Keeping the joy at work

From promoting the music video I made while working at a gas station, to running publications for fast-growing tech startups and Fortune 500 companies, I've been doing some form of online marketing for the past 15 years. But that's not where it started. Originally, I was a career actor, having trained to find that balance between drama and comedy. It was only after graduating from the New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts, moving home, getting kicked out of my house (What?! I knew everything at 20!), and landing myself on buddy's couch that I found my love for online marketing. The story goes like this. While I was paying $100/month in rent for the couch, I worked at the gas station across the street. Knowing this would be one of the only opportunities I'd have to meet people from all walks of life, I did my best to be friendly with everyone. Ultimately, this lead to two things: 1. Meeting a band who would let me shoot their music video for them (more on that later) 2. Getting recruited into my first tech startup I followed the band around for a Summer and recorded everything knowing I'd cut it together to make a music video to promote their upcoming release. I remember thinking, "If nobody sees this then the whole summer would have been for nothing." so I learned all sorts of ways to promote it. Back at the gas station, a recruiter from a local tech startup said they liked my personality and thought I should work for them. I became a part of their 3 person marketing department that brought them from $1mm to $5mm in revenue in the year. After that year I left. The money made them lose their integrity. And so, it was back to the gas station and eventually selling cell phones. The cell phone job got cut short after a silly incident involving a pair of pants (which we should talk about at some point) that lead to me getting fired for the first time since I started working at 13. I knew I could do better, so I bet on myself. I took my laptop with a crack in the screen from corner to corner and got to work. Two weeks later, on January 24th, 2009, I got my first client. Ever since, I've had opportunities that have allowed me to travel the world, work with Emmy Award winners and New York Times published authors, and some of the smartest minds in fintech and ecommerce. I've built publishing operations that have generated millions in revenue and have scaled to markets around the world. I'm grateful for how far I've come, and am excited about what comes next.

As a product marketing professional, my goal is to do everything I can to move the business forward quickly and efficiently. What that specifically entails will always vary a bit, but in general my product marketing focuses will include: • Understand our customer's needs, market trends, and competitive forces • Develop product positioning and messaging that differentiates our portfolio and tells the right story across a range of audiences • Implement go-to-market strategies that maximize growth. • Coordinate successful, integrated launches of new products and capabilities • Work with Product Management & Sales Leadership to influence the product development roadmap, and product packaging & pricing • Deliver ongoing sales enablement including training, competitive intelligence, and product education • Optimize the buyer journey from customer acquisition, adoption, and through customer success • Lead content creation for outbound marketing campaigns, website content, product videos, webinars, customer case studies, and more • Support media outreach, analyst briefings and social marketing initiatives

I'm the founder of Automated Creative which turns a brand's media impressions into marketing intelligence. We analyse conversational themes in social and then create ads that respond to each one. AC's clients include Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Fever-Tree, Church & Dwight, Reckitt, Campari, Wickes, Adidas, GSK, Samsung, Bose, KFC, Upfield, and NCS. Here's a little more info - https://automatedcreative.net/creds I also host of the 'Shiny New Object' podcast which explores the future of marketing with the industries’ leaders. Listen to it here - https://automatedcreative.net/shiny-new-object-marketing-innovation-podcast My other passion is recording a show called 'Advertisers Watching Ads' where each week brands watch other brand's ads. Watch it here - https://automatedcreative.net/advertisers-watching-ads-marketing-videos

With over eleven years of experience leading post-sales Customer Success teams at Adobe, Tom runs an organisation that is passionately committed to ensuring the success of Enterprise Customers on the Adobe Document and Creative Cloud platforms. Currently acting as the Director of Customer Success & Services EMEA, Tom strategically oversees the delivery of deployment, adoption, value, and retention initiatives across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Tom is known for his innovative thinking and problem-solving skills, always in pursuit of new ways to improve processes and address business challenges with optimal efficiency. His enthusiasm lies in global leadership, relationship building, and empowering his team to surpass collective goals. Tom is driven by a continuous quest for learning, always eager to acquire new skills and methodologies that elevate customer success and fuel organizational growth. Outside of work, Tom enjoys spending time with his family in Gloucestershire and is a keen long distance runner, taking part in several Marathon and Ultramarathon events.

A little amount myself, I am a landlord turned tech founder who saw a gap in the market where my new tenants had a bit of a learning curve to discovering amenities that matched their lifestyle needs. Growing up in a generation where 'The Welcome Wagon' played a prominent role in my immigrant family upbringing I wanted to build something that focused on a positive end-user experience when onboarding into a new community. Dwellcome facilitates that, it's a way for someone to create curated neighborhood guides for someone else to help them get their feet wet in their new neighborhood after moving. At the same time, we know a house doesn't make a home it's the people within it that do. We feel the same way about the communities around us, it's the stores, restaurants, and amenities that make an area very livable. With Dwellcome we want to support local businesses by giving amenities a platform to be discovered, have a digital presence and be notified when a new resident moves into their area and give them the opportunity to connect with them.