Bio

How did a garbageman in New York’s Garment District get to be Style Editor of GQ? Success doesn’t always follow a traditional path and mine began when my Art History professor gently suggested I might make a better writer than artist. I took his insight to heart and enrolled in j-school. Joined GQ, and, while I excelled as a writer and editor, I didn’t embrace it as a calling. I had more interest in how the business worked and I fixated on other media (TV and a growing internet), which made me a rare commodity, and something of a fixer in hybrid roles with Esquire and Polo and as TV host, producer and (with apologies to America) a partner at Kaufman Films, creator of The Real Housewives of OC. I was a great fit to reposition and run the first true multiplatform brand, This Old House, spawning 2 PBS TV shows, specials, a Spanish language show, a magazine, 3 video-centric websites, e-commerce and mobile game vehicles, and other businesses that doubled audience and revenue before we packaged it all for sale to private equity. Proud to achieve remarkable honors along the way. Named to the Ad Age A-list, received Ad Age’s Media Vanguard award for implementing the first user generated content in national media, and for pioneering QR codes, digital video, AR, content marketing and building a juggernaut lead generation business. Also brokered corporate partnerships, now worth millions and ran a professional collective doing strategy consulting for startups (media, meditation, mobile health). I'm an entrepreneur in residence at an incubator and I lecture at a research university (entrepreneurship and marketing) too. Great fun, all, but what I really, really love is my latest role as Editor in Chief of Inc. Business Media, where I get to marry my media background and penchant for being a positive deviant with supporting the American entrepreneur.