Somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic, I came to understand there’s a bigness in this world. We navigate it with endless tacks, jibes and journeys all guided by the magnetic pull of a true north. This force keys us into experience, into marvel and madness and every emotion in between. Most importantly, it connects us, inspires us, and reminds us to hold fast as we move through it all.

Years later, I realized that’s how building brands works too.

I discovered it in sneakers, rubber and canvas held together by laces and grommets strong enough to bond a century’s worth of athletes and artists across the world. In finding it, I found a voice—not for myself, but for every person looking for theirs, in those shoes. It pushed me to agencies, where I positioned brands just finding their lives, as well as giants standing at points of inflection in theirs.

Then it became about possibility more broadly expressed: ideas, identities, purpose, products, platforms all shaped by a strategic approach born of a writer’s mind, made real by leading cross-disciplinary teams to their greatest impact.

These days, now two decades deep, I continue to seek what moves us. Explore, shape and refine it until we—teams, crews, clients and partners of all kinds—revel in the rewards it brings. For business. For people. For the feeling of a strong bearing, the clean cut of a sail and the wind that fills it.