Training
Art history in Paris, classical realism
Studied art history at university in Paris and trained in classical realism under Benjamin F. Long IV for three years, refining an understanding of aesthetics, composition, color theory, and design.
About the studio
Luxury aesthetics, and an operator's experience of the sector.
Public relations and brand storytelling for the real estate and property sector.
The studio begins with a chocolate company. Founded from a kitchen and carried to national distribution in every Whole Foods Market, it competed in a category of beautiful packaging and thin margins. Growth came from one thing: a story people believed, carried by disciplined public relations. The company sold after five years. The method stayed.
The eye behind it was trained earlier still. A BA in French from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, a Certificat de Langue et Civilisation from La Sorbonne in Paris alongside the study of art history, and three years of classical realism under Benjamin F. Long IV shaped a working sense of aesthetics, composition, color theory, and design. Six years in journalism at Saltwater Chef, from 2014 to 2020, taught the rest: a story has to earn a reader rather than interrupt one. It is why the brands built here read considered rather than decorated.
Then came twenty years inside the sector itself. Ten in luxury residential sales, ten in real estate investment and development, thirteen projects carried personally from acquisition to completion, across South Carolina, North Carolina, Hawai'i, Portugal, and Central America. That history is why the work here assumes a relationship driven sales cycle, where trust, credibility, and demonstrated competence come long before anyone discusses a commission or a construction budget.
In Hawai'i the pattern became unmistakable. Leading the brand of the number eight ranked realtor in the state, from website and social media to property films and every piece of marketing that carried his name, showed what most exceptional agents and builders have in common: they are rarely under sold on quality, they are under told.
MANA PR exists for that gap. Founders, firms, and organizations in a crowded market where everyone claims quality, and public relations, advertising, and brand storytelling are how one name becomes the one remembered and believed.
The path here
Founder
A national chocolate company
A specialty chocolate brand built from a kitchen to national distribution in every Whole Foods Market. Shelf space was won with story, not discounts, and that is where the method behind this studio was learned.
Exit
Sold in five years
A successful exit after five years, with a working method proven in the hardest room there is: a crowded category where every competitor looks credible on the shelf.
Investment
Thirteen projects, three states
Ten years in real estate investment and development. Thirteen personal projects carried from acquisition through completion across three states, at an average return of thirty percent.
Domestic
Luxury sales in South Carolina and Hawai'i
A decade in luxury residential sales in the United States, licensed and producing in South Carolina and Hawai'i, two of the most discerning coastal markets in the country.
International
Lisbon and Central America
International sales in Lisbon, Portugal with Breteuil, and alongside a United States developer in Central America, working across currencies, cultures, and cross border buyers.
Hawai'i
Brand lead for a top ranked agent
Worked alongside the number eight ranked realtor in the state of Hawai'i, overseeing his brand end to end: website, social media, property films, and all marketing materials.
Today
MANA PR
An international career across South Carolina, North Carolina, Hawai'i, Portugal, and Central America, now devoted to driving sales for founders, firms, and organizations through the stories only they can tell.
Education and training
Degree
BA in French
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Paris
Certificat de Langue et Civilisation
La Sorbonne, Paris
Atelier
Classical realism, three years
Studied under Benjamin F. Long IV
Writing
Journalism, 2014 to 2020
Saltwater Chef
Selected work
Examples of the work.
A sample of engagement shapes. Client names are withheld until each principal approves their inclusion.
Brand story
A builder repositioned around craft
A regional custom builder was competing on square footage. We rebuilt the narrative around materials, provenance, and a family methodology, then set it before design press and prospective clients.
Message architecture, founder profile, press page
Press placement
An agent made a named authority
A luxury agent with strong results and no public voice. We built a press kit, a point of view, and a column, and placed the story in shelter and regional business press.
Press kit, bylined column, six placements
Film
A design studio's monograph
An architecture practice with two decades of work and no record of it. We produced a monograph and a brand film that put the practice within culture, not merely the market.
Monograph, brand film, launch campaign
Commercial
Institutional credibility, human register
A commercial firm needed to speak to capital, tenants, and municipalities at once. One narrative spine, three registers, and a spokesperson prepared for each.
Positioning, spokesperson prep, releases
How I work
Three principles,
held without exception.
I
Story before style
The aesthetic follows the truth of the company. We find the story first, then dress it.
II
Earned, never purchased
Placement comes from relationships and a genuinely interesting pitch, not from paid inventory.
III
Led personally
Every engagement is handled by the principal. No account layers, no handoffs to juniors.