Core Value 1: Radical Authenticity

Being Myself is a Deliberate Choice.

Since my divorce, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand who I am. Why I do what I do. What matters to me. And how to love myself without making that love conditional on someone else’s approval.

I think of it as practicing Radical Authenticity. I consider that one of my core values, part of daily practice.

That sounds a little philosophical. In real life, it means getting comfortable sharing the things I care about, making choices I can stand behind and allowing people to see who I actually am.

It’s a practice. I’m still working on it.

Yes, the comic books are part of this.

I love my comic book collection. I love the original comic art I’ve collected. I love organizing it, caring for it and curating what feels like a small museum in the place where I live.

There’s time and intention in that. Also, plenty of nerdiness. I’m good with that.

Those things give me joy. They reflect my love of drawing, writing, characters, ideas and the extraordinary ways people bring imagined worlds to life. Of course they belong in my life. They’re connected to so much of what has always interested me.

I want to be able to share that enthusiasm freely. The same goes for my own creativity, my sense of humor and the pleasure I get from thinking through an idea with someone.

There’s a fun-loving person here. There’s also someone who cares deeply about doing things well. I’ve come to appreciate how comfortably those qualities can live together.

I bring that person to work.

My dedication and professionalism are part of who I am. So are my curiosity, individuality and enthusiasm.

I take the work seriously. I care about the people doing it with me. I want to ask good questions, find an interesting angle and help make something better. And I enjoy having some fun along the way.

For me, being authentic means bringing those qualities into the room consistently. It also means listening, adapting and recognizing that other people deserve the same room to be themselves. I can be sure of my values and still reconsider an idea. I can have a strong point of view and learn something that changes it.

Knowing myself should make me a better collaborator.

Ten years ago, I made a choice.

I had built a long career in branding, creative direction and marketing, working with corporations, agencies and clients through my own business.

Then I chose Children’s Theater of Madison.

I wanted to dedicate my experience to Madison and to the kids and families in this community. I wanted the work I did every day to contribute to something I cared about personally. For ten years, I got to be “Marc from marketing” at CTM. There’s something about the simplicity of that description that I love. And it's wholly a brand that was given to me and I owned unabashedly.

UiNIFICATION continued during those years, too. I worked with clients alongside my CTM responsibilities, sometimes frequently and sometimes less so. That part of my professional identity remained very much alive.

But CTM was a deliberate commitment. I chose to put a significant chapter of my career into this community, and I loved the perks that came along with it – the relationship with Destination Madison, the creatives and business people of this town, the parents and all around love it created.

It made sense to me because it reflected what I valued. It still does.

Leaving was a choice, too.

After ten years, I left CTM without another job waiting for me.

I know that decision can invite questions. I understand why. Having the next offer in hand provides security, and leaving without one creates uncertainty.

I feel that uncertainty. Believing in myself doesn’t make the practical concerns disappear.

But I also know what I bring to the work. I know the experience I’ve earned, the ideas I can contribute and the energy I still have for building something meaningful. I also haven't stopped learning and leaning into what's going on today with media, AI and all the marketers resources at our fingertips.

Right now, I’m putting that into UiNIFICATION, pursuing new clients and exploring other professional opportunities. It takes effort. It takes persistence. And it asks me to keep showing up as myself while I don’t yet know exactly what comes next.

I’m willing to do that.

This was my decision, made within my own circumstances. I’m responsible for what follows. I can acknowledge the risk and still believe the choice was right for me.

Authenticity has to hold up in your choices.

It’s easy enough to describe yourself. The harder work is looking at whether your decisions reflect the person you say you are.

What do you make time for? Where do you put your energy? What are you willing to share? What do you choose when approval and personal conviction don’t line up neatly?

For me, the answers include a home full of comic art. A dedication to ideas and creativity. Ten years at a children’s theater. And the decision to begin a new chapter before every detail was settled.

These things belong to the same person.

There’s a connection to how I think about brands, too. At UiNIFICATION, I spend a lot of time helping businesses understand who they are, why they matter and how to express that clearly. The expression has to be supported by something real. People experience the choices behind the words.

I hold myself to that same expectation.

I want my work, my relationships and my decisions to reflect someone I recognize and respect. Someone curious, dedicated, creative and willing to put himself out there.

That’s what practicing Radical Authenticity means to me.