A problem-solver here to empower problem-solvers.
Forty years inside the hardest go-to-market and innovation problems organizations face — and a lifetime inside music, writing, and film that shaped how to see them.
Business, music, publishing, film. One person. One way of seeing.
The common thread across four decades of work is not a title or an industry. It is a habit of mind — the ability to notice the assumption no one else is questioning, to find the real problem underneath the stated one, and to build a path forward that honors both the people doing the work and the people they serve.
That habit was shaped in boardrooms and recording studios, at Fortune 500 product meetings and in orchestra pits, in front of customers and in front of cameras. Fresh Perspectives is the name for the through-line.
A career built inside the hardest problems of growth, brand, and innovation.
Helped 100 world-class consumer brands — Starbucks, BMW, Colgate, Canon, SiriusXM, and major portfolios at PepsiCo, Unilever, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Nestlé — strengthen storytelling and deepen emotional connection with more than 60 million online shoppers.
Ran seven companies. Held the CMO role at four — two public, two private. Presided over two global trade associations and served on the board of a third.
Guided Amazon, Apple, and Adobe on strategy and product direction. Repositioned and rebranded 150+ smaller companies. Designed product roadmaps and go-to-market strategies that made new markets addressable.
Over $1B in revenue growth across a career leading product-line teams. Grew market share in 18 different product categories — some by as much as 8×.
Turned around a technology and financial brand research firm whose clients included Merrill Lynch, IBM, Oracle, Fidelity Investments, JD Edwards, EDS/HP, SAP, and Intel.
The Paradox of Excellence — featured in Harvard Business Review and Fast Company, a top-25 business book on Amazon, in print in seven languages. Nine US patents granted. Over 50 creative and marketing awards across six agencies and six companies.
Inside music since the age of five.
Michael has played in bands, orchestras, and choirs since elementary school. He studied the double bass under two great bassists — the Boston Symphony's Tiny Martin and jazz legend Michael Moore — and performed under luminaries including Leonard Bernstein, Gunther Schuller, and swing bandleader Paul Lavalle of the NBC Orchestra.
He has been actively performing praise and worship music for more than 25 years.
Started composing orchestral music in high school. Studied composition with American composer David Barnett.
Multiple film composition awards. The musical ear — for tension, release, and the shape of a moment — sits underneath everything Fresh Perspectives builds, from keynotes to sync libraries to feature documentaries.
The work is the same whether the medium is a product roadmap, a paragraph, or a piece of music.
Fresh Perspectives is the studio that carries all of it.
Six doors, one person walking through each of them.
Strategy, keynotes, executive coaching.
Bold ideas for big thinkers.
Difference makers deserve a better story.
Composition and sync for the slow, honest moments.
Courses, workshops, and keynotes.
Tools and experiments for operators.