One week from today I’ll be starting with Trinsic as the Director of Marketing!
I’m so grateful for all the learning I’ve experienced in the past year. Leaving full time employment with Dual School in January was a big jump. Then freelancing during the spring was exhilarating, but also scary and unsettling. All of those moves prepared me and helped clarify what I was looking for in my next steps.
I knew I wanted to work with a strong team, building an interesting product that I feel could make the world a better place. I’ve been impressed with everyone I’ve talked to at Trinsic, and I’m deeply fascinated by the space of digital identity. I think there are countless applications and possibilities for the technology, but the company is still in an experimental phase where they’re trying to build out proof points and examples to bring awareness to more people. From a marketing perspective, Trinsic wants to define and dominate their market, so I’ll be joining to build out the messaging, stories and marketing materials that will make this possible.
It won’t be easy work, but I’m so excited to get started and work on something challenging. I’m also grateful that the company is fully remote, and I’ll be able to enjoy New Hampshire while also having the possibility of traveling and working from other locations.
Travels and Updates
Last week we visited the North Fork of Long Island. Known for its farms and vineyards, it was great to slow down and spend some time on the water with family eating fresh food. Here’s a photo of the sun setting on the Peconic Bay.
We have friends visiting for a couple days this week, then we’re off to Chicago Thursday-Sunday. If you have any Chicago recommendations, let me know! It’s my first time going.
Last newsletter I asked for some summer recipe inspiration. I combined a few ideas and made a corn salad that is super versatile.
Boil 6 ears of corn - let cool
Shave off the kernels into a bowl
Mix in a bowl with ~1/3 cup red onion and ~1/3 cup red pepper chopped small
Chop fresh basil
Squeeze half lime
Sprinkle with salt
You can easily add tomatoes, black beans, lettuce, or anything else. Lime can also be replaced with apple cider vinegar, or another form of acid. I’ve really enjoyed this salad and it pairs well with other things like roasted vegetables, chicken, or fish.
Podcast on Creativity and Design
I enjoyed this recent podcast on How I Built This with David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school. I knew that Kelley designed the first Apple mouse, but did not realize that he was so close with Steve Jobs and that he helped on hundreds of other design projects at Apple. There’s something about the idea of getting in lots of repetitions that is very appealing. With each design project you can refine your process further, compounding your learning and eventually becoming world class, as IDEO is now regarded. The other thing that stuck with me was when he talked about how to shift company cultures to be more innovative, he emphasized that you win people over by inspiring them to believe in a better future. As I think about the idea of marketing and storytelling, this idea of painting an inspiring picture of the future is core in my beliefs.
Thanks for reading!
Zack