I’m a proud Dad, husband, small business owner, podcaster and an advocate for my community.
As the owner of OneEighty Media, I’m the Director of Accounts and lead communications consultant for my full-service marketing, communications and advertising firm. I suppose that’s a fancy way of saying I work with my clients to give them exactly what they need to bolster their marketing – a fresh new website that works how it’s supposed to, a beautiful new brand, literature that pops and hits the target, intelligent digital marketing campaigns – all that good stuff.
When I’m not working with clients and my team, you’ll find me out and about coaching my sons’ baseball teams, sometimes giving well-honed advice on Pokemon trades, helping out with homework and driving the kiddos to skiing, soccer or Sunday school. Oh, and then there’s the podcast…well, let’s start a little earlier.
After college back in the day, I started as a newspaper journalist, then moved into commercial and public radio. But to be completely honest, through my five years’ work as a reporter, I learned I could do way more for my community by jumping into the arena myself.
The opportunity came when the mayor of Pittsfield asked me to come work for him. It was a big shift at the time. But I ultimately trusted my gut and said “Sure, let’s do it!” A few years later, I ran for office myself, was elected to the city council and served for a decade, finishing my final two terms as the VP of the council. I’m proud that I played a key role in the effort to build a new
state-of-the-art Taconic High School, I worked on initiatives that enhanced Pittsfield’s economic viability in the culturally-rich Berkshires, and was always passionate about improving our schools. That continues to this day.
During that time, I also had the chance to help save Pittsfield’s community radio station WTBR-FM with a dozen-year run hosting and producing the daily morning program Good Morning Pittsfield. It was truly a diamond in the rough, and the community deserved it to be preserved and allowed to see its full potential. Today, the station is thriving, a far cry from 2006 when it was in danger of losing its FCC license. We should all be proud of that.
Since I started OneEighty Media in 2012, the firm has become a go-to agency in healthcare. My expertise in the industry began working in the corporate world with Berkshire Healthcare Systems (now Integricare), CareOne, Benchmark Senior Living and Amedisys Home Health in full-time capacities. We understand the language of healthcare, the consumers and, typically, we know exactly what our clients need. However, our team at OneEighty has shown itself to be nimble and adaptable to many other industries, including (but not limited to) financial services, climate control, legal practices, insurance, restaurants, transportation, retail, public education, non-profits and much more.
Speaking of adapting, in 2017, we broke new ground in the Berkshires with the first daily live Facebook Live program The John Krol Show, a variety show that celebrated the rich array of flavor, music and relevant issues impacting the region.
Okay…now to the podcast! Today I’ve simply gone back to my roots with a more intimate, in-depth audio podcast where I seek to tell the unfiltered, unabridged story of our wider community through my guests’ perspectives. For me, this podcast is more about listening than anything else – in fact, it always was.
I live in Pittsfield with my beautiful wife and partner, Cara, and our kiddos Arden, Beckett, Everett, Ricky and Sophia!