I co-founded a company at 22, spent 11 years building inside Nationwide's Innovation division, and never once considered leaving Columbus to do it. Here's why I think Drive needs someone like that right now.
I co-founded a company at 22 and sold it two years later. I know what it feels like to build something from nothing, make decisions without a playbook, and convince people to believe before there's proof. When I'm building brand narrative for Drive's portfolio founders, I'm not guessing at what that experience feels like. I've been there.
Built UQ Marketing from a Skype call with a co-founder who was living in Seattle. We drove across the country visiting 10 campuses to get it off the ground. Grew it and sold it. That experience shaped how I think about everything.
I spent 11 years inside one of the largest insurance companies in the country, but I never operated like it. I built and led high-performing teams executing real AI capabilities, moved fast inside a slow industry, and kept a culture of curiosity alive in a place that could have crushed it.
Early in my career I led digital marketing for a beloved Columbus brand, growing their online presence and learning how to connect a community to something they already loved. Brand work for an iconic local business teaches you things a corporate job never will.
After losing my mom, I started building a web app where families can create a page for someone they've lost and invite people to share stories and memories over time. I'm building it because I needed it to exist. That's the only reason I've ever built anything worth building.
I've spent my career translating complicated ideas into language that actually lands with the people who need to hear it. That's the core of what this role requires.
I didn't end up in Columbus. I chose to build my career here because I believed great work could happen here. When I tell Drive's story about building greatness in your own backyard, I know exactly what that means.
Twelve years in, $2B+ in AUM, Duolingo on Nasdaq, $500M returned to LPs in a single week. That's not a scrappy bet anymore. That's a proven thesis. And that kind of moment — when what you always believed starts showing up in the numbers — deserves a brand that's as confident as the track record behind it.
There's also a real opportunity to bring new audiences into the story. Founders already know Drive. But the institutional investors, the capital allocators, the people who fund the funds — that's a conversation that's just getting started. Someone needs to build it.
"The Driveway thesis was a prediction. It came true. I want to help tell that story."
That's what excites me about this role. Not just maintaining what's been built, but helping Drive step into what it's already become.
I've already started thinking through a POV on how and where the Drive brand shows up, what to amplify, and what events I'd propose building — including what the 2027 TAM in NYC could look like. I'd love to share all of it over coffee.
Let's find 20 minutes