noom was my first. my first high volume, performance driven, fast paced roller coaster ride that is the tech start up. and it was awesome. i built and nurtured a high performing creative team, helping drive record financial growth for the company; from 61 million in 2018 to over 400 million in 2020. using best practices and a highly iterative approach, our teams consistently delivered innovative solutions that met or exceeded the growth team’s performance objectives across all platforms, in a fast-paced ever-changing environment.

role: creative direction, visual identity, brand voice, copywriting

mediums: tv, paid and organic social content

working directly with the founder for 10+ years, i helped create one of the most iconic voices in fashion advertising, and saw the company grow from an $85 million company with 1 brand, 6 stores and 5 product categories to an over $1 billion business with over 100 stores and 20 product categories across 4 brands. i worked a lot. learned a lot. cursed a lot. and wouldn’t have had it any other way.

a highlight for me came in in 2005. two decades into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, stigma was one of the greatest challenges to prevention, treatment and ultimately a cure. the campaign concept was simple… HIV/AIDS does not only affect the person infected, but their friends, family, community… essentially if one of us is infected, we all are. we enlisted some of the biggest activists and celebrities to boldly state “we all have AIDS” in a social impact campaign that included print, ooh, radio and an installation at bryant park in nyc.

campaigns shown photographed by richard avedon (i have a good avedon story, ask me about it), mark seliger, taryn simon (i have a good taryn story, ask me about it), and mario sorrenti.

role: creative direction, visual identity, brand voice, copywriting

mediums: print, ooh, dtc, experiential

for a self-defined badass brand, the actual branding was lacking in, well, badassery. i was brought in to help change that. partnering with the founder and new cmo, i executed a rebranding initiative, establishing a distinct tone of voice and elevating our visual identity. these efforts had a direct impact on email performance, with attributed revenue up 42.5% over the same 6 month period the previous year. we also implemented a more robust social strategy which increased our tiktok community by 29% and instagram by 3.5 % in the first 3 months.

role: creative direction, visual identity, brand voice, copywriting

mediums: dtc, paid and organic social content

the nantucket project is an annual gathering of thinkers, visionaries and performers designed to foster curiosity, inspire real conversations and deepen human relationships. already planning to expand this experience beyond the island before the pandemic, the desire was amplified… and i was brought in to help. 

we called it neighborhood, a social platform as it was meant to be; one that brings people together instead of tearing them apart, through stories that inform and inspire; through conversations that were, quite frankly, not happening anywhere else; and with a diverse mix of minds and perspectives chosen by you, not an algorithm. 

role: platform development, creative direction, brand voice, copywriting

mediums: dtc, paid and organic social content

that's right, dressbarn. got a problem with that? (ahem… pottery barn… pizza hut… radio shack.) dressbarn happens to like its name. it has history. and authenticity. so rather than shy away from the elephant in the room, we took the bull by the horns and embraced it, even beat our chests a bit. (animal references intended) again, the objective was to get the fashion illuminati's attention, change perceptions of the brand and, in doing so, acquire new customers.

photographed by patrick demarchelier, this campaign outperformed expectations by 18% with 67.9mm impressions, saw a 19.7% lift in brand favorability, and accounted for 93% of new visits to dressbarn.com, which was 108% above average.

oh and, chrissy tiegen liked it. and posted about it. to her 14.8 million followers.

role: creative direction, visual identity, brand voice, copywriting

mediums: print, ooh, dtc, experiential, paid and organic social content

dresses are in the dna at dressbarn. literally. so when the smart people there decided to own it, they asked me to help. mission: reach fashion influencers, elevate the brand and become famous for the dress. say hello to dressbar.

first up... impress the press. the fashion press. we collaborated with designers whose names are practically synonymous with the word dress, and created chic cutout dolls from their sketches for our press kit. the dolls popped out of an oversized card with a little backstory on the designer and details about their dress collection. let’s just say we got their attention.

our 360 launch initiative included a ny centric teaser campaign, a national print campaign, experiential events at our nyc pop up shop, a partnership with hot new retail concept "story", a robust social presence and a dedicated shop-in-shop at all db stores. online we created a new digital experience dedicated to all things dress with designer partnerships, influencer collaborations and dresses, dresses, dresses. site navigation was designed to reflect the way she shops... by where she’s going or by her current mood. because, moods.

results? post-launch we saw an 8% increase in dress sales, while the industry was down 7%, and we received over 1 billion impressions.

launch campaign photographed by coliena rentmeester.

role: creative direction, visual identity, brand voice, copywriting

mediums: pr, print, dtc, experiential, paid and organic social content

as a trailblazer in sustainability in fashion, eileen fisher was asked to be a keynote speaker at the copehagen fashion summit on sustainability, and i was tasked with creating a short film to introduce her. while she was not keen to speak on her behalf, plenty of other notable people in the industry were. if you ever want to feel unworthy, do some research on eileen and this brand.

role: creative direction, script writing, editing

mediums: film

skinny bitches. the new new black. anna. it must be fashion week.

true to our brand dna we made sure that, in addition to the season's newest styles, our core values walked the runway at new york fashion week by opening with a short film. setting the theme were our unconventional invitations.

role: creative direction, copywriting

mediums: pr, direct mail

our in-house agency at kenneth cole served as agency of record for the american foundation for aids research. you know, the kind of client you hope goes away.

role: creative direction, copywriting

mediums: print, ooh

physician-founded and mission-driven, HerMD is revolutionizing the future of women’s healthcare. powered by and for women, they are working to create a world where female-focused and evidence-based healthcare is not up for debate. as they looked to expand their retail presence and introduce telehealth, i was part of a team responsible for rebranding the look, feel and tone of the brand, positioning HerMD as the leader in transforming women’s healthcare.

role: campaign concept, brand voice, copywriting

mediums: print, ooh, paid and organic social content

i think people should say what they are thinking. even if it hurts. i think greeting cards should speak like we do. or at least, like i do. so after making custom cards and invitations for friends and family for as long as i could remember, in 2006 i flexed my entrepreneurial muscle and launched my greeting card business, oh my word. i set up a back corner booth at the ny national stationery show with 12 designs, and 3 days later was being sold in close to 100 retail locations and signed a licensing agreement with american greetings. since then my company has won 5 louie awards (think oscars for greeting cards) including card of the year (think best movie) for the die-cut halloween card shown here.

role: owner, creative direction, visual identity, brand voice, writer