Curtis Simmons
JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF SOME
Pursuing opportunities where personal talents and passions in creativity, technology and leadership can help small to medium-sized businesses excel in the areas of Marketing, Communications, Product Design, and/or Business Operations.
Following graduation from the University of Oklahoma, began a career in application development and consulting. Matured quickly to management roles in application/ information architecture and web application design. Held multiple executive-level roles in two successful startups and found Marketing and Communications to be a natural fit.
In January 2012, switched to a career in the art world, leading a photography-centric media company with a global reach. Over an 8 year period the role led to visits to 40+ countries and permanent residency in New Zealand for four of those years. The diverse business challenges of growing a media company, combined with travel abroad, an individual pursuit of photography, creativity and mindfulness, resulted in being uniquely positioned to lead businesses and mentor others to excel.
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
Photography
Through travel abroad, and pursuit of creativity and mindfulness, I’ve learned about love, beauty, and acceptance in nature, others, and myself. My photography is an attempt to capture these universal truths.
You can see my art at KiaKaha.Photography
Other interests...
Travel, Fitness, Hiking, Trail Biking, Yoga, Meditation, and any movie written and directed by Wes Anderson.
Today
Present
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2019
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2012
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2004
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1999
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1997
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1995
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1993
LOOKING FOR NEW CLIENTS
If you're a small to medium-sized business with a great product/service but your growth has plateaued then we can help you get unstuck. Contact us today for help with strategy, planning and execution of Marketing, Communications and Growth.
Email us at kiakahacreative@gmail.com
VP OF MARKETING (Contract)
Vision2 Systems - Dallas, Texas
Began working for Vision2, a giving platform for non-profits, in October 2019. Primary objectives were to establish a brand identity in the marketplace and generate marketing qualified leads that would meet their aggressive sales goals.
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Completed competitor analysis, industry interviews, and reviewed existing materials to establish the Why, How, What of Vision2, and concise elevator pitch.
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Redesigned the information architecture of the Vision2 website and rewrote most of the content
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Established a bold, opinionated, and consistent voice on the blog and social channels
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Developed and launched multiple campaigns, each included a landing page, downloadable white paper, live webinar, hub/spoke articles, blog and social posts, emails. and paid ads on Google and Facebook
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In just 6 months, grew website traffic 350% in Pageviews, 490% in Unique Visitors and 24% in Time on Page Grew Facebook to 893K impressions, 356K reached, 21K engagements
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Role expanded to business partnerships and development of Customer Success processes and documentation
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Stuck in Customs - Queenstown, New Zealand
Chief “Everything” Officer for a multimillion-dollar art business with operations and clients around the world. Increased revenue by over 200% while profit margins increased over 60%. Projects and responsibilities were challenging and wide-ranging. Key examples:
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Hire, build and lead teams located in Dallas, Portland, Edinburgh, and Queenstown, New Zealand
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Redesign and development of StuckInCustoms.com, TreyRatcliff.com
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Design and production of tutorial video products
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Design of multiple iOS/Android apps Founded new education company, The Arcanum; Served as CTO and Design/Development lead
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Design and launch of online product stores using Magento and Shopify
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Design and host global photography workshops
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Found and signed Peak Design to co-design/development of a camera bag line which raised over $10M on Kickstarter
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Found and signed Skylum to co-design/develop HDR photography software (Aurora HDR) which was Mac's App of the Year in 2017, was downloaded over 3 million times
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Signed content partners Ritz-Carlton and Marriott to a multiyear program yielding over $700K in revenue
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Designed and led promotional tours across USA, Europe and Asia with partners such as Google, DJI, and Ritz-Carlton
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Launched Fine Art channel with over $1M in sales
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Designed, edited and launched a book about Instagram influencers
VICE PRESIDENT
Active Network (Fellowship Tech) - Dallas, Texas
Joined Fellowship Technologies in May 2004 as Vice President of Delivery Services. Later led teams in the areas of Product Development, Reporting, Technology Operations, Internal Systems Development, Product Support, Education, Community, Marketing, and Business Development. The company grew from 10 employees to 120+ with $11M+ in annual revenue.
After the acquisition of Fellowship Technologies by Active Network in 2011, assumed the role of Vice President of Marketing & Community. Responsibilities included leading a team focused on product and field marketing, corporate communications, cultivating the customer community, and business partnerships. The team outperformed all of Active's teams in satisfaction, engagement, and qualified sales leads.
PRINCIPAL
Active Network (Fellowship Tech) - Dallas, Texas
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Project Manager for design, development, testing, and implementation of a web-based loan system
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Project Manager responsible for the technical direction, quality assurance, and usability for a web-based supply chain visibility application
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Application architect of an order management and proactive alert notification system
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Development Manager of a web-based application for retailers in the deregulated energy markets
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Development Manager for the development and implementation of a B2B Internet exchange for a global Supply Chain software company
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Development Manager of a web-based workflow management system for a telecom provider
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Development Manager of a project to redesign the budget preparation process for a utility company
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Led the design and development of a career development application
LEAD ARCHITECT
Independent Consultant - Dallas, Texas
Application Architect for an enterprise shipmenT tracking system for SeaLand Services.
SENIOR CONSULTANT
Accenture - Dallas, Texas
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Application Architecture team lead for an n-tiered enterprise broadcast media system
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Development team lead for an n-tiered enterprise shipment tracking system for Yellow Freight