The sound of my childhood was the insistent pounding of a manual typewriter, a noise so constant my parents considered hiding it just to hear the evening news. Eventually, they replaced it with a roaring, single-color, 5-inch floppy disk computer. It was my first lesson in the power of the medium: the tool changes, but the drive to communicate remains.
My professional journey began in the market research room at 98 KFMK in Houston. Eventually I would be pulling cassettes for DJs and passing out memorabilia at concerts. That early immersion in traditional radio gave me a deep appreciation for the “voice” of a brand. But my true calling required a different kind of uniform.
Fast-forward to after college, I stood in the MEPS processing center in a suit, holding a resume. The Army recognized my broadcast roots, and soon I was a 46R Broadcast Journalist. For the next 13 years, I was immersed in the high-stakes world of military television and radio production. From managing websites to producing commercials across global deployments, I learned that in the Army, communication isn’t just “content”- it’s a mission-critical asset.
By 2009, as a Department of the Army civilian and a blogger myself, I noticed a tectonic shift. Official channels were struggling to reach stakeholders, yet service members and their families were connecting effortlessly. I realized that the “niche” of blogging was actually the future of influence. I began integrating creators into official media events, proving that authentic voices carry further than corporate broadcasts.
In 2013, I transitioned to academia at Bournemouth University and later Cardiff Metropolitan University. I didn’t just teach the power of persuasion; I codified it. I co-edited UK’s first influencer marketing textbook Influencer Marketing: Building Brand Communities and Engagement, 1st edition .
I would develop an Influencer Marketing class for undergraduates and graduate students at Cardiff Metropolitan University. I continued to write books about about Digital Advertising and Influencer Marketing, as well as research into Employee Influencers. But as I wrote the theory, I realized a massive gap existed in the field: public sector and private organizations were missing the framework to launch formal, disciplined employee influencer programs.
High Speed, Low Drag (HSLD) was born from the intersection of that academic rigor and a memory from Fort Bragg. One afternoon, while I was running the engineer trails, my Sergeant Major yelled for me to come over. Misunderstanding him through the headset tucked under my cap, I didn’t just stop- I dropped to the ground and began a low crawl through the sand.
That moment defined my work ethic: Total commitment to the movement.
Life has taken me from the manual typewriter to radio, TV, and the cutting edge of social media. I founded HSLD LLC to help organizations large and small navigate this evolution—taking 21 years of tactical experience and academic research to build influencer programs that are efficient, disciplined, and unstoppable.