So you need a content leader?
I’ve written, edited, designed, posted, strategized, sold and more over a 10-year career rooted in storytelling. It’s a lot to explain!
This post is meant to show prospective employers what I’m about: Great stories, regardless of medium.
1. I helped elite athletes grow their social presence
I grew the NHL’s Player Publishing Program from zero to 6M+ views.
My secret was aligning player brands with NHL goals to create breakthrough content like this:
2. I’m an outside-the-box creative strategist
My original NIL Dream Deal content series was a SaaS business driver:
It helped 20 athletes land $5,000+ in NIL deals
It racked up thousands of views for MarketPryce’s social channels
It tallied earned media like this from The Herald-Dispatch
As MarketPryce’s Founder and CEO puts it: “Give (Dakota) an inch with an idea, and he’ll turn it into a full-blown execution.”
Later on, I planned (with minimal budget) and captured (on iPhone) this follow-up irl activation:
3. I’m versatile: A writer who they let download Adobe
“Whether it's strategy, branding, copywriting, content creation, or marketing, Dakota consistently delivers with precision and creativity.” - Lindsay Calabrese, Brand Partnerships & Culture Director, Team One (and former MarketPryce teammate).
I’m a writer first. I cut my teeth in newsrooms, where I covered basketball stars fighting through mental health challenges and WNBA moms raising newborn twins.
After joining the NHL’s social team, I taught myself photoshop from the IKEA bed that made my one-room, short-term Airbnb on the Upper East Side a home. The learning curve was steep but I eventually built enough skill to design the league’s Stanley Cup Champion graphics in 2021.
I kept learning and creating; you can see all the content on my Gondola.
4. I create memorable moments
Sparking a sharable moment in the room? That’s magic for content creation.
As a player in the Name, Image and Likeness space, I helped the hoops teams at Arizona and UCLA execute fun, sharable brand partnerships.
5. I’m a community builder
At the NHL, I built a community of agents, club social leaders and athletes who supported the Player Publishing Program. By showing up and providing value, I formed a real coalition.
I’m good at bringing this mindset to social media, too. At MarketPryce, I built an engaged community of nearly 2,000 student-athlete SaaS users who loved our product and experiences.
MP brand fans? Yes.
6. I’ve managed a lot of social accounts
Social media is the common thread through every job I’ve worked. I’ve managed content calendars, day-to-day posting, overarching strategy and supported accounts for newsrooms, founders, non-profits and more along the way. Here are highlights:
At the NHL, I helped Trevor Zegras grow his following by 200,000+ in less than a year. He gained 80,736 followers on Instagram (+110.94%); 12,000 followers on Twitter (+300%); 100,000 followers on TikTok (we launched the account).
I was a one-person social team at IndyCar, where I increased YoY views (18%) and engagements (16%). I take a lot of pride in posts like this one that celebrated the league’s diversity and and its international fans:
I’ve created viral TikToks for NHL players:
I’ve edited hype videos:
I’ve managed content calendars and written day-to-day copy:
And I’ve designed graphics: