My Story

Early hands-on

With this practicum of real-world experience to draw on, it was time to bring my knowledge to a new level. Earning an MBA at the Yale School of Management was the ideal vehicle. The curriculum there was heavy on analytical rigor: including regression analysis, segmentation modeling, and conjoint analysis. For two intensive years I ate, slept and breathed marketing. While the coursework was demanding, I loved it and excelled in the process.

My Yale tenure also included a stint as a Summer Associate at Goldman Sachs. Being introduced to Goldman's 'open architecture' model, I began thinking about its application to the marketing community. Goldman advisors were trained to be a client's financial quarterback. A point person who looked to niche investment specialists to do what they do best, while directing the overall effort to meet the client's specific investment objectives. It was about finding the best possible solution for the client, and not about pushing product.

Upon graduation from Yale, I returned to my roots in Rhode Island as the Chief Marketing Officer at a $275MM Federal Savings Bank. Armed with a sizable $15MM annual marketing budget, the challenge was to craft a marketing strategy that would best put these funds to use. During my 5-year tenure at the Bank I spearheaded all customer acquisition and retention efforts, rebranded the Bank's commercial lending division, and helped create a long-term strategic plan that quadrupled the division's revenues and net income within a three-year period. In 2008, the Bank became the 5th largest USDA lender and the 26th largest SBA 7(a) lender in the country with $100MM+ in annual lending volume.

Looking back on this valuable work experience, I'm most proud of transforming a productcentric, single-channel-dependent, qualitative marketing department into a customer-centric, quantitative, ROI-driven team that worked closely with a network of trusted best-of-breed partners.

During my time at the Bank, I perceived the need for a marketing solution that truly placed the client's interests first. Like most CMOs, I was constantly pitched by ad agencies and marketing consulting firms who all were hoping to win a slice of my sizable marketing budget. Unfortunately, I was continually let down by the same-old powerpoint presentations, which were seldom backed by bottom-line results and accountability. After every pitch, I felt as if these 'partners' were more interested in pushing me their product - as opposed to providing an unbiased solution that directly impacted my bottom line.

Thinking back to my 'open-architecture' experience at Goldman Sachs, and drawing from my quantitative grounding at Yale, I decided to strike out on my own. The result is my latest venture, TribalVision: an outsourced marketing department for hire that helps small to midsize companies market smarter. TribalVision's business model is designed to break as many industry standard rules as possible, with the intent to fully align our interests with those of our clients. This is demonstrated by our transparent compensation structure, our flexible engagement levels, our metrics-driven approach, and our role as a company's unbiased and trusted advisor.

My quest to help forward-thinking companies market smarter in an objective way is just beginning. A bona fide marketing revolution is in full force. The tools to drive this process are becoming more numerous, robust and sophisticated with each passing day. And for the first time, the small business owner can take part and play in the game.

If you're a small or mid-size business with a desire to become a leader in your category, we should talk. And soon.