AVP, Golf, Wasserman
Years as a Camper: 8 summers (1994-2001)
Years as a Staff Member/Positions held: 4 summers (2002-2005); Junior Counselor and Senior Counselor in Camps 2, 3 and 4. Motorboating Staff.
Current Profession and Title/Years in role: AVP, Golf with Wasserman (seven years) – Global Sports & Entertainment Agency
Can you provide a brief overview of your job responsibilities? I primarily serve as an expert consultant for some of biggest brands in Golf, I also drive new revenue for our Gold Division’s Athletes, Events, and Consulting & Hospitality clients. Prior to joining Wasserman in 2016, I developed 10 years of experience in marketing and business development that included work in the NBA with the Charlotte Hornets franchise.
Do you have any career advice for members of our Camp community? Perform to the best of your abilities and achieve at what you’re doing; while you’re doing it in order to give yourself the best shot at what you’d like to do next. Results rule!
What do you believe have been some of your greatest personal and professional accomplishments? Is there a goal toward which you are currently working? Being a Father to two amazing children (Mary Rush, 2014 and Hunt, 2017); and a Husband to my wonderful wife (Morgan, 2011).
Triad Business Journal Top Forty Leaders Under 40 (2023). The largest projects I’m working on currently involve both brand clients and talent. First, with Travelers, a longtime client that has the Travelers Championship on the PGA TOUR. Given the heightened competitive landscape of the golf space over the past year, we have worked to drive strategic solutions to help Travelers position in becoming a Designated Event on the PGA TOUR this year. The most important element continues to be the relationships we help Travelers build with PGA TOUR players, their families, and Caddies to work towards the best field possible during tournament week. The player programming around the Travelers Championship we help develop features the best players in the world, including Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris, Xander Schauffele and many more. Additionally, we have a new client as of last year in Baker Tilly, who we are helping build out and maximize an ambassadorial team for the first time. As of Q1 in 2023, we have successfully launched partnerships for Baker Tilly with Cameron Smith (golf), Coco Gauff (tennis), and Jimmy Chin (photographer/climber/producer). The common thread is that each is an explorer, pushing the boundaries in their own space which is an archetype consistent with the fabric of who Baker Tilly is as a company.
How do the values or skills you learned at Camp show up in your everyday work and/or personal life? They are present every day. There are skills we learn on land, on sea, and in the cabin, both as campers and counselors, that show up in helpful ways throughout many walks of life. Most important, are the lifelong relationships. Camp friends are some of the most important in my life and, like many of you, seemingly everywhere I go, I connect with someone with ties to our great Camp family. For our kids at home, we have four basic rules that will be familiar to all in the Camp Sea Gull & Seafarer Family: Listen, Share, Try Your Best, and Do What’s Right. I can still hear Captain Lloyd saying, “If you Listen, Share, and Try Your Best…you’re probably going to Do What’s Right.”Needless to say, our children have heard it framed that way many times as well.
Is there a person or a situation that had a huge influence on you while you were at Camp? How and why did they/it impact you? Captain Llyod Griffith and I had a special relationship. He was an impactful role model and leader to me from celebrating my nine-year-old birthday at Camp in 1994, to working on staff with him before he retired. I’m also proud to have worked alongside and for John Hyde during my years at Sea Gull and share a great relationship with him. CSG could not ask for a better leader currently at the helm. Also, the relationship I had with my Head Counselor in Camp 4, Hayes Permar, meant a great deal to me while on staff. The belief he instilled, empowering me to lead and be a successful counselor in Camp 4 meant more than he probably realizes. Those were my favorite years on staff (2004-2005). I’m grateful for his leadership, and friendship, and for remaining in good touch with Hayes. During those two years in Camp 4, Hayes placed Colby Wright and I side by side as counselors in Cabin 53 and 54, respectively. We dubbed that Cabin building “DuPlex” as the first two Cabins in Camp 4. Hayes embraced it and we created lasting memories for campers and each other that still make us laugh (until we cry) to this day. Important to note is – they don’t make many people like Colby Wright – he’s as good of a person and a friend as you could find anywhere. I’m lucky to count him as a friend found at Sea Gull.
All of the lifelong friendships made at Camp are special. For me, Jeff Nolan and I went to Camp together since 1995 and were in a cabin together as campers then and each year following. He remains one of my best friends. Jeff was an Usher in my wedding and he and his family are important people in my life. We are making new memories now as our kids are getting to know one another which is great fun!
I was fortunate to share great experiences at Camp with family that included my sisters, Mary Cullen Bills Dixon and Elizabeth Bills Weaver; as well as my cousin, Molly Bills Ostmann along with Sean Ostmann; and Julia Fariss Smiles and Bill Yates from our Supper Club family in High Point, NC. In addition to those mentioned, I’m also fortunate for many other close relationships from Camp to include Moss Withers, Chance Van Noppen, Will Peete, Charlie Holderness, Matt Shankle, Carlisle Rankin Harper, Maggie Dillon McGraw, Amanda Golmont Schneider, and many from the SEA Venture Australia 2001 crew, among others. There are so many impactful people from our Camp family who remain important in each of our lives. For that, I am forever grateful.
Favorite Camp meal: Cook-out night
Favorite mess hall entry song: Desperado
Favorite special event at Camp: Camp Night (C4G’s Capture the Flag)
Devotion you best remember from Camp: “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”
If you had to have an intro song every time you walked into a room what would it be? The chorus from C.R.E.A.M. – Wu-Tang
Do you have a hidden talent? Poetry
