In 2017, I moved back to Portland to help an old friend start an agency.  

Bob’s Discount Furniture was our first client. A conversation I was having with SnapChat turned into our second. We started at Mark’s dining room table and worked out of my WeWork.  

One thing led to another. 

We bought a printer. 

Then we bought toner. 

Toner became a KPI. It meant things were working. 

Not long after, another old friend joined, and the three of us set out to build something together. It felt like a second chance—for all of us. In a lot of ways, it was recovery. Literally and figuratively. We didn’t overthink it. We just tried to do good work and see what happened.

Over time, the momentum compounded. By December 2025, Opinionated had been named Ad Age Small Agency of the Year six times and was included on the A-List alongside some of the best agencies in the country.

A month later, the agency was acquired by Tombras.

From a dining room table to 40 full-time people. From one client to over $14M in revenue in eight years. Adidas, Panda Express, Shake Shack, Dick's Sporting Goods. All great clients. A lot of great work.

But acquisitions have a way of surfacing the truth. The process is designed to expose what’s real—and what isn’t. The business was real. The success was real. And there were some unfortunately real truths. 

I am super proud of Opinionated and my role in building it. I have chosen to move on and build again, armed with a shit-ton of knowledge and a far better lawyer.