MEET MIKE

While I have collected some incredibly entertaining stories over my 25+ years, the first step in getting to know me might be understanding what I believe.

• Marketing is a sport. A team sport, full of obstacles and victories, challengers and fans who hunger for the show. Something exciting, meaningful, resonant and purposeful. Something that breaks through the chaos and connects. This holds true for colleagues, clients and consumers: different reasons, same need. This is the perspective I bring: passionate, charismatic, collaborative. Same and lame is a waste of time, so I consistently create processes to keep getting better, including concepting, skills, presentation, production, communication and camaraderie. As such, my leadership style is player-coach. I love to mentor, inspire, ideate, pitch and help ideas live, breathe, grow and succeed out in the world, including becoming a valuable client partner they trust.

• Originality wins. The idea that everything has been done before has never sat right with me. Much of our job is to entertain, inform, disrupt and convince. The idea that someone is pulling work from the recycling bin or scanning award portfolios for their carbon concept is already a losing proposition. Inspiration? Sure. But the idea that it's all been done runs opposite to everything I believe. Let's have fun, and invent shit that mesmerizes.

• Creativity lives, breathes and grows. Whether it's who I am or how I grew up in this industry, having one skill is a self-constructed fence. Throughout my career at mammoth agencies, mid-size shops, and small shops, I bring an insatiable determination to make the amazing. And that's not possible with a title written on your forehead. Inside every creative, there should be a fire to learn and create. While everyone should have a core talent, it is incredible what I have learned by expanding my skillset time and time again. Embracing not only innovation, but disciplines. Everything is interconnected, dependent. My greatest writing teacher is video editing. That goes double for directing. This isn't about doing everything. It's about the ability to inspire and problem-solve throughout the creative, production and pitching process. It's about seeing obstacles before they happen.

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• Personal. Dad, big UGA and Falcons football fan, basketball coach, charismatic, a bit of an Irish storyteller, a little loud (or so I am told), movie lover, big-stage presenter, always up for a great convo, or learning about anyone (it's how we all grow).

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  AGENCY  LEADERSHIP  

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GROWTH & ACQUISITION: Drove $85M in new account wins over 10 years.

OPERATIONAL SCALING: Expanded previous agency footprint from 70 to 250 employees.

ENTREPRENEUR: Founded LEGEND, a Creative Agency specializing in sports and entertainment marketing. Clients include Coca-Cola, AMB Sports & Entertainment, Global Payment, and SCANA Energy.

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AWARDS: Won top honors across diverse categories for integrated campaigns, experiential innovation, content, and commercials. Accolades include The Drum Awards, Chief Marketer, CTAM Top of the Mark Award, Addy Awards, and Telly Awards for iconic brands like LG, Netflix, Dolby Labs, Ménage à Trois, and SC Commerce.​​​​

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  RECENT HIGHLIGHTS  ​​​

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SUPER BOWL: Penned and produced an original live music performance for the NFL Owners' Super Bowl Event.

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CENTENNIAL YARDS: Led the brand identity design, guidelines, and launch activations for one of the largest urban revitalization projects in America.

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FORD'S LONGEST-RUNNING SPORTS PLATFORMS: Created Defend the Dome with the Atlanta Falcons and the NCAA Built Ford Tough Saturday series, both serving as multi-million dollar partnerships and the longest-running sports platforms for the brand.​

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RED ROBIN: Spearheaded creative strategy and influencer partnerships (including "Gastro Gauntlet" featuring Lorena Abreu and  "Red Handed" starring Elly De La Cruz campaign) to achieve record brand engagement.

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BEVERAGE: Named Full Throttle Energy Drink and served as the lead creative for the massive product launches of the Coca-Cola Fridge Pack, Diet Vanilla Coke, and POM Wonderful.

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  SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT  

​​SPORTS: Deep professional experience spanning ESPN, Fox Sports, the NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS, NASCAR, F1, CART, Turner Sports, WWE, AEW, and the PGA.

ESPN: Led ESPN commercial and promo creation for five years, directly collaborating with top-tier talent including Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Stuart Scott, Kenny Mayne, and Chris Fowler.

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  DIVERSE SKILLSET      

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• Documentary Directing: Progressive Insurance, NFL Atlanta Falcons, and Sutter Home

• Commercial Directing: ESPN, Whirlpool, Red Robin, Ford, South Carolina Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, and WWE

• Content Creation & Direction: Red Robin, Church's Chicken, Outback Steakhouse, Coca-Cola, and Ford

• Gaming: Ford

• Sports Collaborations: Kirk Kerbstreit, Elly De La Cruz, Matt Ryan, Tony Gonzalez, Chris Flower, Lee Corso, Mack Brown, Steve Spurrier, Kirk Smart, Nick Saban, Tommy Tuberville, Mark Richt, John Abraham, Roddy White, Mike Smith, Kenny Mayne, Lorena Abreu, Algae Crumpler, Ernie Johnson Jr., Gary Player, Dick Vitale

• Celebrity Collaborations: Danny Trejo, Timothy Olymphant, Ellen Muth, Jennifer Beals 

• Artist Collaborations: Wrote and produced original music alongside Platinum-selling artists, including Suzanne Vega, Lisa Loeb, and Kevn Kinney

• Original Music and Songwriting: Ford, Red Robin, Progressive, Civil Rights Museum, and the NFL Super Bowl

• Live Performance Production: NFL Super Bowl musical performance, Robin Thicke's NFL halftime performance

• Additional Expertise: Contract negotiation, celebrity talent negotiation, video editing, AI image creation, and AI video creation

• Presentation: Theatrical, strategic brand storyteller to both small and large audiences

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