21 Oct AbouttheWork is About Connecting Best of Breed Agencies and Brands

I’m not sure how much of a believer I am in astrology, but I do find that being born under the sign of Cancer has a particular prescience. Looked at from some distance, my career path has progressed in a somewhat sideways trajectory, rather crab-like. I went from being an athlete to an artist, but always with a parallel interest in business. I started my first company at twenty-three, representing aspiring fashion photographers in New York City in the 80’s. This was followed by a string of executive positions in restaurants, nightclubs and running high profile events for celebrity chefs such as Daniel Boulud and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. All the while pursuing a career as an actor, director and producer.

My game plan was that I didn’t have a game plan. I just followed my interests and passions, which I’ve come to learn fall under the umbrella of curiosity. I’m interested in connecting with people and enjoy connecting people with common interests that can help each other achieve greater creativity, prosperity and ultimately, joy.

Finding my way into business development was a lovely accident, facilitated by a like-minded traveler, Timothy Askew, founder of Corporate Rain International. In 1995, we began with 3 clients, and ended the year with less than $100,000 in billings. By the end of 2003, CRI had over 40 employees, had executed well over 200 contracts and generated nearly $2 million in billings. As vice president of the northeast region I was responsible for leading our client teams, as well as bringing in new clients in territory that included – New York City Metro Area, Boston, Philadelphia and eastern Ohio. My role demanded all the skills and experience I had acquired to that point. It fed my passion for creativity, competition and connection.

After eight exciting years at CRI, I received an offer from a former client, Steve Schwartz, to join Schwartz Communications and turbo charge their business development efforts to take advantage of the demand for agency PR to support the rising wave of innovative technology and healthcare companies, particularly in the Boston area. I left the city I loved and never imagined I’d leave, but it turned out to be the right move. In my five years at Schwartz, we enjoyed double digit growth and grew our offices in Boston and San Francisco, as well as opened new offices in the UK and Sweden.

My curiosity and passion for new challenges then led me to Mullen, just as the entire agency was reinventing itself at the advent of the digital age. At Mullen, I was fortunate to be able to champion ground breaking work that embodied the digital revolution, bringing together disparate marketing disciplines that had historically very little interaction. This convergence of science and art, and the subsequent tension was creative alchemy, and challenged me to present work in more specific and targeted ways.

I’m excited to have arrived at this new chapter of my career to be free to connect the “best of breed” – creative, communications and media agencies with the brands they can both do their best work with. My desire is to align myself with clients that I can truly be a partner in growth with and who will take advantage of the opportunities that I’m able to facilitate with my personal and relentless approach to business development. If your new business efforts need to be recharged and truly support your business objectives, please give me a call.  Be well and good fortune! Best, David