I know I’m tardy with the New Year’s greetings, but it has been one year since I left “agency life.”

I’d been asked to join a quick call with the two founders of the creative firm where I had served as Head of Content. (Both amazing guys and a wonderful team, and I don’t want the rest of this to come off at all as negative at all. I would 100% recommend them to clients — and have.)

“This is going to be your last day,” they said. It wasn’t personal. I just wasn’t fitting into the position. The position that they had approached me for. My “dream” job.

But I never quite fit.

I’ve always seen my responsibility as a partner with clients to help them develop strategies that bring their prospects and customers along a journey to “yes.”

When most people hear “content,” they think conversion copywriters, long-form blog pieces, and social media calendars. I ain’t that guy.

The combination of unclear role expectations, insulation from clients, and a breakneck pace led to sleepless nights, panic attacks, zombie days, and impostor syndrome hit. Hard. 

So, it was actually a relief when I found myself suddenly with nothing to do for the rest of the week.



Reflecting on my career spanning 25 years in tech and communications, I identified a fundamental disconnect in how we (creatives) help clients (practitioners) communicate their stories.

Brand discovery sessions are often rushed and focused on surface-level things, like “Are you a sports brand or a luxury brand?” Burning questions that could lay a foundation for content never get addressed. I knew we could do better.

Typical creative agency models and processes don’t support clients in becoming better communicators in their own right. This leads to them abdicating responsibility to “write the marketing stuff.”

And few  equip creatives with the insight and material necessary to “jump in” and create the amazing content. “Google what they do, look at a competitor site, and write something better.”



The disconnect I was identifying was honestly not the fault of anyone — not the firms, clients, or even me. We were just doing things in the wrong order. 

We needed to figure out message first, brand second.

The same questions I had as a content writer could help clients better understand how to present own solutions and the motivations of their clients. If we could just get them answered.

And that’s why I launched MessageSpecs.

In the past year, I’ve worked with wonderful clients who have been instrumental in helping me hone an approach discovering market messaging that truly sets them apart and goes much deeper than a typical “tagline” discussion. The message systems we’ve built have created alignment across their organizations and set them up for stronger relationships with their marketing and sales partners.

I’ve made strong connections and friends across this industry and validated that I’m not crazy (though some would still debate that).

I’ve turned the process into a do-it-yourself tool and am working on a companion book.

Creating something new isn’t easy — something my founder clients know all to well. And there have definitely been ups and downs.

But, above all, I’ve found the passion for helping the nerds talk good again in this past year!

So here’s to the new year (and a little bit)!