How a novel project created a lifelong pursuit.

When Rob Wagner hitched a ride from Laguna Beach, California to Ft. Worth Texas, he wasn’t thinking about a career as a copywriter and marketing strategist. He was dreaming about ice cold beer and spicy hot chili and all the adventures he imagined happening when you move halfway across a continent.

But before we touch on a few of those adventures, let’s rewind several years to Rob Wagner’s college days.

One of Rob’s friends was a talented writer named Kent. Kent thought it’d be fun to co-author a novel. Rob and Kent started writing during their junior year but never quite got to The End.

After college and grad school, Kent relocated to Texas. Out of the blue he called and asked Rob to move to Texas so they could finish writing their book. Kent also suggested Rob could turn his English/Creative Writing degree into a day job as an advertising copywriter.

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A few years later, when Rob returned home to California, four interesting things had happened:

1. The beer, chili and pretty girls (see #4, below) did not disappoint.

2. The novel got finished, but remained unpublished.

3. Rob wound up in advertising, eventually working his way into the largest agency in Dallas, where he worked on print and broadcast work for several national accounts, including American Airlines.

4. Rob met and married a lovely, talented and beautiful lady named Jan — a real, live farmer’s daughter from Oklahoma.

Back in California — after working for a couple of advertising agencies in Orange County — Rob went freelance. Over the next decade or so, he worked on hundreds of projects for dozens of clients in all kinds of industries. From direct mail to billboards, print ads to broadcast projects and corporate sales films.

But the next chapter was unexpected. Rob’s dad, who was of retirement age, announced to the  family that he and his wife, the owners of a small manufacturing company, had decided to keep working. In the same breath he asked Rob if he’d be interested in joining the company as marketing and sales director. Rob accepted the offer and spent several years learning all about making lighting fixtures, and worked with the company’s network of manufacturers reps across North America. It was an eye-opening education about the risks and rewards of small business ownership. The family also learned that even a very solid company with a 37 year track record of success could succumb to the great recession.

After closing the company’s doors, Mr. Wagner reentered the copywriting field with new-found wisdom and fresh enthusiasm. He brings some three decades of experience in marketing, advertising and business ownership to his work as a copywriter, content creator and digital marketing strategist — with a special blend of branding-meets-results-getting-direct-response-marketing.

When he’s not writing killer copy, Rob loves hanging out with his wife, Jan, walking on the beach, listening to his favorite music, hiking the coastal hill trails near his house, visiting their daughter in LA, cooking in general and grilling over charcoal in particular.  Rob claims no day is complete without taking time to appreciate the good things in life -- and enjoying a good laugh.

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