How did you discover your passion for creativity and develop the skills to enter the industry? Ever since I can remember, I’ve had a curious mind and looked at things a little differently. I’m not necessarily a rule breaker but a rule questioner, always wondering about the possibilities of things that feel a little off, boring or cliché. I majored in advertising at Michigan State University, and having been taught by a few ex-creative directors, I gained the knowledge and a few skills to break into the industry.

What do you do in your current role as chief creative officer of Chicago-based ad agency Pinnacle Advertising? As chief creative officer, I’m responsible for the overall creative output of the agency. By hiring and working with people I trust, it makes my job easier—as long as I don’t let my ego get in the way!

Tell us about your longstanding relationship creating Super Bowl ads with automotive accessory company WeatherTech. How was the spot you created for Super Bowl LIX in 2025 a big departure for the brand? Having been fortunate enough to work on an amazing client such as WeatherTech, we have been given an enormous responsibility to nurture and grow this company. I feel we’ve done an admirable job building WeatherTech into the household brand name it is today. For the first dozen years of being on the Super Bowl, we created memorable commercials that reinforced WeatherTech as a first-class manufacturer of automotive protection products and leaned into the importance of American manufacturing. People don’t realize how imperative manufacturing in this country is and what it means not only to our economy but to the communities where these factories are built. We’ve helped explain that in a meaningful, memorable way. This isn‘t some trendy claim that WeatherTech is making; it’s in the DNA of the company and reflects what everyone associated with the brand truly believes.

As for the Super Bowl LIX spot, we shifted to a more playful, character-driven idea designed to reach a broader audience while still highlighting the importance of manufacturing. In this spot, our audience can relate to the characters and understand a new way of how WeatherTech fits into their lives. It’s fun and high energy, and it shines a new light on the brand.

Where did the idea come from for a quartet of wild grannies to become the spot’s protagonists? The strategy was to expand the reach of people who would be aware of and benefit from WeatherTech FloorLiners and other protection products. We needed a smart way to connect with young people without dismissing our core audience of drivers who already know and love the brand. When the team came up with the grannies idea, I immediately gravitated toward it and knew it could possibly be a hit on the Super Bowl. Knowing that this direction was a departure from the “Made in America” stories we’ve told in the past was a bit of a risk, but once the WeatherTech clients heard the idea, they got excited and even added the idea of using the classic song “Born To Be Wild.” The production was super fun, and the owner of WeatherTech even had a few on-screen roles in the commercial. Bringing this spot to life was a huge effort by dozens of people, and it’s something everyone involved is incredibly proud of.

Why would you advocate for more creatives to take risks instead of just going with safe, overly tested ideas? How would you suggest that they work on selling these ideas to clients? Engaged creatives have curious minds and a firm understanding of the objective and strategy for any project. It doesn’t have to be a multimillion-dollar Super Bowl commercial. I remind people on the team to look at their ideas through many different lenses to ensure that it not only makes sense to the consumer but that the consumer will actually care about what the ad is trying to communicate. The selling part is sometimes the trickiest. We need to be really good listeners and have a full understanding of what the client is trying to accomplish with each ad.

I view creatives and ad agencies like waiters in a restaurant. We’re serving up prepared dishes to our clients and want to make sure they truly enjoy what they’re being served. And if they don’t love it, we need to understand what they didn’t like so we can go back to the kitchen and make it right. This process takes time, and you need to build a client’s trust before taking those risks. It’s also key to remind clients that it’s not only okay but necessary to stretch boundaries and get out of their comfort zone once in a while because that’s the only way excellent companies can continue to grow.

Besides the WeatherTech spot, tell us about some of your other favorite projects you’ve created at Pinnacle. What did they show you that you could accomplish through advertising? Another amazing client I’ve had the privilege to work with at Pinnacle is Arlington International Racecourse. The goal was to make racing attractive to a younger crowd. For years, horse racing had an image of old guys holding betting slips, cheering on horses while sipping beer and puffing on cigarettes. What we did was turn this image upside down, and it started with a tight strategy built around a new tagline we proposed: Bet on Fun. By designing a campaign aimed directly at young Chicagoans, we showed how fun a day at the park could be. And, it wasn’t all about betting on horses. There were special theme days, beautiful social media photo points and all kinds of entertaining things to do outside of actual wagering. By working with our media team, we developed a dynamic campaign that hit the right people at the right time. With electronic billboards, train cards and unconventional guerrilla marketing ideas like taking the racecourse bugler out into the city, we helped Arlington International Racecourse have a record-breaking opening day, which led to its most attended year ever.

What would you say is the biggest challenge facing ad agencies today, and how do you think they can address it? The evolution of AI and how lightning fast it is manifesting itself in the everyday operations of agencies. Progressive agencies must continue to be curious and evolve so they’re not just producing played-out, tried-and-true concepts for well-paying clients because most clients can do that themselves now. The best agencies constantly think about their clients’ businesses and bring forward ideas that will help them meet their goals. I believe that if the client has to ask us for something, then we’re not doing our job. That’s how we stay one step ahead in the constantly changing world of advertising. This will ring true and test us in 2026 more than ever.

If you could choose any product or brand to create an ad for, what would it be and why? I have always been a huge fan of national parks. Having been to several throughout my life, I’m consistently awestruck by the sheer magnitude and natural beauty of our country. I don’t believe there has ever been an ad campaign that evokes the true emotions of visiting our national parks. It would be a fantastic opportunity to create a lasting campaign that helps get more people to reconnect with nature and understand the awesomeness that sits right outside our doors. If more people visited the parks, it would promote conservation and support other environmental initiatives. A few states have done an excellent job in their tourism campaigns, like “Pure Michigan,” but this has never been achieved at the federal level.

Do you have any advice for creatives just getting their start in the industry today? Stay curious. And don’t let your emotions get in the way of the work. I had a boss tell me when I was a young creative, “Don’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows because there’ll be plenty of both throughout your career.” I’ve tried to take that advice to heart, and it’s served me well in keeping an even keel. Remember that advertising is a team sport, and just because you might have an amazing, breakthrough, award-winning idea, it takes a lot of people to bring it to life and get it out into the world. ca