Innovations in outdoor gear have fascinated me since I was 10 and discovered a new telescoping fishing rod that collapsed into a backpack, avoiding the awkwardness of bike riding with a 7-foot pole in hand. Other “Wowza!” advancements in sporting gear during my youth included 12-speed bicycles, graphite tennis rackets, parabolic skis, and the fabrications we now take for granted like Gortex, Polar fleece, Techwick. 

Technological inventions are game-changers, and I’m always in awe of brands whose genius creativity enhances our recreational time in the great outdoors. I just can’t get enough of either.

That’s why I started Spinoff Marketing 35 years ago: to collaborate on the growth and success of brands whose mission I believe in. I’ve had the great fortune of partnering with world-class brands over the years – Timberland, Oakley, Backpacker Apparel, Wolverine, Life is Good – companies focused on outdoor lifestyle in the country and city.

As a commuter to Manhattan, often clad in technical apparel and accessories, I foresaw the trend of major fashion brands using “our" outdoor fabrications in their designs for city-dwellers who were just as exposed to the elements as hikers and skiers. I call it the “merged outdoors”, where technical apparel and accessories are fused with modern urban style. I’m at ease in both worlds and after years of experience, have been known to predict which trends are coming next.

When I’m not at Spinoff Marketing headquarters in Fairfield, CT, I’m either playing tennis, skiing at Stratton with my wife Anne, exploring Manhattan or Boston where our kids now live, or fishing out on Long Island Sound with my trusty graphite fishing rod.