Steve @ Kimchi Pizza

Marketers today need to be hyper focused on the customer's journey and craft a narrative that makes their audience feel seen. True personalization is about creating moments that resonate on a super relatable and authentic level — where customers think "they get me" rather than "they stalk me." The brands excelling at it today are building proactive vs. reactive moments — those instances where your content anticipates needs before customers articulate them.

First-party data is your storytelling gold mine. But don't just collect it — interpret it and be strategic about it. What's the narrative behind the clicks? What emotional journey is your customer on? The purchase funnel is really an emotional arc. Tone and voice personalization is underutilized and missing the mark in most executions. Your copy should flex based on where customers are in their journey. A first-time visitor needs a different voice than a loyal customer. Someone researching needs different energy than someone ready to purchase. The most powerful personalization isn't just responsive — it's predictive. It creates the sense that you're not just addressing current needs, but anticipating future desires.

This is a multi-step journey and one that I absolutely enjoy because you need to wear three hats: creator, marketer and strategist. Call me crazy, but I like to apply Freud's model of personality to the creative process once you have a solid brief and business objective. In the beginning you need to let it rip, be the kid, embrace your id and just go for it -- unadulterated, uninhibited -- and play in the no-judgement-space of "what if" ideas. Once you explored, you need to reign it in and look at your project more holistically and validate if it answers the brief, the challenge and business need. While you do need to wear your marketing hat, finding that sweet spot within the art vs. commerce spectrum is crucial. Equally as important is not succumbing to risk averse, rational thinking that fuels your superego side to dominate your marketing message.

Oftentimes I see the strategy dictating the creative or vice versa. At the end of the day we're selling product, and the ego side of your creative process needs to be the ultimate mediator and bird's eye view evaluator. Harmony is achieved when it feel effortless, simple, digestible and shareable. Was it memorable? Did it make them smile? Did it answer a problem and will they continue to have brand affinity?

I absolutely love leading and mentoring a creative team. As a student athlete growing up, I learned what it took to lead by example as a captain, to be calm under pressure, to put the team first and to do your part -- day in and day out. I am a firm believer in empowering your team and helping them grow as independent thinkers, creative risk takers and professional advocates in their careers. When I was leading a creative team at a global beauty company, I was most proud of how I mentored, empowered and grew not only a team of expert creatives (in digital, SEO, social, product and brand), but as confident brand strategists, who sharpened the tone of voice and visual aesthetic across every touchpoint and helped contribute to the massive success of the brand.

I grew up in the Northern Virginia area and shortly after graduating from the College of William & Mary, I started my copywriting career at J. Walter Thompson, working on campaigns for The De Beers Group, Rolex, Tanqueray, Smirnoff, and Unilever. I’ve also worked on such diverse brands as L’Oréal, Colossal Media, CBS Radio, History Channel, Access Hollywood, NFL Players Association, and FactSet Financial…to name a few.

After working with agencies, I pivoted to working on the brand side and held various creative roles with increasing responsibilities at the iconic New York skincare brand, Kiehl's Since 1851. In my last role, I served as Vice President of Global Creative and Brand Strategy, responsible for the brand’s creative development, product positioning and naming, consumer-facing messaging, and global brand strategy across all customer touchpoints.

Today I am Founder and Creative Director at Kimchi Pizza, a strategic branding and creative group of visual thinkers and brand builders specializing in start-up launches, re-branding, voice, positioning, and culturally relevant activations. You can learn more here: www.thekimchipizza.com

I live in Westchester County, a suburb of New York City, with my wife, Kelly, two kids (Stella & Leo) and mini goldendoodle, Sadie.

Unpredictable. Inspiring. Rewarding. Challenging. Resilient.

Right after moving to NYC from college, turning a PA job working for an entertainment TV show into my first writing gig -- crafting interviews for celebrities (and being in the same room as them when the questions bombed).

What fascinates me is how technology creates entirely new dimensions of storytelling and connection that weren't possible before. Digital tools don't just make art more convenient; they fundamentally transform the relationship between creator, audience, and the work itself.

For writing, I like Obsidian for brainstorming and research to drafting and editing. When developing brand narratives, seeing unexpected connections between concepts is where the magic happens. On the visual side, I'm old-school/new-school and like using Figma with my partner -- from collaborating on design work to real-time creation with clients. The transparency of the process builds trust with clients who can now see how the sausage is made rather than just receiving the finished product.

For ideation, I've found AI tools like Claude valuable not as replacements, but as thought partners or co-pilots. They're super helpful for breaking creative blocks and exploring angles I might have missed.

After spending 20+ years in the luxury and beauty business, my aim today is to work on projects that give me purpose. At the top of my personal project list is de-stigmatizing mental illness and promoting suicide prevention. I’ve lost far too many close family members to suicide and want to do my part to raise awareness and speak about ways to grieve the loss of a loved one in a healthy and productive manner.

An absolute privilege! I've been super grateful to have had the opportunity to work on so many unique brands over the years. With experience at both brands and agencies — from beauty to booze, luxury fashion to consumer packaged goods – it's taken me on quite a fun ride creating disruptive content, retail experiences, billboards, websites, commercials, and more.