Bob Dylan famously sang, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”  Dylan was right about a lot of things, but this one he got wrong.

When the wind is blowing something fierce and you’re feeling scared, there’s no one you want more in that situation than the weatherman (or woman).

For more than 40 years no one has proven that better than the amazing people at The Weather Channel.

It’s what the network is known for.  It’s why it is one of the most trusted brands in America.  Jim Cantore, Steph Abrams, Paul Goodloe, and the host of other talented, brave meteorologists standing amidst the storm (not to mention all the incredible people working behind the camera), warning us of the dangers and educating us about the awesome power and fury of Mother Nature.

It’s been one of the great honors and privileges of my career to be part of The Weather Group team for the past three years.  The opportunity came at a time when the winds of change were blowing in my own life.

In early 2020, I was feeling tired, run down and probably a bit burned out professionally from years of intense work, extensive travel, and a 3+ hour daily commute.  The jobs were rewarding and I’m proud of what the teams I worked with accomplished during that stretch, but maintaining that kind of pace takes a toll, at least it did for me.  Leaving it all on the field at work can help you advance in your career, but it also means you don’t have anything left to give when you get home.  I needed a change.

My plan was to take time off and fulfill a long-held dream of writing a novel, until I got a call from my good friend, Tom O’Brien, who said that he was looking for someone to run marketing at The Weather Group. 

To be honest I never imagined myself working at The Weather Channel when I got into this business.  Not due to any lack of respect or admiration for the brand and its work, but as someone who has spent the better part of two decades working in and around sports it didn’t seem like a logical step along the career path.

But all that started to change when Tom introduced me to some of the amazing, talented leaders at TWG like Melody Smalls, Nora Zimmett, Michael Senzon, Bill Higgs, and Janice Arouh.  I also met members of the marketing team like Brandon Uffner, Sherrie Brooks, and Mike Emerick.

The chance to oversee marketing for one of the iconic brands in media when the business was transforming so rapidly was intriguing.  Also, after so many years working in local cable, I was excited about the company’s plans to transform Local Now into the ultimate, free, streaming destination for viewers interested in local news, weather, and first-class entertainment.

As a result, somehow amidst the dark days of Covid I found myself feeling professionally inspired and excited for the first time in years.  There was a mountain to climb, and I wanted to be part of it.

I was fortunate in that other opportunities presented themselves.  But Weather was the only one that got the juices flowing like I remembered from my happiest and most fulfilling professional experiences.

Somehow, I managed to talk them into giving me a shot.  Once joining I found that the team not only was talented, dedicated and justifiably proud of the work they do, but also incredibly nice and fun to be around.

And then there was the chance to work with the incomparable Byron Allen, owner of The Weather Group and one of the most successful media entrepreneurs of his generation.  Let me tell you, after years working for large publicly traded companies, working for Byron is like finding an open lane on the highway while everyone else is stuck in traffic.  Byron thinks differently, cuts through the bullshit, and moves fast.  When work feels like being stuck in bumper to bumper in traffic, Byron finds the open road, puts the car into gear, and jams the pedal to the floor. 

The proof is in the results.  In the middle of one of the most challenging business environments in history Allen Media Group and The Weather Group excelled.  I’ll save the list of accomplishments for my resume and LinkedIn profile, but after 20+ years in the business I’d stack this company’s achievements the past three years against anyone’s.  And when you consider the relative size and available resources compared to the big players in the space, the results are that much more extraordinary.

In 2023 I find the winds of change blowing once again in my life.  Working for Byron has further kindled the flames of a long-held dream to start my own business.  Deciding to leave a company and a group of people that have given me so much was among the hardest decisions in my career.  But I know in my bones that I will regret it later if I don’t try. 

Yet this time I’m not facing the wind tired and drawn but renewed and energized, ready to set sail.   I could point to the accomplishments and satisfaction from what we did together the past three years.  But that’s only a small part of it.  The real reason is the relationships.  I owe a debt of gratitude to the amazing people of this company that I could never begin to repay.

If Dylan had worked with weather people, the song would have been different.  But true to Dylan’s genius, he wrote another famous lyric that captures the enduring lesson of change, “the answers, my friend, are blowing in the wind.”