The Why

I started Vermillion Advisors with the goal of becoming the most trusted counselor to those facing vexing communications, reputation, and business challenges. Distrust in institutions is at an all time high, and pervasive misinformation threatens our very way of life. Now, more than ever before, there's a critical need for expert advisors who recognize the responsibility to their clients and put their needs first. 

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Over the past three decades, I've built a strategic communications consulting career at the most respected and fastest growing firms in the world. I’ve also been fortunate to learn from some of the greatest communications strategists, negotiators, and entrepreneurs. They taught me, and continue to teach me, a great deal about the importance of client service, purpose, integrity, gratitude, and what it means to succeed. 

I've served in senior leadership positions at Edelman, Burson-Marsteller, Teneo, and Kekst, in addition to powerhouse public affairs boutiques like Sheinkopf and Firehouse Strategies. In those roles, I’ve advised Fortune 100 companies, startups, leading trade associations, and high-profile individuals that were facing existential threats or navigating transformative events. I consider it an honor and a privilege to work alongside leaders at the pivotal moments when courage and character are necessary. Using creative communications strategies to solve tough problems is what gets me out of bed every day. It's become more of a passion than a profession.   

Today, the global public relations juggernaut is a leviathan that’s lost its sense of purpose. It's become a commoditized volume game. For many, the privilege of serving clients and providing expert counsel has been overshadowed by the illusory quest for growth. If earnings targets are management's primary focus, it is by definition impossible to put client service first. Growth and quality are competing interests in a professional services setting - especially a firm that reports quarterly to Wall Street investors. For these firms, scaling the business and hitting financial goals means pushing important tasks down to the least qualified and most profitable staff. The highest paid, and most experienced senior leaders spend less time using their skills to solve client problems and more time wooing the next big prospect or marketing the firm. Clients are a means to an end instead of the raison d'etre.  

Now is the time to refocus on the art of our craft and renew our commitment to client service.
 

I'm not in this to build an army of foot soldiers under one brand banner or to package an offering that's a mile wide and an inch deep. We will never measure our success in financial terms. Instead, I’m aligning myself with diverse experts from a variety of backgrounds to provide fresh perspectives for each challenge. Every one of our projects is executed by a tailored, purpose-built team of professionals who are convened with the client in mind. From a political strategist who has advised world leaders, to a crisis management veteran who led the ATF response teams at Columbine and Sandy Hook, to the guy who literally wrote the book on public relations research and measurement, and an even deeper bench, we bring the A-team to the table every time.

The most important thing in life, I believe, is to realize what makes you happy, focus on that, and stop the endless chase. I'm hopeful that I have the benefit of using this platform as a means of continued learning and growth, and to collaborate with amazingly talented people to provide unmatched service and solve fascinating problems.