Marketing manager at Santa Rosa’s Keysight wins North Bay Forty Under 40 award
Responsibilities with your company: I manage the marketing communications for our 5G segment at Keysight. I put all the pieces together to promote our 5G products and solutions to the technology industry worldwide. 5G is the most exciting and topical segment at Keysight right now with the vast array of innovation and technology that is currently flooding the industry.
How do you exemplify the spirit of being a top Forty under 40 professional?
I strive every day to be a dynamic member of my company and my Sonoma County community.
Years with company: 2
Length of time in current position: 2
Number of companywide employees: 14,000
Number who report to you: 0
Greatest professional accomplishment: I started my own freelance digital marketing agency on the side eight years ago (Wine Country Digital).
I've been able to meet and help many small business owners around the North Bay and have learned an immense amount about owning and operating my own small business.
Greatest professional challenge: Figure out my professional identity and career direction after going through the transition and subsequent layoffs at Fireman's Fund several years back.
It made me realize I had to seize every opportunity and make things happen in my career. For me, I just had to keep moving forward and grinding every day. Being able to adapt is the greatest trait to possess in the modern workplace.
Best advice received: Don't talk about it, be about it.
Single most important event in your professional life in the last 12 months: I started my own weekend woodworking business. If you've seen an owl box around Sonoma County, there's a good chance it's one I made by hand.
What’s the biggest change COVID-19, the restrictions and the economic impact has had on your work and personal life?
The isolation of working from home and getting to the end of the day realizing I haven't been outside. To me, Zoom gives a false sense of community and cannot replace real human interaction.
And what’s the biggest lesson you’ve taken from that experience?
Control the things you can control and don't preoccupy yourself with what you can't.
What steps is your company taking to sustain your organization and morale in the current economy?
Keysight actively invests in its employees and is a leader in Sonoma County. There are many volunteer groups and many opportunities to learn and advance in your career. The opportunity to learn more about a function of the company you are interested in and move your career in that direction is not only available, it is encouraged.
Next professional goal: Become a senior leader of our marketing communications team at Keysight.
Education: UC Davis (proud English major)
Hometown: Sacramento, now reside among the turkeys and deer in west Petaluma.
Community/nonprofit activities: The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and other causes related to Type 1 Diabetes (I'm a Type 1 myself). Locally, Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County and Redwood Empire Food Bank.
Mentor/admired businessperson: Henry Rollins for his fierce individualism.
What is your most disliked industry buzzword?
“Ramp up” is generally annoying in any industry.
Typical day at the office: Answer emails, snag a coffee (now from my own kitchen), build out marketing campaigns in Eloqua, discuss strategy and campaign status with my industry marketers.
In a business sense, what is the greatest thing about being under 40; and then what is the worst?
The best: The possibilities ahead of me and everything I have yet to learn.
The worst: The daunting nature of corporations and uncertainty of business in 2021.
Best place to work outside of your office: My sunny porch in Petaluma.
Hobbies: I'm a fairly skilled woodworker (you can find my birdhouses and owl boxes in shops around Sonoma County) and also a published writer (I appeared alongside Toni Morrison in a literary magazine). My wife and I love hiking the many great Sonoma County parks (we live close to Helen Putnam so that's our go-to).
What you wanted to be when you grew up: An inventor of some sort.
#1 thing you want to accomplish by the time you turn 40: Start a family here in Sonoma County.
First job: FedEx package handler hucking boxes in the evening during college.
Social media you most use: LinkedIn
Favorite book: Too many to list (I was an English major!). Recently, “The Dog Stars” by Peter Heller.
Favorite movie: Too many to list. “Goodfellas” always draws me in.
Favorite App: I guess Uber, though I'm not a big app guy.
Favorite after-work drink: An old fashioned on the rocks.
Last vacation: Visiting my brother in the shadow of the Grand Tetons in Idaho.
What does your mom or dad brag most about you?
That I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.
