Information Technology and Digital Marketing Professional
Jack of all trades, master of fun.
What I'm about
- I design, build, and live with care and passion.
- I create brand identities and experiences.
- I tell stories for both humans and machines.
- I combine data and experience for results.
- I value both process and outcome equally.
- I celebrate mistakes and victories.
- I collaborate, guide, and learn nonstop.
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Foundry81 is my playground.
Welcome.
I’ve built systems, managed IT and digital media departments, and developed websites and digital experiences for the education, publishing, and technical service industries for over 20 years.
My earliest role in IT included working alongside former IBM executives involved with IBM Global Services and corporate finance. As a result, my approaches to IT management have always aligned well with organizations requiring performant and fault-tolerant solutions – including managed service providers.
During the beginning of my career, I concentrated on building highly-available networks in response to 9/11, earned several certifications, including a Microsoft Windows 2003 MCSE early achiever credential, and was the tech lead on BizTech 2.0, an online entrepreneurship platform recognized as a 2005 CODiE Awards finalist in the best secondary education category.
I moved on to the publishing industry in 2007, unintentionally beginning a new phase of my career and introducing digital media management and production into daily work.
Time in publishing allowed me to become more involved in the building of digital properties, leading to a Webby Awards Honorable Mention for community-building work performed on Latina.com in 2009.
In 2016, I received the call from an award-winning NYC-based MSP, Valiant Technology and went being a former client to a team member as their Senior Developer - before moving on to managing hosting infrastructure for clients with regulatory needs.
My final four years with Valiant included a brand refresh, leading marketing and communications efforts, multiple industry spotlights, and the development of an MSP website that earned millions of page views per month in 2022.
My exposure to the MSP community and involvement in events led to time with Ray Orsini’s MSP Media Network, focusing on content production and live industry events throughout 2023, and the work I perform for the greater community today.
MSP Marketing & Communications
No longer an admin; not a pure marketer. Something in between. Equally comfortable in front of Hubspot or a bash shell.
The solutions I deliver combine workplace experience with several disciplines developed over the course of my life.
I sat on a technology curriculum advisory board before I was old enough to drink, assisted in teaching computer science classes before I could drive, and disassembled my first input device before I could read.
My earliest interactions with Managed Service Providers span back to 2005.
Since then, I've hired, replaced, collaborated with, and worked for MSPs, vendors, and other industry organizations.
I understand the needs of their customers, have experienced the security incidents first-hand and get a lot of satisfaction from sharing my experiences that help MSPs and vendors, and their customers, grow.
What I Provide
- Digital Marketing
- Creative Direction
- Branding & Identity
- Web Development
- Content Production
- Product Design
Inbound programs that get results.
Managed service providers come to me after working with agencies, consultants, and specialists without getting results that lead to growth, increased recurring revenue, or other business goals.
I work with you to define targets, create content marketing strategies, and prioritize channels to raise awareness and remain top-of-mind with your targets, providing you with a competitive advantage.
Best of all, my approaches come with 15+ years of managing IT for small businesses and being a long-time MSP customer and team member. Experience working on both sides of the fence means I know how to make the lawn green for everyone.
Creativity is a competitive advantage.
Managed service providers are more than tech support; they align technology with business goals, ensure healthy IT operations, and identify and mitigate risk. Templates, predefined workflows, and other methods of ensuring outcomes are great for your customers – but make your MSP look no different from others when applied to marketing efforts.
I work with you to find new ways to gain the attention of target markets with approaches unique to your brand and offerings. I get to know what makes you tick; not your tech stack, but your motivations, goals, and favorite types of customers – and find ways to express ideas in ways that get your business noticed by your targets.
Be seen as you want to be – today and tomorrow.
A strong brand is much more than a clever logo; it’s the entire experience your business provides clients. Your brand is how you communicate, connect with your targets, and, most importantly – how they’ll remember you.
I work with managed service providers (and vendors) to develop exciting brands that accurately represent a business’ offerings and intent. All branding projects include usage guidelines to ensure consistency among materials and communications to help create an experience that attracts your ideal clients.
Broken sites can be fixed. Good sites can become great.
I spent close to a decade building and maintaining high-traffic websites for publishing companies. Creating impactful websites for managed service providers is probably more alike than you'd think.
Creating new or updating existing sites to build organic traffic, getting visitors on the right pages to generate leads and improve conversion rates for sales teams. Optimizing your infrastructure for low initial response times, proper indexing, and a user experience that stands apart from the competition is no longer a luxury.
I work with MSPs, combining my experience from being a client and team member, with my varied skill sets to create websites that are designed to get your target markets excited to work with you.
Find the perfect way to communicate with your target market
Blog posts, long-form reports, guides, and downloadable resources like checklists are ideal assets for both marketing programs and sales teams to have at their disposal. Publish case studies and success stories that show prospects why they need to work with you.
Recorded and live-streamed video production provides MSPs with new ways to connect with their targets and provide a richer experience. Get your target market to know you well before your first conversation.
I work with MSPs and their strategic partners to create engaging content to support their marketing and sales teams - and deliver assets that spark business growth.
Stand out at conferences, trade shows, and client’s desks
Branded goods are fantastic marketing assets that effortlessly bring visibility and personality to your brand. From booth setups for conferences to apparel design and production, your brand will be more than just seen.
I work with MSPs and vendors to create products and other assets that are unquestionably them, often difficult for the competition to recreate, and appreciated by recipients.
Looking for more unique items for a giveaway or to show your appreciation to clients? I can work with you to locate, design, and fabricate memorable products you’ll be proud to associate with your brand.
Who I've Worked With
Links and mentions around the World Wide Internets
IT Horror Fest: Session 1
Coffee Chat Live for MSPs
Top MSP marketing tools to generate leads
LCI Weekly Workshop: Branding your MSP
Episode 001: It's hip to be square
Aquatics
Blood, Sweat, and Ink.
Screen printing has been a hobby of mine for over 15 years.
I spent my youngest years in screen printed 80s Marvel tees because my Mother worked for a company that held a license to produce them.
Brands like Freshjive were a staple of my teens and twenties, and taught me that what we put on our chest can be just as impactful as our actions and words – or the things we sometimes need to get off of our chest.
Taking an idea from concept to a wearable garment is a rewarding process that requires multiple skill sets, patience, and a ton of emulsion.
In 2008, I worked with a group of friends to build a clothing label that was a planned mistake from the beginning. ledouche* clothing raised eyebrows, garnered numerous awards (in the form of cease and desist letters) and caught the attention of a Korean media outlet.
Today, have a 6-color, 2-station press along with a 36’’ exposure unit, heat press, and drying oven for personal projects, limited edition shirt runs, and teaching beginner classes during the summer months.
Looking to have a limited run of shirts produced for a special event? Drop me a line.
Small Electronics and Keyboards
Living That Sn40/PB60 Life.
I've had a fascination, since I was a kid, around how electronics work.
I developed a strong respect for electricity after jamming a fork or two into an outlet, found Radio Shack, and have been building and improving things since.
I'm a strong proponent of Right to Repair and voiding warranties makes me giggle.
I build custom keyboards for people looking for solutions that help with repetitive stress injuries, fatigue, and other forms of damage that can make typing uncomfortable, help plan activities in the MSP community, and enjoy teaching others how to do the same for themselves.
I also collaborate on IoT projects with members of the MSP community, figuring out creative ways to solve problems and introduce automation while learning something new.
Aquatics
Aquatics
& Hydro
I won a feeder goldfish at a carnival in 1988 that lived for over six years. A decade later, I started a 55gal freshwater aquarium and it's still running a quarter century later.
Creating closed environments that allow organisms to thrive is a rewarding experience. It’s an exercise in patience, demonstration that keen observation and minor adjustment can lead to great results, and is just beautiful to look at.
Oh, and there’s the Shrimp Gang over at the SHRIMPHAUS. You should check them out when you're done here.
I also spend time working on deep water culture hydroponics projects and even ran a hydroponics cabinet at Valiant Technology that led to a big staff lunch including a salad that was grown under my desk. Did I invent the Desk Salad?! Did that just become a thing?
