Our Consultant Spotlight series lets us tell the stories of the people who make up the Lions & Tigers community. This week we continue the series featuring an interview with Marc Sherman. Marc is a Copywriter and Content Creator based in Southern California who loves to spend time with his family, hike, read and cheer on his favorite sports teams.

ABOUT MARC
Two and a half years ago, I was the trailing spouse as our family moved to Long Beach, CA so my wife could pursue her dream job. I never pictured myself as a southern Californian, but I traded in my rain gear and embraced the lifestyle. Living about a mile from the ocean helps too. I was born and raised in Baltimore and started my career in Chicago, where I also met my wife, Cindy. I miss how Seattle is so green and the way every restaurant or kiosk proudly shares where they get their coffee beans. My son Harrison is in 2nd grade, and my daughter Emilia is in Pre-K, and they have both taken to Long Beach to the point that they’re now afraid of the rain.

COFFEE DRINK OF CHOICE
I pretty much only drink drip coffee, black.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE
I’m a copywriter and content creator. That’s the one thing that has never changed throughout my career. I started in Chicago at a traditional agency creating print, broadcast and integrated campaigns with a few different agencies and mostly service industry and CPG clients. I spent four years in Seattle working at Amazon and agency side on a variety of Microsoft B2B business. This is where I truly found my calling to take complex technology marketing strategy and turning it into clear and compelling creative content. Now I live in Long Beach, CA. And if I’ve learned one thing about this stage of my career, it’s that as cool as it is for your friends and family to see your work out in the real world, solving unique problems with creativity is even more satisfying.

BEST THING ABOUT LIVING IN LONG BEACH, CA
It seems like everybody here is really proud that they live in Long Beach. You won’t meet anybody here that claims to live in LA or Orange County. It’s a cultured, diverse city rather a beach town, but it’s more laid back than any other city I know. Having perfect weather about 350 days a year helps too.

WHY LIONS & TIGERS
Lions & Tigers found me! About a year ago, I committed myself to finding projects that give me flexibility and enable me to work offsite as much as possible. Once I learned about Lions & Tigers’ commitment to building a community of flexible talent and the trust they instill with each consultant, I knew this was a great fit. Being part of such a rewarding project surrounded by smart, talented, and understanding people has made me feel like one of the luckiest people during “these uncertain times.”

AREAS OF INTEREST & PASSIONS
Besides doing family stuff, I’m a comedy nerd and happy to explain why some scenes in movies or TV shows, or Saturday Night Live sketches work or not. I’ve also been in the same book club for the past 10+ years. What makes this one different than other book clubs is that we actually talk about the book. For exercise, I love hiking, especially a long, grueling trail where I can immediately drive home afterwards and sleep in my own bed. Finally, because of my circuitous personal journey, I’m a fan of the Ravens, Orioles, Cubs, and—some day in the near future—the Supersonics.

#1 BOOK
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman

BENEFIT OF FLEXIBLE, HIGH IMPACT WORK
I’m swimming in the deep end of technology and using my writing and content management skills to help my client and their end consumers. But there’s also time in my week to tackle other projects. Recently this has ranged from creating a product name and tagline for imitation crab meat to scratching my Pinterest itch and creating an organized mask and sanitation center for our home. It’s an incredibly fulfilling feeling to accomplish something meaningful every week and still have time to play kickball with my kids.

BEST SNL SKETCH
My two favorite SNL commercial parodies are Mom Jeans and Bad Idea Jeans, and for a more recent vintage, I like their Totino’s parodies and the holiday Macy’s kids clothing they’ll hate. For sketches that are actually live, I’ll take any “What’s Up With That” version or Stefon.

ADVICE TO OTHERS NAVIGATING CAREER TRANSITIONS
Thanks to my time performing improv in Chicago, I’m a big believer in “yes, and…” But I’ve found there’s also a lot of power in saying no. Essentially, this means being honest. If you know you can do it, but know it’s not in your wheelhouse, be honest and specific about what will be easy and what could be challenging. If you can’t get it done by 3pm, there has never been a better time in the history of professional life to say you might need more time.

FAVORITE MLB PLAYER
Growing up going to Orioles games, it was Eddie Murray. While living in Chicago, it was Derrek Lee and Kerry Wood.

Interested in joining Lions & Tigers?  Check out our open roles here.