Stay Ready. Stay Agile. Build the Future.

Today, more than ever, agility isn’t optional.

Whether you’re at a startup, a Fortune 500, or leading your own company—in digital, tech, data, marketing, HR, operations- doesn’t matter - staying ready, staying sharp, and staying willing to evolve is what makes the difference.

ESPECIALLY in challenging times, new markets emerge, industries transform. Opportunities open up when you least expect them.

Success doesn’t come from avoiding change, it comes from building solutions that match the moment—and being ready for the next one.

Throughout my journey, this has been a constant theme.

At United Parks & Resorts (SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, etc.), I led what started as post-pandemic tech and data initiatives—to grow FAST! - now we’re working on the next era of data and technology capabilities.

At PetSmart, the pandemic hit and drove a surge in pet adoptions and supply needs, and with an amazing team, we pivoted immediately—accelerating technology and data to meet customers where they were, and personalize at scale.

At Denny's, among many things, we launched my baby, Dennys on Demand—one of the first online ordering platforms for family dining—because we saw the shift to convenience and control, long before it became table stakes.

(even experimenting with Alexa and Twitter ordering before it was mainstream, thanks to Ben Lamm's Conversable - before he started bringing back the Mammoth…)

Before I joined Dennys, I had a transformative experience at SuperShuttle and ExecuCar the company that pioneered shared ride/ low cost transportation. Blue van, white wing - Need a Lift? We had a great team, working our asses off to compete with this, at the time, a small startup called UberTaxi that started eating away at our SF market. 

Unfortunately there was nothing the best analyics and digital, marketing and partnerships from Ken Testani, the most beautiful design from Brett Williams and seamless technology from Matt Blackmon could do long term to stave off the new business model of Uber/Lyft.  So many lessons learned, and relationships built during that wild time.

Sure, studying innovation at Stanford and cloud transformation at MIT helped, but adapting to change didn’t start with billion-dollar brands or fancy schools.

While making money in high school and figuring out what I wanted to do with my life after, I learned early the power of showing up, stepping into new opportunities—whether as a gym attendant, retail associate, enrollment specialist, sales associate (trained by an up and coming Grant Cardone) or a field marketer for MuscleMilk -driving a branded Jeep to Ironman competitions and gyms...

Each role taught me something critical: how to learn fast, how to build relationships, and deliver value to customers.

That mindset naturally led to launching early entrepreneurial ventures like Almost Funny Media (early print on demand e-commerce) and consulting small businesses —from a green energy startup, to my friend Mike's Insurance company (where I got my first chief title and he’s still kicking ass today) to innovative alternative mental health clinics that pioneered ketamine infusion treatments over a decade ago - and Kevin is still saving lives today —learning to navigate new industries by diving in, listening, and delivering value.

Every opportunity I’ve had, both internal and external, has been the result of moving toward change, not away from it.

Stay ready. Stay bold. Your next breakthrough could be one step away.