I have been shaped by deep Cajun roots, even deeper curiosities, and a dash of creativity. These are at the core of my work, my art, my wondering, and sometimes my wandering.
Meaningful work has been the journey and the goal that has opened every door and propels me forward. I’m currently exploring my next chapter—and engaging conversations about consulting engagements, a new community to champion, and always calling to make a difference for places and the people that love them.
Here's how I got to be where I’m going today.
2005 - 2016I started at the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) not long after grad school in 2005, working for Stephen Moret, who hired me before I fully understood what economic development even was. In those early days of BRAC, we took it all on—from rebranding, producing a quarterly publication, and executing immersive events to publishing policy papers and executing a grassroots campaign to make governmental ethics a statewide priority.
When Moret and some of my BRAC colleagues took roles at Louisiana Economic Development (LED) in 2008, I joined Peter Mayer Advertising to support LED’s work from the agency side—and to help them navigate their first economic development client. Ultimately, I made the move in-house to LED and was responsible for all of the marketing, advertising, and public relations activities for the department as well as strategic outreach to both in-state stakeholders and national and international influencers and site consultants.
Our team led the effort to launch Louisiana Job Connection, a first-of-its-kind website that used an algorithm to match job seekers with job opportunities in Louisiana. To attract former residents back to the state for unprecedented job opportunities, we also developed the award-winning Come Home, Louisiana campaign as well as eight regional quality of life websites state designed to help companies recruit talent unfamiliar with Louisiana.
At the end of the political term, I left government and consulted for the Louisiana Association for Business and Industry (LABI), the state’s Chamber of Commerce, to help reimagine their membership structure, invigorate their programming, and develop a new website and communication vehicles.
Louisiana: Take One
At the end of the political term, I left government and consulted for the Louisiana Association for Business and Industry (LABI), the state’s Chamber of Commerce, to help reimagine their membership structure, invigorate their programming, and develop a new website and communication vehicles.
Mid-2016, we decided that we wanted to explore another part of the country. At the time, Atlas was one of a small handful of agencies specializing in economic development and tourism. It was exciting to be able to engage with communities across the country to bring their strategies and visions to life.
I was loving being a consultant and we were so excited to be Coloradans. And then Moret called—he had been tapped to lead the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) as they set to transform the organization—and he wanted me to join the team. We were on the move again.
In Between Two States
2016 - 2017
2017 - 2023
My six years as Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) shaped the way I think about marketing, leadership, and the role institutions play in economic growth.
During that time, I led the agency's rebrand, developed comprehensive statewide marketing strategies, helped secure dedicated funding for Virginia's marketing efforts, launched three new websites, and oversaw the publication of 17 issues of Virginia Economic Review. I also led the work to define Virginia's value proposition across target industries and helped create Team Virginia—a CEO-to-CEO marketing partnership between VEDP, the Virginia Chamber, and 23 business leaders that aligned the private sector behind a shared vision for the Commonwealth's economic future.
In the fall of 2017, I was asked to lead Virginia's bid for Amazon HQ2. Over six intense weeks, we coordinated proposal submissions for three regions before ultimately managing Northern Virginia's pursuit through the final announcement. By the end, the effort involved more than 400 people across state agencies, local governments, universities, utilities, transportation partners, and the private sector. It remains one of the clearest examples I've experienced of what can happen when an entire ecosystem aligns around a common goal.
The work reinforced something I still believe today: great marketing is rarely about advertising. It is about authenticity. It is about helping diverse groups see the same future, understand their role in creating it, and communicate that vision consistently.
Virginia
2023 - 2024
In 2023, I joined Global Location Strategies as COO and VP of Marketing — my first time working formally on the site selector side of the business. GLS utilizes the Entrepreneurship Operating System (EOS), and Didi Caldwell and I partnered as a Visionary-Integrator team. In one year, we achieved major milestones for the company including hitting growth goals, opening a new office in Amsterdam, spinning off a new tech company (Strata Platforms), and implementing numerous new systems and processes.
Learning EOS, leading a company in partnership, seeing the site selection process from the corporate side, and experiencing Greenville as it flourished were fulfilling on multiple levels. We loved exploring the Upstate by foot and bike, and no one was more surprised when Baton Rouge called in 2024 than me.
A Different Perspective
2024 - 2026
In 2024, I returned to where it all started — back to Louisiana’s Capital Region to lead BRAC (now the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership) as President and CEO. From the search through my term, the Board gave me a clear mandate—they wanted to shake things up and propel the organization and the region to the next level.
Two years of meaningful work: rebuilding the business development function around a cluster strategy, opening a Houston office, championing the Learn and Earn Act, launching Better in BTR, and completing a full organizational rebrand. And the recipient of Site Selection’s Mac Conway Award as a top Regional Economic Development Organization under my leadership.
I'm proud of what we built together.
Louisiana: Take Two
Now
For the first time in nearly two decades, I'm intentionally creating space to explore.
I'm advising organizations that care deeply about place, identity, and leadership while also asking bigger questions about what meaningful work looks like in the next season of my life.
I'm spending more time making art, wandering through interesting places, reading broadly, and studying the invisible forces that shape organizations and communities. Those experiences don't distract from my work—they deepen it.
I'm also exploring opportunities to build something special: a place where creativity, hospitality, and community intersect.
Today
How I Work
I believe everything is a communication.
A strategy communicates priorities. A building communicates values. A meeting communicates culture. A website communicates identity. Long before we say a word, people are already interpreting what we've created.
I'm fascinated by the invisible forces that shape people, organizations, and places. That's why I'm less interested in industries than in the patterns beneath them. The same principles that create a memorable restaurant can transform a conference, a nonprofit, a neighborhood, or a city.
I work best with people who are building something meaningful—people who are curious, intellectually honest, and willing to question assumptions, including their own.
If you're looking for someone to validate what you've already decided, we’re probably not the right fit.
