Hi there, thanks for dropping in and getting this far. I’m sharing my story because I’d love for you to understand more of what’s behind The Known Collective and get a taste for why I’m doing this. This has been on my heart for many, many years, and I believe it might be something in your heart as well. Not to mention, it seems to make sense that you should have the chance to know the person behind a business named The Known Collective with a tagline of To Know and Be Known.

So here goes…

I started my career working for a three-person boutique PR firm that shared offices with the then formidable ad agency Fallon. Six months into the job, I pitched and won my first piece of business, a start-up snack food company called LesserEvil Brand Snacks.

I eventually took a job with LesserEvil as the fifth employee (official title: Chief Storyteller), working for some of the smartest and most creative people in the food and beverage business. I was there until we sold it – which happened in 2009 after the mess of the 2008 market, so there was no retiring early for anyone.

A month later, I got married while collecting unemployment, and a month after that, I joined a five-person research and strategy consultancy called Now What. It was there that I cut my teeth on qualitative and quantitative research, brand strategy and innovation, and working for corporations with layers upon layers of clients.

Six years into my stint as a strategist there, I took over as President and doubled the business in three years. I hired some of the most talented people in the world, and we brought on several blue-chip clients like Apple, Meta, Nike, Netflix, Google, et al. It was hard work, but I loved every minute of it.

Then COVID hit, and while we sustained and eventually kept growing the business, I got an itch to do something different, so I joined a good friend at his agency FiveStone. That was late 2022, and we sold it at the end of 2023 (again, no one is retiring here).

That leads to today and the founding of The Known Collective. It combines my two decades of experience in marketing and the things I’ve loved doing throughout my career – understanding what makes people tick and how they connect with brands, and vice versa; leveraging and building tech products and services that give us a deeper look into the hearts and minds of people; and connecting people and providing a forum to know and be known.

I also happen to believe that that last part is the greatest desire of every human: to know and be known. That’s how the name The Known Collective came to me. In our personal and professional lives, the root of most desires (again, my belief) is to really know others well, and to be known really well by others.

Before I finish up here, you should know that I’m not a tech guy. I’m not a product developer, and I’m certainly not a software engineer. I’m trained in the art and science of qual and quant research. I live and breathe brand strategy and product innovation. I know what makes people tick, I know how brands reach people. And I know just enough about technology to be dangerous. It’s also why I’ve brought on the people that know technology best – the engineers, product developers, AI experts, etc. When you work with us, you’re working with some of the best on both sides of insights and technology.

Lastly, I’m just like everyone else… I’m determined to know and be known. Drop me a note – I’d love to connect.