Hey, I’m Gary and I’m passionate about creating content that gets discovered on the web.
I’m a digital strategist and content producer working with brands to drive awareness, attention, affinity, and action. I live in Studio City, Los Angeles, CA with my wife and when I’m not “working”, I’m checking out live music & comedy shows, running the occasional obstacle course race, and crafting small batch cold brew coffee.
I guess it all started back when I began using the metasearch engine Dogpile back in the late 90s as my search engine of choice. But instead of just clicking the top result, I spent time comparing the results from the various search engines (Yahoo, Lycos, Excite, Infoseek, HotBot, etc), trying to see which results were consistent across the different engines and why some were different. I didn’t realize it at the time, but analyzing search results would later become a huge part of my life.
But it didn’t end there. Here’s a look at my journey so far…
Born in Beverly Hills, CA. Yes I looked like a Shar Pei
Took my first computer class. I went to a bougie private school and they started us young. Thanks Mr. Steele!
Joined AOL where social networking via chat rooms and instant messenger and web design via geocities started to shape my future skillset.
Swapped my search engine of choice from Dogpile to Google. This marked the start of a love/hate affair that persists to this day. Also dove headfirst into my first forays in ecommerce, buying and selling items via eBay.
Built my first website - a fundraising campaign site where I took donations from classmates for growing out an epic 80’s style mullet for my junior year high school photos.
Started working at Pinnacle Estate Properties. My first real job after high school where I designed ads, managed website content, created sales collateral, took photos and produced virtual tours for real estate agents. Also got my real estate license and become a buyers agent.
Moved to San Diego to attend SDSU where I took my first internet marketing course and had my first craft beer.
Started working at RankPay. My first job out of college where I first learned keyword research, link building, and SEO sales.
Joined the team at Thunder SEO. Went hands-on in managing full service digital marketing campaigns for clients, helped lead video & blog content production, presented on stage at industry events. Most influential 2 years of my career.
Moved back to Los Angeles & started my digital marketing consultancy Highrise.
Ran my first ads on Facebook. Right sidebar was the only placement!
Met my future wife Caroline and asked her out via Instagram. Got denied.
Launched Hopped LA as an Instagram account & basic WordPress blog
Reconnected with my future wife Caroline and went out on our first date.
Adopted Blue, our mini Australian Shepherd. He’s a good boy.
Made my comeback to video with the launch of Hopped LA’s Events on Tap show. Sparked major growth trajectory for the brand that continues to this day.
Got married to Caroline. Best day of my life.
That about sums up the last 30 years or so. These days, I’m heads down on a number of projects which mostly includes operating my boutique digital agency and running a craft beer media company. I’m always on the lookout for new people to connect with and interesting projects to contribute to.
Interested in connecting? Hit me up on the form below and let me know what you’re working on!
Contact Me.
I’m always open to make new friends, discuss new projects, help solve problems, or just talk shop. Shoot me a message and let’s chat.