Bill Oechsler

My mom, an avid reader, loved to recall how at age four I requested (really demanded) a library card while living in Izmir, Turkey. And it was in this beautiful seaside city that I fell in love with the written word. Of course, had we owned a TV at the time I could have easily fallen for Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke.

Since graduating from UT... more »

My mom, an avid reader, loved to recall how at age four I requested (really demanded) a library card while living in Izmir, Turkey. And it was in this beautiful seaside city that I fell in love with the written word. Of course, had we owned a TV at the time I could have easily fallen for Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke.

Since graduating from UT Austin with a BS in speech and MA in journalism, my career has spanned a variety of communications-related industries. Most recently I was the executive vice president of marketing at Zondervan, a HarperCollins company and part of the News Corp family. Prior to Z, I was the president and chief strategic officer at Hanon McKendry/The Brand Consultants where we focused on nonprofit as well as corporate clients. My years in brand advertising began at Leo Burnett in Chicago working on McDonald's, Sony, Reebok, P&G, Marlboro, and Walt Disney World.

Anyway, here's to the power of story and to stories told very, very well. « less