Who I Serve

I built my career at the intersection—agency, brand, and PE. That's where I operate now.

What this enables:

  • Perspective. I've sat in these seats. I know what the work actually looks like.

  • Network. Relationships across all three ecosystems, built over 20 years.

  • Talent movement. I cross-pollinate leaders between worlds—agency to brand, brand to PE, PE to agency.
    I've partnered with transformation consultants for years—they build the strategy, I build the team to execute it.

I've partnered with transformation consultants for years—they build the strategy, I build the team to execute it.

PE/VC SPONSORS AND PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

You know the profile. Leader who's built before, can see the landscape, and moves fast with limited infrastructure. The hard part is finding them and knowing they'll deliver in your specific situation.

As a business owner, LP, and seed investor, I understand firsthand.

What I pressure-test:

  • Have they built this before—or just managed it?

  • Do they know what they're walking into?

  • Will they be a force multiplier for the CEO and the team around them?

Clients & Case Studies

  • The Placement: In 2014, The Montgomery Group placed Michael Coleman at Credit One Bank to lead marketing transformation for a privately-held credit card issuer targeting the near-prime, credit-building segment. Credit One, owned by Sherman Financial Group, ranked #97 among US credit card issuers in a market dominated by Chase, Citi, and Capital One—presenting a significant opportunity for differentiated brand positioning and disciplined growth.wikipedia​

    The Value Creation: Michael spearheaded three critical initiatives:

    Brand Elevation: Repositioned Credit One from generic subprime issuer to aspirational "credit-building partner" through high-profile sponsorships (Las Vegas Raiders stadium naming rights, UFC, NASCAR), destigmatizing the category and attracting higher-quality customers.

    Acquisition Engine: Built data-driven customer acquisition infrastructure balancing growth velocity with credit quality, reducing cost-per-acquisition while improving portfolio performance and lifetime value.

    Organizational Scaling: Developed marketing function capable of supporting hypergrowth while maintaining tight alignment with risk management and P&L discipline—critical in a capital-intensive, regulated industry.

    The Results:

    • Market position rose from #97 to #12 among US credit card issuers (~17x growth)

    • 11+ years tenure vs. 18–24 month industry average for marketing executives

    • Promoted to Chief Marketing Officer, remains in role today

    • Sustained performance across multiple strategic phases (turnaround → growth → maturity)

    Why It Matters for Executive Search: This placement demonstrates the compounding value of "definition before selection" methodology in PE and PE-adjacent environments. Sherman Financial Group's ownership structure mirrors PE dynamics—performance accountability, compressed value-creation timelines, and disciplined capital allocation. Rather than pattern-matching to a traditional "credit card CMO," the search identified a builder who could execute across transformation, scale, and optimization phases—avoiding the 60% leadership replacement rates that plague PE portfolio companies.

  • The Placement: In 2018, The Montgomery Group placed Ryan Dickerson at Inspire Brands to lead digital transformation across a newly consolidated $30B restaurant platform. Sonic Drive-In, acquired by Roark Capital for $2.3B, presented a unique opportunity: a differentiated brand with significant underutilized digital potential.

    The Value Creation: Ryan spearheaded two critical initiatives:

    • Digital Infrastructure: Built a centralized "Order Ahead" technology platform that scaled Sonic's digital sales from <5% to 15%+ of revenue, generating $7B+ in system-wide digital sales across the Inspire portfolio.

    • Brand Modernization: Transitioned from legacy marketing ("Two Guys" campaign) to a lifestyle-focused "Live Free Eat Sonic" platform, enabling premium menu innovation and improved franchisee margins.

    The Results:

    • System sales grew from $4.4B (2018) to $5.5B+ (current)

    • Average unit volume increased 27% ($1.26M → $1.60M)

    • Digital revenue scaled to 15%+ of total sales

    • Transitioned from VP Digital to Chief Marketing Officer (Jan 2024), demonstrating executive depth and operational maturity

    Why It Matters for Executive Search: This placement illustrates the value of matching a strategically-aligned executive with a platform investment. Ryan's technical fluency in digital commerce, combined with franchisee relations expertise, enabled Inspire to unlock synergies that a traditional operator might have missed. The result: a held asset that continues to compound value through operational leverage and brand equity expansion.

  • The Placement: In 2018, The Montgomery Group placed Ryan Dickerson at Inspire Brands to lead digital transformation across a newly consolidated $30B restaurant platform. Sonic Drive-In, acquired by Roark Capital for $2.3B, presented a unique opportunity: a differentiated brand with significant underutilized digital potential.

    The Value Creation: Ryan spearheaded two critical initiatives:

    • Digital Infrastructure: Built a centralized "Order Ahead" technology platform that scaled Sonic's digital sales from <5% to 15%+ of revenue, generating $7B+ in system-wide digital sales across the Inspire portfolio.

    • Brand Modernization: Transitioned from legacy marketing ("Two Guys" campaign) to a lifestyle-focused "Live Free Eat Sonic" platform, enabling premium menu innovation and improved franchisee margins.

    The Results:

    • System sales grew from $4.4B (2018) to $5.5B+ (current)

    • Average unit volume increased 27% ($1.26M → $1.60M)

    • Digital revenue scaled to 15%+ of total sales

    • Transitioned from VP Digital to Chief Marketing Officer (Jan 2024), demonstrating executive depth and operational maturity

    Why It Matters for Executive Search: This placement illustrates the value of matching a strategically-aligned executive with a platform investment. Ryan's technical fluency in digital commerce, combined with franchisee relations expertise, enabled Inspire to unlock synergies that a traditional operator might have missed. The result: a held asset that continues to compound value through operational leverage and brand equity expansion.

“Kristian saw something most people, including me, would have missed. I took the recommendation to meet with the candidate. Hands down the best hire I ever made.”
— Navin Sharma, Chief Commercial Officer @ Inspire Brands,
“Kristian saw something most people, including me, would have missed. I took the recommendation to meet with the candidate. Hands down the best hire I ever made.”
— Brian Barnun, Operating Partner @ Shamrock Captial

Corporate

Transformation inside a large organization is a different job. More stakeholders, longer timelines, legacy structures that don't move fast.

I spent 12 years on the agency side serving Fortune 500 clients—Visa, Verizon, HP, Clorox. I know what it looks like from inside and out.

What I assess for:

  • Can they build coalitions and navigate complexity?

  • Have they transformed within constraints—not just in greenfield environments?

  • Will they earn credibility with the CFO and the board, not just the marketing team?

Clients & Case Studies

  • The Placement: In 2016, The Montgomery Group—through a strategic partnership with management consultants building Disney's in-house programmatic strategy—placed Bjorn Edwards to create and lead Disney's first-ever in-house programmatic trading desk. At the time, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products relied entirely on external agencies for programmatic media, sacrificing speed, transparency, and the ability to leverage Disney's extensive first-party data across parks, resorts, cruise lines, and consumer products.Bjorn_E_Edwards_Resume-3.pdf+1​adexchanger​

    The Value Creation: Bjorn spearheaded three transformative initiatives under sponsorship from Emmanuel Marques, Vice President of Customer Engagement:event.adweek+1​youtube​

    Built Trading Desk from Zero: Established Disney's first in-house programmatic, social, and ad operations capability—selecting tech stack (The Trade Desk, DV360, ad verification, DMPs, attribution partners), building process, and scaling from a single-person operation to a 75-person team managing $300M+ annual spend across 20+ Disney businesses.thetradedesk+1​Bjorn_E_Edwards_Resume-3.pdf​

    First-Party Data Activation: Leveraged Disney's "copious amounts of first-party data" to enable precision targeting and measurement, delivering double the conversion rate vs. agency model within the first year while simultaneously reducing costs.marketingdive​Bjorn_E_Edwards_Resume-3.pdf​

    Organizational Leadership: Established company-wide standards for brand safety, privacy/cookie deprecation readiness (since 2017), cross-line-of-business joint business plans ($10M annual savings), and became the first—and currently only—team approved to use generative AI in marketing (57% CPC reduction, 50% time savings).adexchanger+1​Bjorn_E_Edwards_Resume-3.pdf​

    The Results:

    • $104M in cumulative savings vs. agency model in under 8 yearsBjorn_E_Edwards_Resume-3.pdf​

    • 2x conversion rate improvement (purchase) within first year of in-housingBjorn_E_Edwards_Resume-3.pdf​

    • 2020 AdExchanger Best In-House Media Operation Finalist—one of the industry's most prestigious recognitionsadexchanger​Bjorn_E_Edwards_Resume-3.pdf​

    • Team scaled to 75 people managing $300M+ annual media spend and 100+ organic social accountsBjorn_E_Edwards_Resume-3.pdf​

    • Career progression: Manager (2016) → Senior Manager (2019) → Director (2022) → Vice President (July 2025), demonstrating sustained executive developmentProfile-9.pdf+1​

    • 7 consecutive years named "Person to Watch / Rising Star" (top 3% of Disney employees)Bjorn_E_Edwards_Resume-3.pdf​

    Why It Matters for Executive Search: This placement demonstrates the power of strategic partnership with management consultants and "definition before selection" methodology to identify transformational builders—not just operators. Rather than hiring a traditional agency programmatic director, the search identified a technical polymath capable of zero-to-one buildout, organizational change management, and Fortune 500 stakeholder navigation across 20+ business units. The result: a leader who delivered measurable ROI ($104M savings, 2x conversion lift), industry recognition (AdExchanger finalist), and sustained tenure (9+ years, promoted four times)—proving that rigorous role definition produces executives who compound value across multiple strategic phases.

“Best search experience in 25 years. ”
— Julie Keshmiry, CMO, Intel

Agency & Consulting

I know this business from the inside. Second hire at Darwin Digital in '97. Twelve years at Razorfish and Sapient building practices and leading P&L.

Agency leadership is its own discipline—client pressure, utilization, talent retention, growth mandates. Finding leaders who can manage all four is the job.

What I assess for:

  • Can they grow a practice and hold a P&L?

  • Will clients trust them in the room?

  • Can they retain talent in a market that's always recruiting?

Clients & Case Studies

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“Kristian embeds himself into the organization and truly understands the culture. He is the closest outside
recruiter I’ve ever worked with who truly feels like an extension of our business, not an outside vendor.”
— Linda Sorbera, Chief Talent Officer @ MRM
“Kristian focuses on leading and delivering McCann’s toughest searches.”
— James Fortsch, SVP Talent @ McCann