Now

Great ideas come from anywhere, and most of them are usually simple. The Now page from Derek Sivers is one of those ideas, and I’m adopting it.

Releasing my first WordPress Theme

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Using Anthropic’s Claude as a partner, I built my first WordPress theme, which is currently on the site, and it’s going to be available for download shortly.

As one of the last creative technologists left in the advertising world, part of my focus should always be rooted in tech.The utility of Claude, Claude code and model context protocol (MCP) is transforming life for me and Brava’s clients.

And for some of you who are into writing, I hope this theme does the same for you.

Thinking about: the Medicis

This theme is version 1.0. It’s called Giovanni, an homage to my nephew, Gio Amendola. It’s a perfect first name for my first theme as I’m also an uncle for the first time.

But it also kicks off a naming convention for my future themes. I’m an amateur Renaissance stan, and the one who has some clout is arguably the father of the Renaissance: Giovanni de’ Medici, the father of Cosimo I and Piero The Gouty. (Terrible nickname to have for centuries.)

This theme is simple and purpose-built for telling a story. It’s made for long-form and short-form. It’s about using words to make impact.

The legacy of Giovanni’s children was unwritten at the time as he solidified the Medici bank and took soft power in Florence.A dynasty would be written for the next 150 years. Highly recommend this amazing book by Paul Strathern if you’re wanting to learn more and follow along in this journey.

Three Defining Ideas

I think in 2025 every bit of work I’m doing and personal effort I’m taking on is rooted in these three ideas:

Be a practitioner, not a philosopher. The rules of the workplace are being rewritten for this idea. And the people that I’m seeing give the worst advice are the ones who are holding on to being managers and not practitioners. The ones I’m seeing succeed are people who are so happy reclaiming what they loved doing that they got away from.

Make what you love, not what you want people to see.

The only way to future-proof yourself against AI is to become more human. I’m spending less and less time on social and more time looking across the entire marketing world to see where people really want to spend their time. And more and more, it’s not with an internet that’s slowly dying. It’s on platforms that prove out authenticity.

Listening To

I’m listening to Song Exploder, particularly the episode that Graham Nash does on the song “Our House.” I teared up the first time he told the story about the vase because it made me so happy that I found my Joni.

Working with great clients

Advising the founder of Integer and Product Testing. I am addicted to an app that Jon is working on. It’s 10X’d me personally and professionally. I spend 3 hours in a row per day using it for marketing ops and life things, and the next 3 hours waiting for my tokens to reset in Claude because I’m so hooked on it that I keep going over my limits. Addicted.

Consulting mid-sized clients and startups on AI impact and digital transformation. I’m working on Ray Jones, Consult, Integer, the Willamette Valley Wine Association, a B2C business working on digital transformation.

Want to partner with an amazing team? Check us out.

Working on great projects

Brava Website — Node.js and Three.js — Built with Claude, Cursor, Vercel

Reading Glasses — Chrome extensions – Cursor but for journalists