My path to NP Strategy looks a little different from most, but I’ve come to see that as one of my greatest advantages.
I spent over 15 years in politics, working campaigns at every level — city council, mayor, state legislature, Congress, governor and three presidential campaigns. With few exceptions, I was the communications person in the room. That meant working with national political reporters, shaping daily strategy, managing crises, handling scandals, absorbing hard losses and helping pull off a few monumental upsets.
Campaigns teach you quickly that every day has winners and losers. Every news cycle creates opportunity or risk. The job is to understand the moment, move fast, stay disciplined and stack enough small wins to be ready for the big one.
I also spent nearly a decade at the South Carolina State House, including time as executive director of the House Democratic Caucus and communications adviser to the House Minority Leader. Working from the minority teaches a different kind of discipline. When your legislative options are limited, your best tool is often the ability to take a message directly to the public through the media, digital platforms, and trusted voices.
That lesson shaped the proudest moment of my career. After the tragedy at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015, I helped my bosses make the public case that the Confederate battle flag had to come down from the State House grounds. It was a fight we had taken on for years without success. That awful day changed hearts and minds, and I was honored to play a small role in the team that helped get it done.
In 2018, I served as general consultant and chief strategist for Joe Cunningham’s upset victory in South Carolina’s First Congressional District, helping elect the first Democrat to win that seat in 40 years. After nine straight election cycles, I stepped away from campaigns and found my way into the rapidly changing world of college athletics, NIL, and sports communications.
That move felt natural. Modern sports now operate with the same intensity I knew from politics: constant scrutiny, passionate audiences, reputational risk, donor pressure, media attention, and high-stakes decisions made in public. I became a licensed athlete-agent, represented more than twenty student-athletes across South Carolina, and later co-founded and led The Charleston Edge, College of Charleston’s NIL collective.
Today, I’m excited to bring that blended experience to the amazing team at NP Strategy. High-stakes communications can be learned through many paths. Mine has prepared me to help clients navigate pressure, shape public narratives, and win trust when it matters most.
Learn more about NP Strategy’s strategic communications, public affairs, crisis communications, and sports communications services here.
