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The People Behind the Brand!

Curious who the faces are behind DRIVEN360? Here’s a snapshot of some of our mighty team! From California to Tennessee to New York, we are made up of experienced public relations + executive communications + crisis communications professionals, brand gurus, entertainment marketers and digital marketing veterans. The larger team offers more than 90 years of collective experience and we work tirelessly to deliver results that are impact-driven and future-focused.

So, without further adieu, meet some of the DRIVEN360 team!

 

Mike Caudill | Founder + President

Mike is an old school PR professional and the founder and president of DRIVEN360. As the president, Mike runs the daily operations as the “leader” of our team. He founded DRIVEN360 in 2003, building the company on the simple notion that PR could be done better and more affordably, yet still yield an incredible return on investment for clients.

After the first few years of furthering the company’s reach and client range, Mike found himself pitching journalists in the early hours of the morning and late into the evening rolling his sleeves up with the rest of the team. But it wasn’t until he landed an incredible on-camera opportunity with KTLA-Los Angeles for a client that things changed. After successfully landing KTLA to interview his client, one thing led to another and the client spokesperson was no longer available to speak at the last minute, leaving Mike to do what he always does: jump in and grab the bull by the horns. His first-ever on-camera appearance showcased his natural ability to engage an audience on live TV, leading him to his career today as a national automotive expert and spokesperson for several news stations across the country.

“What I love the most about PR and journalism is that you never know what the next day brings. We’re not working your typical, office desk job where you punch a timecard every day. Our company is built on a foundation that offers extensive freedom to our team to chart their own paths in the PR industry, get creative and embrace the entrepreneurial spirit.”

To put it simply, Mike loves what he does. He gets up every morning and embraces every moment and opportunity of every day!

When he’s not working, you can find Mike enjoying his free time with his family. He’s been married to the love of his life, Flora, for 15 years and has two beautiful children who are just as adventurous as he is.

 

Robert Knoll | Chief Operations Officer + Executive Vice President

Rob is the chief operations officer for DRIVEN360. As the COO, Rob handles client strategy and the daily operations of the company. With more than 24 years of experience as a Public Relations professional, Rob has direct involvement with all of DRIVEN360’s clients and provides them with PR strategy and activation. While working at DRIVEN360, Rob earned a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing from the University of Redlands… Go Bulldogs! He uses some of those skills to examine clients’ needs from an analytical and business perspective.

As the “military guy” with a public affairs background, Rob brings a unique perspective to the team. He retired as a Master Sergeant after 21 years on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps and while most of that time was spent in public affairs, he did turn wrenches as a mechanic for six years and has continued wrenching as a hobby ever since. Rob considers himself a serious automotive and motorcycle enthusiast and was instantly at home when he joined DRIVEN360 eight years ago, servicing several automotive and powersports clients.

He spends weekends riding California’s canyons on a Honda CBR1000RR. Rob grew up in Phoenix but has spent most of his adult life in California. As a Marine he visited more than 20 different countries, most notably Iraq in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Indonesia in 2005 to provide humanitarian relief following the devastating 2004 earthquake and tsunami.

Rob has been married to his wife Nicki for 21 amazing years and they have two awesome kids, Ryder, age 15, and Calia, age 11. Ryder is their BMX stud, and Calia is an artist and gymnast.

Fun facts about Rob: “I’ve owned three El Caminos, interviewed President George H.W. Bush, climbed the Brooklyn Bridge with the NYPD, participated in recovery efforts at the World Trade Center in 2001, and at 48, I still don’t think I’m old enough to ride a Harley.”

 

Andrew de Lara | Executive Vice President, Strategic Communications + Brand Marketing

Andrew is an executive vice president at DRIVEN360. He oversees larger strategy, management and execution for both the agency and our wide range of clients. With more than 16 years of strategic communications/PR/integrated brand marketing experience across multiple industries, the agency’s wide roster of companies benefit from Andrew’s versatile expertise and strategic thought. His deep-rooted knowledge and dynamic background allows him to provide our clients with world-class counsel, brand impact and tangible results for their businesses.

Andrew started his vibrant career with the Los Angeles Lakers, then continued what would become a very diverse journey in building brands through a prominent entertainment talent agency, PR/marketing agencies, Sprint Corporation and the world-renowned Oakley brand.

Andrew is originally from Mission Viejo, CA but is currently residing in Huntington Beach with his wife, Margaret, and their diva dog, Callie. He is a proud alumnus of California State University, Long Beach, where he was heavily involved in sports, student government, fraternity, the university newspaper and the Academic Senate Committee on Athletics. Andrew loves sports, cooking, world history, literature, cars and being secretly extremely silly. He also has a passion for music that has led him to manage some music artists/DJs and counts Lil Jon, Kip Moore, Craig Morgan, Skylar Grey, DJ Wally Lopez and numerous others as acquaintances.

 

Walter Fowler | Executive Vice President

Walter is an executive vice president at DRIVEN360. In this role, he is responsible for maximizing our performance and making sure we achieve our financial goals. Walter also serves as a senior leader, provides strategic crisis and executive visibility support across all DRIVEN360 clients in addition to handling the day-to-day activity for several clients.

Walter is the team’s adventure seeker and travel junkie. He spent his early career aggressively pursuing agency and in-house positions with Fortune 100 brands in Finance and Tech that faced unique reputation and crisis issues with both external and internal audiences.

When he’s not behind his laptop, he can be found alongside his wife, Hollie, in the passenger seat of her Jeep exploring remote areas of the U.S.

 

Jay Sinclair | Senior Vice President

Jay is the senior vice president at DRIVEN360. His experience working with some of the leading technology companies in the world and the time spent working with our team made him perfect for his role as SVP. Jay has set aggressive business goals for DRIVEN360 and supports the business development efforts of our clients, not something usually provided by an integrated marketing and communication agency.

Jay is also the resident techy on Team DRIVEN360 because of his affinity and experience with technology. His love of emerging tech always presents new ideas and directions for DRIVEN and our clients.  From his work with emerging electric vehicle OEMs to drones, robotics and even autonomous beer delivery, Jay is always innovating for our team and clients.

When he is not doing the work thing, he is playing with his three kids, wake surfing, One Wheeling, coaching soccer and being an all-around amazing dad.  He also occasionally has time for a ride on his Trek!

 

Cheyenne Mejia | Senior Marketing Communications Manager

Cheyenne is the senior marketing communications manager at DRIVEN360 and leads the team in strategy and execution of client social media initiatives, web content, public-facing events and more.

Prior to her role at DRIVEN360, Cheyenne worked in digital marketing in the nonprofit sector. In this role, she was able to build her expertise in all things related to digital marketing, including organic and paid social media, SEO/SEM, influencer marketing, content creation and webpage design.

While the transition from an in-house nonprofit position to the fast pace of agency life can be a wild one, Cheyenne loves how rewarding it is to work with a team to strategically build a small, lesser-known client and prop them up into local, national and international conversations. According to her, every late night and early morning is worth it when you’re able to see your hard work benefit the client in ways they never thought were possible.

Cheyenne was born and raised in Long Beach, CA and graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism with an emphasis in public relations. In her free time, she can typically be found reading a book, throwing back a mezcal margarita or cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs with her husband and seven-year-old daughter!

 

Harrison Noble | Account Executive

Harrison is an account executive for DRIVEN360 and since joining the team in 2018, he has divided his time between handling critical public relations activities and working as a content creator and videographer, editor and producer. He is an important link between DRIVEN360 and our clients because he uses his unique skill set to manage all video content while taking care of his PR and producer tasks.

Harrison is also responsible for overseeing all on-air interviews and radio segments for Mike. As a published journalist, he has written thousands of articles in the digital automotive media world — from theory pieces to industry news and everything in between!

Harrison is originally from San Diego, CA, but currently lives in Corona. He has a passion for all things automotive related and his pride and joy is his 2005 Ford Mustang GT sporting a Paxton Novi 2200 Centrifugal Supercharger with an air-to-air front-mounted intercooler that he installed himself. He’s very humble but when asked will say, “Yea, it’s kind of fast…”

 

Huntyr Mina | Assistant Account Coordinator

Huntyr is an assistant account coordinator at DRIVEN360 and the newest member of the team. In her role, she handles a variety of very important tasks for the team which include research, media relations, database development and maintenance, content development and pitch story ideas to the media to help increase our clients’ news appearances. In just a few months of joining the team, Huntyr has mastered just about everything thrown her way and is always eager to learn more about the complexities of today’s PR landscape. Huntyr explained that every day has been a new experience for her, and she is excited to see what else the PR world has in store for her.

Huntyr was born and raised in Orange County, CA. After spending the last 4 years at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, she has relocated to Phoenix, Arizona. Huntyr graduated in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in strategic communication and an emphasis in public relations.

When Huntyr is not working, she enjoys spending time with family and friends and traveling!

 

For more information on how our team can help you win in your industry, please contact us at (310) 374-6177 or inquiries@godriven360.com

 

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