I’ve worked in a variety of industries, working to put myself through college, and then my first jobs thereafter. My first job (beyond cutting grass for the brother of Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Penn Warren), was as the manager of all loan documentation for the largest bank in Clarksville, Tennessee, before becoming a self-contract worker, reading meters for the Clarksville Dept. of Electricity. It’s a good thing I love dogs!
Soon after getting married I took a job with the J. Peterman Company, working in what was then called Special Services, This meant I was good at listening to upset customers vent, then making things all better. John Peterman was a brilliant direct-mail marketer. I learned an incredible amount just watching him daily. His motto was, and remains: Absolution Satisfaction. Guaranteed.
From the Lexington, Kentucky area, my wife Kimberly and I relocated to the small town of Crossville, Tennessee. She became the Music Director for the Crossville First United Methodist Church, and I soon became the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the Cumberland County Playhouse, a regional theater with many young folks who later make their way to Broadway and Hollywood. Bob Gunton, the warden from The Shawshank Redemption, got his acting start there.
At the Playhouse, I worked with and learned from an incredible number of very talented people, the primary of those being the Producing Director Jim Crabtree, a wonderful storyteller and creative person.
This Yale theatre graduate has spent his life in the theater, beginning on stage as a child actor with the great Helen Hayes (“The First Lady of the American Theatre”) as both of Jim’s parents were involved in Broadway and television.
The bulk of my professional career was spent with the Cosby Harrison Company. CHC began in 1937 as a publishing company. I spent a handful of years in Creative Services, and 17 years in web development, working primarily in front end design and coding, analytics, SEO, and tradeshow marketing in Scotland, Norway, and across the U.S.
In 2020, with the company in its fourth generation of management, the board decided to sell out to its competitor, sending me back into the freelance world—and on the job-hunting trail—for full-time employment. The COVID pandemic brought hiring to a bit of a stand-still, and the next few years were challenging to find a good fit for my skills and interests living in a small town on the Cumberland Plateau.
I worked long-distance on the beautiful campus of Midway University for a time as their Web and Digital Marketing Strategist. Ultimately, as much as I loved the work and the school, I simply wanted to be closer to home, since I was working there during the week and commuting home four hours, one way, each weekend to be with my wife.
My most recent professional positions were with businesses in the Nashville area. For a time I was the Digital Marketing Production Manager for the Pediatric Dental Practices of Specialty Dental Brands. In addition to managing 45+ websites, I wrote, optimized, and posted blogs for all websites of the company (three verticals: practices for Pediatrics, Orthodontics, and Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons), which averages out to about 70 blog posts a week.
They were still in start-up mode and transitions occurred that meant the release of the department I work with. Thankfully, I quickly caught on with a logistics company in Brentwood. However, this company was also soon to re-structure, which meant my new team was no more. That’s corporate America!
On the personal side, I love music and I’ve played trumpet around Nashville and Middle Tennessee with a variety of jazz combos, theater pit orchestras, and brass groups. I enjoy sports, museums, visual and motion design, reading, live theater, music theory, and a good dog. And really, isn't "good dog" redundant? I love dogs.
I would love to talk to you about full-time work if it involves telling your story. Let's grab a tea or coffee, and I’ll enjoy my usual Diet Coke (I'm not a coffee drinker). Don’t hold that against me and I’ll pick up the tab! Contact me for my résumé, work samples, references, or if you have a freelance project you would like for me to tackle!
