When Your Husband Does A Big Thing You Write A Whole Article Dedicated To His Greatness

I honestly hated and actively avoided advertising—and then I met Taylor Wiegert, MBA .

In college, I can remember him scribbling in a notebook. Random ideas for a brand or things he’d want to research about human behavior. He’d cut me off mid-sentence to add to the collection. An avid learner of Photoshop and InDesign at the time because “it’s not enough to have an idea or a strategy, you need to be able to visualize it and be mindful of the flow of how it’s communicated. Communication is everything,” he’d say.

Swoon.

There’s no wattage I can use to measure just how much he’d light up when a musing struck.

As a very junior strategist, he pushed for contracts of mutual respect between brands and the agencies working for them. Literally a list that if a brand couldn’t commit, the partnership was probably not of benefit to either party. He presented strategic territories to a major retailer—but cautioned them that there was work to do internally in how the company treated its employees before the brand would ever have permission to attack its potential externally. Again, all of this in the infancy of his career.

Through Taylor, I saw a completely different adland. I saw just how much agencies actually compel brands to be the best version of themselves. Oftentimes, saying the hard things that folks internal to a brand can’t muster the courage to face. All in the name of doing right by both employees and customers they want to engage with.

Then, The Martin Agency reached out. We joked in the early days that nothing would come of it.

And then I saw that light in him again. Brighter than I had ever seen it after his last round of interviews in Richmond. They even allowed me to tag along to see the city. I knew then that we were moving.

Taylor has been at Martin for a decade, where he’s found an even more pointed voice and philosophy on strategy.

“It’s not enough to ask interesting questions. You have to dig for the unexpected answers as a strategist to unlock territories for outsized business outcomes,” is what Taylor believes.

With a creative-first approach to strategy, he’s had a heck of a run:

• Got the masses empathizing with Orcs for “Shadow of War” gaming
• Overtook March Madness with talk of wings and vasectomies
• Reconnected Bud Light to Sunday football rituals
• Steered AXE toward revamping its take on attraction, which set the brand up for its first market share growth in the U.S. in nine years
• Tapped rowdy celebs like Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman to get beyond cheeky about the benefits of SlingTV

He did all of that while earning his MBA from Syracuse AND putting up with me. He was one of only two in his graduating class to earn a 4.0. He was distinguished with the school’s Marketing Management Excellence award.

I’m going to nick a quote here from Martin Agency Chief Brand Officer Elizabeth Paul to put Taylor in greater perspective: “Taylor brings a rigor and rhythm to the work of his team that produces excellence consistently. It’s the 99% perspiration that ensures incredible results. When it comes to the 1% inspiration—he’s genuinely inventive. His insights consistently surprise me, which is hard to do. He’ll work a problem like a damned Rubik's Cube until the colors align and the magic is unleashed.”

Today, the word is officially out on what’s next. Taylor’s joined Curiosity as its Head of Strategy! I can’t wait to see what he’ll do and build with amazing humans like Ashley Walters, APR , Trey Harness and Jeffrey Warman .

This move has had me ruminating on an old conversation with Kristen Cavallo . She talked about whether retention was really the right metric for organizations to measure related to strength of culture and company overall. She had read some research stating that people are averaging jobs in about seven different industries over their lifetime now! She talked about her philosophy on the importance of experiencing different agencies, industries and business models. I’ve personally worked in four different sectors myself.

Kristen cared more about net promoter score. “I never want people running away from something. I want to have given people the skills, tools and confidence to run toward their next—with nothing but positivity for Martin,” was what I remember her saying.

That’s what Taylor’s doing. And, I’m so proud of him!