Kyle was born a military brat in Madrid, Spain before his parents settled in Indianapolis, Indiana, where Kyle grew up and attended Butler University. A last-minute decision to skip a Florida Spring Break trip and instead secure some interviews with marketing agencies in New York City set Kyle on memorable path. Thirteen interviews, a blizzard, and five writing tests later, Kyle was offered a position at CDBG/Euro RSCG as a junior executive earning peanuts. It was there Kyle would begin a career that has launched hundreds of companies, divisions, products, and services around the world.
During his time in New York, Kyle supported elite global brands like Ocean Spray, SmithKline Beecham, Shiseido, Mercedes-Benz, and others.
Relocating to Dallas, Kyle joined the marketing consulting division of Omnicom, focusing on go-to-market planning for Bustin & Co. There, Kyle worked on every major new initiative for Pepsi-Cola, and created a blueprint for guerilla marketing that was so successful that it is mandated for all Pepsi initiatives to this day. As a director at Bustin & Co., Kyle eventually led the consumer marketing practice, providing significant support to the technology team through his understanding of early digital marketing concepts.
Later, Kyle took on a different role—the client—when he was lured away to become Sr. Brand Manager at RadioShack. There, he was responsible for strategic planning across the enterprise, and management of major brands. Kyle was instrumental in the development and deployment of RadioShack.com and the company’s online marketing. A passion for this frontier led him to a stint at Viant as a marketing consultant before he was recruited to run marketing for the inventors of voice-over-internet, EADS Telecom. As vice president of Marketing, Kyle led EADS through a 17-country rebranding for three lines of business in telecom including secure IT consulting, and public safety digital communications. This massive rollout included significant global web strategies, digital marketing initiatives, and the development of countless IP technologies, and web-based applications worldwide.
Longing to serve more customers and expand his integrated marketing, Kyle launched The Priest Group in 2005. The Priest Group created a unique offering for mid-market companies—that of providing strategic planning and marketing management through external CMO services. Having experienced significant growth since TPG’s inception, Kyle recognized the need to add even more value to the market by maximizing the sales and marketing functions by effectively delivering technology, marketing, and sales services in a way that no other firm to date has offered.
That’s when Kyle met Crown and realized he wanted to participate in Crown’s vision, and serve customers as the leader of the digital marketing practice.
Kyle lives in Dallas, TX, with his wife and children. He’s an avid Butler University Bulldogs fan, having played soccer there.