About Alyx Sherwood
Helping people understand complicated ideas, make better decisions, and communicate them in ways that inspire action.
My Philosophy
I've spent my career in industries that appear very different on the surface—broadcast media, manufacturing technology, enterprise SaaS, and higher education. I discovered they all ask the same question.
How do we help people understand something new?
Whether introducing Industry 4.0 technology to manufacturers, explaining AI to business leaders, helping students become better communicators, or creating campaigns that connected organizations with their communities, I've discovered that the greatest barrier to progress is rarely information. It's understanding.
That's why every role I've accepted has centered on one purpose: Helping people understand complicated ideas, make better decisions, and communicate them in ways that inspire action.
Areas of Expertise
Align People
Create Understanding
Inspire Action
Simplify Complexity
Bringing executives, customers, marketing, sales and product teams around a shared understanding.
Teaching through storytelling, education and practical frameworks.
Creating communication that changes decisions—not just opinions.
Making technical products, AI and emerging technologies easier to understand.
By the Numbers
15+ Years
Leading communications and marketing initiatives
70+
Website pages built across two SaaS organizations
20+
Manufacturing technologies pages launched
9 Years
University instructor with
25-50 students taught each semester
100+
Sweepstakes, photos contests, and quiz promotions campaigns
$650K+
Annual sponsorship programs managed in broadcast media
Experiences that Shaped My Perspective
Broadcast & Strategic Communications
I spent fifteen years in broadcast media discovering that great communication isn't just about creating compelling content—it's about aligning people with different priorities around a common goal.
At Sinclair Broadcast Group, I held one of the company's first Sales Promotions Coordinator roles, serving as the bridge between sales, news, promotions, creative services, legal, and digital marketing. Every sponsorship required balancing business objectives with journalistic integrity, coordinating cross-functional teams, developing promotional concepts, writing creative briefs, producing campaigns, and measuring results for clients. I also supported digital advertising strategy, helping sales teams identify the right solutions for customers and managing campaign execution from concept through reporting.
Earlier in my career with iHeartMedia and Chadwick Bay Broadcasting, I gained experience in radio production, commercial writing, promotions, operations, and live broadcasting. Those experiences taught me that communication succeeds when every stakeholder understands both the message and their role in delivering it.
Educator
For nearly a decade, I have taught Business Communication, Public Speaking, Technical Writing, Branded Content, and Mass Communication at SUNY Geneseo. While teaching began as an opportunity to share my professional experience with students, it quickly became one of the most rewarding parts of my career.
Rather than relying on traditional textbooks, I designed my courses around real-world communication challenges that students would encounter in their careers. Classroom exercises evolved into interactive experiences, including speed-dating style networking interviews, mock job interviews modeled after professional hiring processes, and Shark Tank-inspired business proposal presentations. Every assignment was designed to help students think critically, communicate clearly, and gain confidence in applying what they learned beyond the classroom.
Teaching fundamentally changed the way I approach marketing and leadership. Students rarely struggled because they lacked intelligence—they struggled because no one had explained the concept in a way that connected with them. That realization continues to shape my professional philosophy today. Whether communicating with executives, customers, or cross-functional teams, I believe understanding always comes before persuasion. My role is not simply to deliver information, but to create clarity that allows people to make better decisions.
Marketing Leadership & Digital Transformation
My transition into enterprise SaaS and manufacturing technology allowed me to apply the same communication principles to organizations navigating rapid growth, digital transformation, and increasingly complex technologies.
As Digital Marketing Manager for Mingo Smart Factory—and later Nulogy following its acquisition—I helped translate advanced manufacturing concepts, Industry 4.0 technologies, predictive maintenance, factory analytics, and supply chain solutions into stories that customers could understand and act upon. My work expanded beyond traditional marketing to include website strategy, SEO, executive thought leadership, webinars, podcasts, customer case studies, product messaging, and integrated digital campaigns that connected technical innovation with measurable business outcomes.
Following Nulogy's acquisition of Mingo Smart Factory and AuditComply, I played a key role in repositioning the company from a supply chain software provider into a Manufacturing Operating System platform. That transformation required far more than a new website or updated messaging. It required aligning multiple product teams, executives, sales, and customers around a shared understanding of how the combined platform created greater value than its individual products alone.
During a company-wide restructuring, I also assumed responsibility for website governance, HubSpot administration, marketing automation, and digital engagement strategy while continuing to support executive communications and thought leadership. Working across product, sales, customer success, and executive leadership reinforced that the most successful marketing organizations don't simply promote products—they help organizations navigate change.
Today, that perspective has naturally expanded into AI. As businesses race to adopt new technologies, I believe the greatest opportunity isn't explaining how AI works—it's helping organizations understand how to use it responsibly, strategically, and with better data.
Writer, Speaker & Lifelong Learner
Writing has become the place where every chapter of my career comes together.
Through Story Behind the Strategy, I explore communication, leadership, marketing, AI, and decision-making by connecting real-world business challenges with lessons drawn from history, popular culture, books, and everyday experiences. The goal isn't simply to comment on marketing trends, but to help readers see familiar problems from a different perspective and leave with ideas they can immediately apply in their own organizations.
That same philosophy shapes my work as a speaker. Every presentation I deliver is designed to challenge assumptions, simplify complicated ideas, and provide practical frameworks that audiences can use long after the session ends. Whether speaking about communication, organizational change, storytelling, AI adoption, or leadership, my goal is always the same: help people understand something more deeply than they did when they walked into the room.
Highlights include keynote presentations at the annual Second Street Conference on organizational alignment, alongside presentations for marketing professionals, higher education, and executive audiences.
Looking ahead, I'm building a broader educational platform that combines writing, speaking, and practical learning experiences for professionals who want to become stronger communicators and more effective leaders. It's a natural extension of everything I've learned throughout my career—bringing together executive marketing, higher education, and strategic storytelling into a single body of work dedicated to helping others communicate with greater clarity and confidence.
Trusted By
Questions I Keep Coming Back To
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How do we make complicated ideas easier to understand?
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Why do some messages change behavior while others are forgotten?
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How can technology make people more human, not less?
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What story is this strategy really trying to tell?
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What would make this easier for someone else to understand?
Teach Everything You Learn
Knowledge becomes more valuable when it's shared.
Technology Should Serve People
Innovation matters when it improves lives.
Every Strategy Needs a Story
Ideas spread when people remember them.
Understanding Comes First
People rarely act on what they don't understand.
Stay Curious
The best communicators ask better questions.
What Guides My Work
Beyond Work
Outside of work, you'll usually find me trail running, planning my next marathon, exploring a national park with my family, or reading books that somehow end up becoming the inspiration for my next Story Behind the Strategy article.
Running has taught me many of the same lessons I bring into my professional life: progress comes from consistency, difficult goals are achieved one step at a time, and the best journeys are rarely completed alone.
I've completed fourteen marathons, including five of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors, and hope to complete the final race in Tokyo. Some of my favorite memories, however, haven't come from finish lines—they've come from the conversations, cultures, and perspectives I've experienced along the way.
When I'm not writing, speaking, or building communication strategies, you'll probably find me chasing my son Tobias through the backyard, reading a new marketing book, or searching for the next story worth sharing.
Let's Talk
Whether you're searching for a marketing executive to lead brand transformation, product marketing, strategic communications, or organizational growth, planning a speaking engagement, or interested in being featured on Story Behind the Strategy, I'd love to connect. Complete the contact form, and I'll be in touch soon.