The biggest shift

About seven months ago, as of writing, I took a job with an Australia-based technology company. I chose to begin winding down what had been my life’s work, building a respected boutique agency in higher education, and move into a growth marketing VP position. Those years in Austin, when my designer friends were taking jobs at tech companies, weren’t lost on me. But I never thought I would do the same.

But friends, higher ed is in a way. Even now, supporting those agencies I used to compete with, I see just as sharply the challenges HE faces. Everyone is facing headwinds—the institutions, the agencies, and yeah, even the tech product vendors. No one has money, everyone needs money, and the pressure just keeps mounting.

For me, edging away from my own business was a calculated move. Like, have you seen the state of the US? Higher ed has got it rough. I feel like I’ve described this over and over again, but we’re looking at culture wars, a government that’s openly hostile to education, overhyped “AI” discourse threatening to take our jobs, less money, more consolidation of agencies, campus closures, and a rise in “do more with less”. It’s exhausting.

I’ll be upfront: Bravery lost two bids, and I couldn’t keep things moving. That’s how tenuous it is for a lot of smaller shops. They’re on the brink, and if they lose a job because they are forthcoming about using contractors (by the way, everyone uses contractors) or a committee of new faces picks someone else, that could be the final blow.

Bravery did great work, though. For 13 years, we elevated the design language of so many institutions. We generated so much revenue for colleges and universities. Largely, we put the infrastructure in place for institutions to realize those ambitions. We didn’t focus on the flashy. We kept our sights on the real people looking for a better future through education.

I believe a lot of the inefficiencies in higher ed marketing can be soothed by better tech infrastructure. And I’m not talking AI. Basic infrastructure. And that’s why I made the move that I did. It’s more education. It’s more visibility. And the organizations that choose to put Squiz SaaS products in place see big gains

I’ll tell you what, transitioning from running your own business for over a decade to working at a global tech company with several hundred employees was a lot harder than I thought. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the process. And I’ve done a lot of soul searching.

But not worrying about where a paycheck is coming from does free my brain up a bit to work on my podcasts, videos, and side projects (like redesigning this blog). I’m hoping to be a bit more consistent with writing here, too.

Some other life updates;

• We went from Louisville to Spokane to Nashville.
• I’m restarting my Higher Ed Hot Takes podcast as a video pod. If you missed it while I wasn’t writing to you, check it out. They are short episodes.
• Playing around with Claude and I built this little listening autobiography from my last.fm history and Discogs record collection. It’s fun.
• Ron Bronson and I started a book club podcast in 2025, and I think we’re bringing it back. I love getting to apply my media theory skills.