He builds the foundation
at the moment of
change.
AJ's first job out of college was at Fox, supporting the COO, who later became CEO, after Fox acquired a European mobile company. Two cultures were colliding, and AJ built programs to increase morale. He has been doing that work ever since.
He learned how stories move people as a publicist at Ogilvy and MTV, built the communications function at a YouTube-funded media startup, then joined Yahoo, where he built the company's first internal brand function. When Verizon acquired Yahoo for $4.5B, AJ kept global employees engaged through one of the largest tech integrations of the decade, then became Head of MOJO, leading culture and employee experience for the combined Verizon Media.
Two acquisitions, nearly a decade apart, made one thing undeniable: the moments of greatest disruption are not only business problems. They are identity problems. The people who navigate them well already know who they are beneath the role.
Selected Work
Since 2018, through Intivine.
iHeartMedia: a year-long leadership development program for the sales organization.
Clif Bar: culture and change strategy through a restructure, including support for the Board presentation.
KidKraft: the company's first communications function and employer brand.
Nike: supporting the growth of Data & Analytics leaders.
LinkedIn: leadership and communication support for global HR leaders.
The proof behind the point of view
Twenty years.
One thing that never changed.
The leaders and organizations that move differently are not the ones who only learned the best frameworks. They are the ones who also got clear on who they actually are. Everything else follows from that.
There is a word people use for those who are ready when the moment arrives. They call it luck. It is not luck. It is preparation of a specific kind. Knowing who you are clearly enough that when an opportunity appears, you can move toward it without hesitation. You fit into it. You bring something to it that only you could bring. That is not luck. That is identity doing its job.
That insight came from being inside organizations navigating real pressure. Nike executives stepping into roles that demanded a clarity no job description could supply. Univision leaders learning to carry a vision into rooms not yet ready to receive it. Caterpillar teams discovering that alignment on identity moves faster than alignment on strategy.
Organizations
"Best investment. AJ you were a hit. And you turned around and got the quietest of the crew to be engaged."
EVP Chief Communications Officer, Univision
The Methodology
The Imagination Method™
is the framework.
Every engagement, every tool, and every program AJ offers is an application of The Imagination Method™. It is not a consulting approach. It is a thinking framework for activating the identity of anything, built from two decades of watching what happens when people finally get clear.
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Take the Shine Scale™Credentials
Certified HeartMath® Trainer · Keynote speaker in 13 countries · University of Miami, BA English · University of Pennsylvania, Positive Psychology · Northwestern University, Organization Leadership
Books
The ideas in print.
Three books for three different moments. A framework for individuals ready to unlock their full potential. A journal built for the two most important moments of your day. And a story for the young people in your life about what it means to shine.