I graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in finance, but I knew all along I would end up in a more creative and spontaneous discipline.
To find my calling, when it came time to look for a job, I promised myself I would prioritize culture and product over anything else. Unsurprisingly, that brought me to Patagonia, and I loved every minute of it.
At first, I worked on call only 1 to 2 hours per week. As I proved myself, I was asked to be our store’s environmental liaison and then quickly became our merchandiser as well. Then, at 22, I was the youngest person to be promoted to Assistant Store Manager in Patagonia history. I was responsible for coordinating 15 folks, in addition to partnering with the Store Manager to tackle HR, shipping, receiving, and everything else that went along with running a retail store.
As the years went on, I couldn’t help but notice the VCs stopping in to buy $5,000 worth of merch just for a weekend trip to Tahoe. As someone debating moving into a van so I could afford another climbing rope and some more cams, I began to wonder if there was another path toward more gear.
I pushed that thought aside what felt like a hundred times before I really considered leaving Patagonia. It was one of the hardest decisions of my career — but it ultimately led to some of my proudest professional accomplishments.
Rising in the ranks
I struggled at first. Going from managing a retail store to being the 13th hire at a seed-stage startup is one crazy transition. The stress was real — I got physically sick after only one week on the job and needed to recalibrate. On top of that, everyone was fist-bumping, and I came from a low-five-slide-and-grip culture, so the landing was rocky, to say the least.
I had no idea what the tech ecosystem looked like or why so many things were changing day to day. To give you a sense of the chaos, we moved offices three times in six months.
But I rolled with the punches, staying through Series A until my buddy left to join a different startup called AdRoll. He called me up and told me, “This is where you need to be.” And he was right.
The minute I got there, I realized I was home. AdRoll culturally felt like the tech equivalent of Patagonia. I settled in and quickly became the fastest-rising rep in AdRoll history. After my early success, leadership asked me to move to Ireland for six months to kickstart the EMEA sales program. Afterward, I came back to San Francisco for six days, then boarded a plane to Sydney, Australia, to help build the foundation for APAC sales.
When I came back, I was put in charge of a NAMER sales team that was really struggling. Excitingly, I reshaped that team, and because of all their efforts, we ended up being the number-one team globally for six quarters straight. From there, I ran GTM for a net new business unit focused on Incrementality, once again, building the foundation from the ground up.
Making my mark as a sales leader
At that time, I was so burnt out I took a few months off to decompress. But getting back to building an unbeatable team was always in the back of my mind. So that’s what I did.
First, I went to Compass, where I turned a budding SDR program of five folks into a team of 35 people. While growing, that team created $1.6 billion (yep, billion) in pipeline in roughly one years time. Hands down this role was one of the most rewarding experiences in my career.
After a brief sabbatical in 2020, I was back at it, advising a company called LaunchNotes and getting their product-led sales motion off the ground. Eventually, I joined full-time, staying for two and a half years as Head of Sales.
At that point, I was ready to try something a bit different, so I reconnected with a former colleague, Shea Stringert, Kard’s VP of Sales. He was hiring for a new role that sounded great to me, but it wasn’t until I met with Ben, Katie, and Nick, that I learned about the fragmentation in the FinTech space and how incredibly valuable Kard would be to marketers dealing with third-party cookie deprecation. I was hooked.
A massive opportunity
Though I had about seven other career conversations going, Kard was the only one I felt deeply excited about. It solved a problem big enough for me to get psyched about — with a TAM of potentially trillions of dollars. It felt serendipitous.
When I got to Kard, I saw firsthand how much industry momentum is converging in the marketing world and the financial world and Kard is at the intersection. The fact that Kard is truly owning both sides of the marketplace keeps me fired up, engaged, and eager to tackle anything a Series A startup can throw at me.
Another element of Kard that keeps me excited is seeing how quickly we can close household logos for above-average pilots. In my experience, it can take quarters, if not years, for enterprise brands to entrust a portion of their marketing budgets with you. Conversely, there’s an interesting phenomenon at Kard.
Though we’ve only been marketing this product for a few years, we’re able to immediately build trust with Enterprise and Strategic brands, leading subscription companies, and classic American restaurants. To me, that shows the strength and value of our product, our audience, and our data — now and in a (not-so-distant) fully cookieless future.
Want to be the one closing these deals? Join us — we’re looking for more talented sellers to join our winning team.
Bonus round: Rituals and obsessions
A Kard ritual I enjoy
I don’t have a specific ritual to call out, but I will say I was taken aback by Kard’s culture. Our vibe doesn't feel stressful and intense. Everyone has high expectations for performance and is hard-working, yet it somehow still feels laid back. Kard’s leadership really sets the tone, and I'm reminded not to take my work too seriously. It’s been really refreshing and authentic.
What I’m obsessed with
First, I’d say photography. I love being out in nature and capturing its beauty. You can find some of my work on my website, m u j ō. Next, I’d have to say golf. I played pretty seriously in high school and became the team’s number two player.
At that time, I was playing probably 18 holes a day but sometimes 36 — some days 72. And I got pretty good, down to a 5 handicap. One time, I shot 3 under par on 9 holes with 4 birdies. That’s far and away one of my proudest achievements.
My third obsession is adventuring in our kitted-out Sprinter van with our bikes, snowboards, surfboards, and golf clubs in tow.