Mantra: “Keep it real” Where I do most of my thinking: On my bike or in the shower Favourite cocktail: Dark and Stormy (or a grape/crème soda if attending a kid’s party) Favourite companies I follow: 4Ocean, Tenfed, and any company with a social purpose

My Story

Here’s a brief history of who I am, what I do and why we should do business together.  I was born in raised in Burlington ON by my father, a banker, and my mother, a teacher.  While my older brother ended up going for something more stable out of the gate, I went a different direction… A riskier one.  A direction full of adventure, risk, and big rewards.  Instead of getting locked down to a single methodology early on, I chose to jump right into the trenches and let the marketing world beat the lessons into me.  It is this experience that I ultimately owe my career to.

Time To Learn

After high school, I took a year off like most rebellious and delusional teens and started hustling in various businesses from car detailing to picking up odd club promotion gigs.  Funny story – I attended Seneca College and spent 2 weeks in the wrong course.  One afternoon my marketing professor told me that I should be in the marketing program and not in the business program.  I of course asked why and his response was, “you can’t shut up and you have a natural marketing brain and ability to sell, something most can’t acquire with just schooling.”  I took his advice, switched to the marketing program and immediately felt at home.

Helping Some Amazing Brands

When I graduated from the marketing program, that same professor set me up with my first “job”, an amazing opportunity to lead the marketing and development of mobile commerce in Canada with the three major mobile carriers. (WPS, Now Enstream)  This job was a consulting gig, one that would chart my future.  During that time, I worked with some amazing brands including Rayovac, Eska Water, Molson, Integram, Shoplogix, and others.  I held marketing leadership roles with software companies like TimeTECH, and HRWare, until I was brought in to be the Director of Marketing at CTS.  I lead a re-branding project, new digital identity, and executed a merger before becoming SENSUS, a National AV and business technology peripheral sales company with offices and employees across Canada.  I became Director of Marketing and Inside sales, and later becoming a Partner, board member, and leading Emerging Markets.

Fast Forward…

Fast forward to today. Just ask me if I am proud of what I have accomplished by my mid 30’s and my ego will tell you all about it – but I’m not stopping yet!  My brain never stops thinking, and passion for the business grind has set even bigger professional goals for me to hit.  Chris and I formed Siphon to help other businesses grow, something we’re really good at.  We both bring different skills to the table and we often have a healthy debate for hours on the most compelling headline or easiest user experience.  Our team tells us it’s fun to watch two experts get in the room and cover the walls in scenarios, funnels, org structures and marketing jargon.  In the end, their founders come out exhausted with hungry stomachs and a masterpiece on the whiteboard. The expertise I bring to the table is: marketing, SEO, digital strategy, business development, sales automation, business planning, and introducing new sales channels to existing business strategies. Everything I do, I do with purpose, passion and resiliency.  I’ll never stop being passionate about helping businesses grow – it’s in my veins! Want to chat?  Just email us and ask for Michael.