Building. Uniting. Inspiring.
Three places; three lessons in leadership.
Over the years, I’ve seen leadership take many forms — from the structured to the spontaneous, the hands-on to the high-level. Those experiences shaped how I lead today: less about hierarchy, more about harmony.
I’ve found that real progress happens when people feel part of something bigger than their own task list. So whether I’m leading a team, partnering across departments, or aligning stakeholders with different missions, my focus is the same — build connection, create clarity, and make sure everyone can see themselves in the outcome.
The result? Momentum — the kind that only happens when everyone’s pulling in the same direction.
Decentralized Web Leadership for NorthropGrumman.com
In a system this big, leadership isn’t about control; it’s about connection.
NorthropGrumman.com is a global touchpoint for legislators, military partners, media, and job seekers alike. With over 100,000 employees working across divisions and time zones, most of the teams I depend on don’t report to me directly. So I lead through influence, by inspiring collaboration, aligning priorities, and introducing smart, forward-looking tools. The result is a shared sense of purpose — a team inspired to build something greater than the sum of its parts.
Takeaway: Success depends on inspiring collaboration rather than mandating compliance.
Creating a Collaborative Model at Washington and Lee University
Sometimes leadership means building bridges before building campaigns.
At Washington and Lee, admissions and marketing were each doing strong work; just not together. Messaging was inconsistent, efforts overlapped, and enrollment goals weren’t aligned with the larger university story.
To bridge the gap, the university created a new role, Director of Marketing for Admissions & Financial Aid, with a mandate to unify strategy and deliver measurable results. In that role, I built systems of collaboration, integrated messaging across teams, and helped drive a 32.5% increase in applications, setting a new institutional record.
The result? A renewed sense of partnership with two teams communicating in one, authentic voice.
Building a Marketing Team at Virginia Military Institute
My charge was to deliver a bold institutional campaign, improve how communications worked across admissions, athletics, advancement, and alumni agencies, while earning trust from senior leadership including the Superintendent and the Board of Visitors.
By building a lean and powerful team, forging cross-campus collaboration, and aligning brand storytelling across audiences, we not only reshaped recruitment but also fueled record-setting advancement outcomes.
Today, Don’t Do Ordinary remains VMI’s primary brand identity—a testament to the staying power of leadership that unites tradition with transformation.