About Us
Enabling Brands To Leverage the Power of Integrated Design
Jump to SOTL’s: Philosophy | Leadership
The company name, “Seven On The Line”, is inspired by my favorite athletic pursuit – Ultimate Frisbee. It refers to the beginning of each new point, when all seven teammates are ‘on the line’ and ready for action. “Ultimate” is a beautiful sport of individual skills and technique within the context of a total team game. It’s strategic, fast-paced, spirited, technical, and tactical — much like the agency business.
I launched SOTL as a reflection of what I enjoy most in the business world — working with creatives, strategists, architects, and builders to champion powerful ideas, interact with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, and deliver customized solutions that enhance business value. It’s a team game and I relish the role of fierce client advocate and catalyst for creative and delivery excellence.

ONE: We are independent advisers, yet fierce client advocates, and protect your investment as we would our own $.
TWO: We are agile, nimble, focused and provocative. We aren’t slow, mechanical, scattered or cautious.
THREE: Fact-based analysis and experience-based intuition are close cousins. Each is key to discerning consumer wants and building powerful and effective solutions.
FOUR: Smart consultants are wired to ask lots of questions before tendering answers and recommendations.
FIVE: While process definitely has its place, empathic listening and agile responsiveness are more critical to client trust and satisfaction.
Raised in Miami, and a West Coaster since 1999. A mix of left and right-brained thinking helps me anticipate different stakeholder communication styles and objectives. I am a business development catalyst, marketing and design strategist, and client liaison in aligning project deliverables to enhance business value and shape brand perceptions.

Bio
- 1993. Exits commercial banking, dog-tired of spreadsheet analysis and corporate bureaucracy.
- 1999. Dives into dot-com insanity, witness to the volatility and innovation coming from Silicon Valley and SF. Joins a start-up web content aggregator, pitching software licensing deals while the CEO was positioning our profit-less firm to be bought for tens of millions by a Canadian high-flying wireless venture. Crazy times.
- 2001. Immersion on the agency side of brand-building and retail / restaurant design. The right kind of place to hone natural abilities as a sales leader, a strategy consultant, and a client advocate. Quarterbacked a bunch of new client wins and positioned the company to better compete against far larger agencies.
- 2005. Recruited by a nationally-recognized customer experience agency to lead western US new account acquisition. Retail innovation through the multiple lenses of brand + digital strategy, store planning + concept design, architecture + engineering rollout, and foodservice operations consulting. Learned plenty, and witness to the strengths and limitations of an “integrated agency model”.
- 2007. First of three kids arrives…it’s a girl! Dad is humbled and delighted.
- 2009. With more children on the way, it’s time to flee the Bay Area, purchase a century old Portland abode, and dive headfirst into the Pacific NW vibe.
- 2011. Throw caution to the wind as a full-fledged entrepreneur. With two partners, we build a design studio from scratch, landing gigs with Whole Foods Market, Jamba Juice, Love Culture and others. Plenty of self-reflection and tests of inner resilience over the next couple years.
- 2014. Seven On The Line launches, with the core belief that clients are well-served by an impartial advisor that can deliver truly customized services in a world where agency / studio business models are constantly in flux.
- 2016 – 2017. Our first Asian project, led by Thread Collaborative, developing the upscale PK Market grocery shopping concept for a Korean conglomerate. Joined forces with Cakewalk to re-energize the Farmer Boys dining experience and drive new visits with an enhanced environment and targeted brand communications. Partnered with The Productivity Advantage on assignments with Whataburger and other brands to drive store-level margins.
The journey continues…and I still make (slower!) cuts on the ultimate frisbee fields.