Howdy!

"Tell us about the most ambitious project you’ve led in a previous role! Please include links to examples, if available."

Two projects come to mind: 1 professional and 1 personal.

1. Professional. I led growth/partnerships/marketing at a data science startup. My CEO tasked me with getting us featured on a Gartner Magic Quadrant. This was a daunting task. How was I supposed to get a Series A startup featured alongside Google and Microsoft? 

Simple: I'd build partnerships with the major companies first in order to legitimize our status alongside them to the broader market. Only then would I go to Gartner to introduce ourselves. I landed partnerships with IBM, Databricks, AWS and Microsoft. I even helped us land in Microsoft’s exclusive accelerator, Microsoft Pegasus. 

The combined number of partnerships led to a meeting with Gartner's head of AI research. That resulted in Howso, the small 20-person startup from Raleigh, NC, being featured in Gartner's Generative AI Engineering Magic Quadrant. We were placed on the map with Microsoft, Databricks, Palantir, Scale AI, AWS, and more.

See Magic Quadrant here.

List of partnerships that led up to Gartner:
IBM
Databricks
AWS
Azure
Microsoft Pegasus

2. Personal. I love the outdoors. I love working with my hands. I love people. After consuming 100s of hours of YouTube content, I decided to do something I had always dreamed of - converting a van and traveling across the US. From the east coast, to America's heartland, to the PNW. From the mountains of Montana to the deserts of New Mexico and everywhere in-between, I made lifelong friendships and went on adventures so outrageous that you wouldn’t believe me.

There were mechanical breakdowns (5, to be exact), but each challenge made for even better stories.

Van build thread (shorter)

Full case study on building the van with videos (longer)

"What excites you about Ambrook?"

Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, particularly its farmers. In the immediate aftermath of the destruction, I drove my van to the Western NC Livestock Exchange to help stand up the supply chain of donated goods for farmers.

Initially, I didn't know anyone. I was just there to help. I didn't want to overstep my bounds. I just wanted to love on people who were hurting and be the hands and feet that could help serve. 

Something that folks don't think about in the aftermath of a natural disaster is the devastation that occurs to the animals. Fencing gets thrashed. Animals who are anxious from the danger they are in make a run for it. Horses, cattle, pigs, chickens, and goats all make a run for it. The farmers who care so deeply about their animals begin to want to take action, but it’s hard to corral animals when you have no way of securing them in an enclosed space.

The NC Department of Agriculture did its best to help its farmers, but they were overwhelmed. 

The good news: farmers help farmers. Private citizens from hundreds of miles away - farmers from New York, Maine, South Dakota, Ohio, and more - loaded up semi-trucks full of supplies and drove them to the WNC Livestock Exchange. We worked around the clock to organize the goods, process inbound requests for assistance, and schedule pick-up/delivery. Those that could drive to us came and picked their supplies up. Those that were not reachable by roads received delivery via helicopter and ATV. 

I hadn't known any of these folks prior to my volunteer efforts. I simply heard there was a need, hopped in my car, and hit the road. After 2 days of volunteering, the Director of the Livestock Exchange trusted me to run the fencing operation. He needed someone he could trust to verify the integrity of the fencing requests so that all donations got to their proper place. At the end of our efforts, he came to me and said "you're one of us. You don't belong in the city. You belong here." I've felt that statement in my bones ever since.

Serving farmers was the most fulfilled I've ever felt in my life. I have a heart for farmers, and I work in startups. I need a home to help me catalyze those two things. I don’t know if I can do that anywhere but Ambrook. My heart is with these people. I’ll do a 6 week work trial for free. The money doesn’t matter. I have a deep sense that building partnerships with farms is what I’m supposed to be doing, and I think you’ll feel the same way after seeing what I can do. 

Closing with My Ask Again

Would you consider a six week work trial for the partnerships role? I can jump in right away.

Let me know what you think!