About

It started on a skateboard. I was a sponsored skater, which meant travel, contests, free product, and even a little money. It also left me with a question: why was a company paying me to go to the skatepark and wear a specific shirt? Working out the answer was my introduction to marketing. It was a value exchange. They were getting something from my being seen, and I wanted to understand exactly what.

At the same time, I was part of the team building SkateWakeSnow, an online retailer, where we created the largest online retailer for skateboards, wakeboards, and snowboards. I stayed through its acquisition. That taught me that a good story sells, and that you can measure it.

I spent the next years in agency strategy and content development. I started a sock subscription company, realized I didn't care about socks at all, and sold it within a year. Then I co-founded two companies at once: JRRNY, a travel platform built on itineraries from real travelers, and Range Influence, an influencer marketing agency, where I sat on the other side of the deal I had once been in as a skater. I led product, stepped in as interim CEO, and saw JRRNY through its acquisition by Sorse Technology.

Then I spent six years making television and managing productions on the ground in more than twenty countries. I produced and directed for Discovery, Travel Channel, and Amazon, and developed pilots for Science Channel and Hearst. I learned how stories get developed, funded, shot, and sold, and how hard it was for anyone to say afterward what the work had achieved.

Now I put the two halves together. At Refuel Agency I lead product and innovation, building products for brands, agencies, and creators. SPIRRA matches brands with creators using a scoring model I designed. It is the skatepark question, answered with math. Cadence runs social media for teams that hand work back and forth. Ripple360 measures what a branded series really does, across every channel and every episode. SPIRRA Studios is the next chapter: branded entertainment. Our first release, Operation Onward, hosted by Ronnie Adkins, reached its full performance goal by episode four of eight.

I still make things by hand. I'm a photographer and printmaker, and when I'm not in the studio I'm usually trying to get as close to a car or a motorcycle as possible, or taking one on an adventure, which you can follow on my channel, Horseless. In my personal time I make Texas History Mysteries and Art History Mysteries. My wife Madelyn and I are blessed that we get to live in the amazing Hill Country in the great state of Texas.