheets any time I can find an excuse. They help me understand and analyse everything. I even have one that takes the cost of all my coffee objects and ingredients and amortizes them across the number of coffees I've made (an IoT button helps track).
I love to create: systems, contraptions, frameworks, and I love a decision tree.
If you haven't noticed, I write my name in all lowercase, and I often get asked "why?" I wish there were a more profound answer, but I honestly just think it looks prettier that way.
I took a screenwriting class in college, and used the industry standard screenwriting software Final Draft. It used the font "Courier" and didn't automatically capitalize my name the way Microsoft Word did. I liked the way it looked so much, I started using it everywhere. After about two years, I made it official and had my name legally changed to all lowercase. That was almost 20 years ago.
I won't be bothered if you don't write my name in all lowercase, but I'll always appreciate it when you do.