An experienced marketing professional with an established career in the media and entertainment industries and non-profit sector. A creative thinker and solution-driven team player with a proven history of conceptualizing and executing programs and partnerships with winning results.

How many years have you been a judge?

5+

What are your responsibilities in your current role and what do you love most about your job?

Leveraging in-depth integrated marketing experience, I own the activation process to bring marketing programs to life. As a trusted advisor and strategic business partner to lead the internal cross-functional relationships with all divisions as well as the external client relationships with agency and client contacts. In addition, I possess a proven track record and success in generating and adhering to campaign production budgets and timelines. As a seasoned professional, I lead a team of high-performing marketing professionals in the execution of multi-platform marketing campaigns.

What inspired you to pursue your career path?

My early exposure to the advertising industry inspired me to pursue my career path. Learning more about the various tracks and verticals in the industry has carried me to this current point in my career.

What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?

I’ll consider the first job in the industry was working at a record label. It taught me how to craft marketing plans that engaged select audiences for artists of various music genres and how to execute campaigns often with limited budgets and timelines and finding like-minded partners to amplify the release.

What do you look for to determine excellence in video?

The storytelling is important: is it unique, does it speak to the audience’s passion points, does the viewer walk away with a newfound thought or emotion.

What initiatives or projects are you working on now that excite you?

We are currently working on the premiere of our first microseries which will bring the Urban One voice to this fast-growing content vertical.

Tell us about a moment of recognition that had an effect on you – whether personal or official? What does recognition mean to you and why is it important in our industry?

Recognition means that the industry realizes our work and message matter and that it’s beyond the audience engagement. A good story is universal.

Do you have any specific practices you lean on to spark creativity?

Remain culture-driven and find the best path to include the brand partner message when appropriate.

In your experience, what is a significant change you are seeing happen in the video, television, and/or film industry, and what insight can you share about how to navigate it?

The use of AI is a major factor in the industry. I think the continued question of how we best use it to enhance creative work (but not replace human intelligence).

What excites you about judging for the Telly Awards?

I’m excited to acknowledge creatives for their hard work and vision.