John’s career has been guided by his passion for creating exponential value by disrupting legacy industries.  In the course of his career, John has held a wide range of executive leadership roles: from Chief Product Officer at a startup to Chief Strategy Officer at an ad agency to his current role as a strategic advisor to companies who are seeking brand breakthroughs.

From 2017 to 2022, John helped build new ventures that harnessed the power of technology to re-invent the music industry: including UnitedMasters (a technology platform for independent artists that was most recently valued at $550M) and The Coda Collection (a unique SVOD product that re-unites music content and context).

Before his foray into entrepreneurialism, John was a leader of some of the most influential advertising agencies in the industry.  As Chief Strategy Officer of Translation, John forged a unique offering at the intersection of culture and commerce that drove Agency revenue growth of more than 500%.  Earlier in his career at Leo Burnett, John helped rejuvenate the growth of more than 30 iconic brands and re-designed the Agency’s approach to global brand strategy.

John is a frequent speaker and writer on branding, innovation, and entrepreneurialism.  His work has been featured in publications ranging from The Economist to Forbes.

A graduate of The Kellogg School of Management and Carleton College, John lives in Evanston, IL with his wife and two daughters.  He is a passionate music fan, an enthusiastic soccer coach, and– as a fan of Chicago sports teams– an irrational optimist.