“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”  — Maya Angelou  I woke this morning exhausted—Not physically, but emotionally. Rather than forcing an early wake-up call, I stayed in bed until it felt like a good time to wake up.  Around 6:30am, I went through the ritual of turning…

Beyond new resolutions and fresh mojo, I look forward to January for the forecasts. I get giddy to dive head first into Pinterest Predicts, Ford Forward, Pantone’s Color of the Year, and the hundreds of other corporate reports that take their best guesses at what’s coming in the new year.  But this year, I’m far…

Netflix thinks it knows what movie I’ll want to watch next. Amazon thinks it can guess when I’ll need a refill on dishwasher soap. Wayfair is convinced I need new blue bar stools.  Most of these predictions miss the mark. Nevertheless AI is no doubt a fascinating and powerful technology. And if I had to…

Can we talk about character development?  I’ve always envied the people who continue to read ‘the classics’ after high school. The art history friend nannying in York that can quote David Copperfield, the art house cinephile you almost dated that can’t get enough of Philip Roth — these are the kinds of ‘bookish’ people I’m talking…

Influence  Find me a person that doesn’t want to be more influential.  But influence can take many forms. I recently came across what feels like a landmark HBR article, titled Understanding “People” People. The article speaks to four interpersonal dimensions that give someone persuasive power. One dimension in particular caught my eye: Relational Creativity.  Creative…

I recently stumbled upon an intriguing essay prompt: “What is your personal ‘why’?”  It’s an interesting question,  and it took a few days of reflection to land an answer, but eventually the right words dawned on me. It’s a perspective, even an obsession, that I’ve carried with me for a while. So here goes. My…

From this pandemic two kinds of changes will continue to play out: COVID-19 “bumps” and more enduring behavioral shifts. Many brands are looking to emerging technology and trying to take their best bets. What new habits will stick? What new use cases will be invented from existing technology?  It’s anyone’s guess, but here are my…

This paper explores the evolving dynamics between our healthcare industry and the health & wellness economy. Questions of exploration include: What kind of crossover exists between  healthcare and health & wellness marketing and offerings? What challenges and opportunities can agencies expect with healthcare clients? ––– We have a global health crisis on our hands–proving to be the…

Understanding audiences is an important part of brand strategy. And working on a large financial brand, I’m constantly looking for new ways to map our client’s offerings to specific consumer needs.  This isn’t always easy. Sometimes it takes both research and a leap of the imagination to look beyond what a client thinks they’re selling…

Part 1: The Premise  This past January I was planning my birthday only two weeks after the real date, which is pretty good for me. The plan was to enjoy some cocktails with a collection of my closest friends. Pretty typical, except I couldn’t help but see this gathering as an opportunity for good ol’…

From online to off, we’re crafting new ways to find “our” people. Last year, The Verge proclaimed, “the old promise of the internet — niche communities, human connection … never really lost its appeal, but [in 2017] [the desire for us to realize that promise] came back with a miniature vengeance.” They couldn’t have read…