This is a shameless plug
for my cat.
That's an unusual way to start an About page, right? Well, my cat is pretty unusual. In fact, he's Internet famous. And for the last 10 years, he's been the side hustle of my wife and I.
Allow me to explain.
Coby the Cat began in 2015, when my wife, Rebecca, started posting photos of him on Instagram. After questioning why she would post pictures of our pet online — and after her questioning me about questioning her — Coby was picked up by Time, Buzzfeed, Mashable, and 9gag. And started to amass a following. Then I quickly changed my tune. And went all in on Coby with her.
Today, Coby has more than 1.8 million followers on Instagram and over 100K on TikTok. He’s partnered with brands like Google, Spotify, Ubisoft, Instacart, Arm & Hammer, and KVD Beauty to name a few.
Moral of the story: Never question your wife.
Now onto me.
Unfortunately, I'm not as famous.
I’m an independent CD / CW with more than 15 years of experience. I’ve won the big awards and at one point, taught Wordsmithing at Miami Ad School. I also play the saxophone and love jazz. Except for Kenny G. He’s just too smooth for me.
While I often get hired to work on complex businesses (B2B, tech, and healthcare), I have experience in just about every category. I enjoy coming up with platforms that can flex to every touchpoint and message just as much as I enjoy coming up with moonshots and "what ifs."
When leading projects, I like to give my teams space. Because when I was coming up, I learned best when I was allowed to own the work and arrive at the "aha" moment on my own. That's how creatives grow.
AI sucks. AI is awesome.
Algorithms aren’t humans. They can’t write like a human. And they can't create with the emotion and nuance of a human. While that could easily change in the next ten minutes, that’s where we are now.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t use AI. For strategy and insights, I incorporate research tools like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and OneCliq. I also use Generative AI (Midjourney, Runway, VEO3) to help comp up ideas and sell them in. BUT, in my opinion, AI should never be used to replace production for a legit brand trying to appeal to humans. It's just not there yet. It erodes consumer trust. And from an output standpoint, it's just too hard to control.
