Mike O'Toole

President| Thinker, Walker, Die-hard Notre Dame fan

I feel privileged to live in these most interesting of times for marketing. While the ends haven't changed at all (make me famous, help me sell), all the means (channels, content, devices, who's in control) are changing constantly. Which means it's a great time to be an agency helping both brands and buyers figure it all out.

As President, I oversee operations in Cambridge and San Francisco, and advise clients on brand and marketing strategy.

I'm a blogger for the Forbes CMO Network, and a speaker at Columbia University’s BRITE Conference, MarketingProfs, and at SXSW. I am the host of PJA’s award-winning podcast The Unconventionals, featuring disruptive and counter-intuitive business stories. More than anything, my conversations with these extraordinary brands remind me that the first tasks of marketing are inspiration and helping people make great decisions.

When it comes to PJA, I'm most proud of the agency's culture, and its collection of people who genuinely like each other, and work exceedingly hard to get clients the credit they deserve.

As for the rest, I’m a proud father of four, a reader, and a compulsive walker. I’m board chair for College Bound Dorchester, an ad industry adviser to Glenview Capital Management, and a limited partner at MissionOG, a venture fund specializing in technology start-ups. I studied English at Notre Dame, and business at the Yale School of Management.