I started my career on a world-class marketing team at a fashion company with a big budget, a high profile, and brand discipline so intense that everything on our desks had to be Pantone-approved. It was the best possible training in how to build a brand that feels polished, consistent, and unforgettable. I watched the company grow and eventually get acquired by Gap, Inc., and it made me want to do it all over again, this time from the very beginning.

I spent the next 12 years as the first marketer, only marketer, and person duct-taping it all together at early-stage startups. That experience taught me that the best marketing advice is also the simplest: ask people what they want, listen carefully, and build from there.

Today, I lead Marketing and Platform at Bonfire. I oversee how Bonfire shows up in the world, from our brand and voice to our content, communications, PR, and events. As a one-woman marketing team, I’m constantly geeking out over the AI coworkers and automations I can build to improve my workflow and extend what I’m able to get done.

On the platform side, my job is to make sure our founders can tap into the collective experience around them. I connect dots across the portfolio, find what’s working, share it quickly, and try to make sure no one has to solve the same problem alone. Sometimes that means a well-timed introduction or some messaging triage. Other times, it means bringing the right founders and operators together to compare notes, trade advice, and help one another through whatever they’re facing.

On a personal note, I grew up in Georgia, went to college at the University of Arizona, and spent nearly a decade in New York City honing my hustle and building a network, (an experience I recommend to every college graduate). I later traded skyscrapers for surfboards and moved to Bondi Beach, Australia. I went for three months and stayed for six years, learning to approach both marketing and life with a little more clarity and calm.

Today, I live in Los Angeles with my husband and our two little boys. They are cute, chaotic, and better negotiators than most seed-stage founders. They’re also my favorite, and most demanding, audience yet.