Watch Foodie Network

Founder & CEO

Howdy!

My friends and associates all know me as "Dallas". Although I'm originally from the Big Apple, I first relocated to Texas with my family while still in high school and continued to live here until I graduated from medical school. Upon finally returning to my beloved NYC, I was promptly nicknamed "Dallas" because of my Texan accent, among other reasons, and it has stuck ever since.

I'm the founder and CEO of Watch Foodie Network, and for now the acting Creative Director and Account Director as well. That's way too many hats and the antithesis of time leverage, even for a Type-A, overachieving workaholic.

If I could only share one thing with you about me it would be that I have attended medical school TWICE! First, I trained in contemporary Western medicine and then practiced Emergency Medicine at two busy Level I trauma centers in NYC for more than a decade. But even while still in medical school and during my residency training, I took college level courses in photography, screenwriting and film. One of my film projects at the School of Visual Arts won two awards: "Best Director" and "Best Super 8 Short Film". Then as a result of an life-altering accident and subsequent rehabilitation, I experienced a dramatic paradigm shift and was inspired to relocate to SoCal to study Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, after which I opened my own private practice specializing in Integrative Medicine.

Shortly after purchasing my first computer in 1998, I began designing my own websites. Never one to think small, my first project was an online mall (the original "24-7ShoppingSpree.com"). Several musician friends of mine where so impressed, they convinced me to design their MySpace sites back when MySpace was the all the rave. Since then, I've continued to work on small-to-medium sized projects more as a hobby than any thing else. (Here's an example.)

Then suddenly in 2011, as if possessed by some powerful muse who was using me as a mere medium, I created Watch Foodie Network. It was only after the website's long and arduous creation that I saw any potential for monetization, and then more recently of developing it into something even bigger and more far reaching in scope.

Some people may think, "why would a highly trained physician give up medicine to go into online sales and marketing?" Well, although most doctors would never admit it, we sell every day to our patients—we sell them on procedures and treatments, and whether or not they should keep you as their physician. As one of my sales "gurus", Brian Tracy, so eloquently stated: "Nothing happens in the business world until a sale takes place. Salespeople are the forerunners of progress. The most successful organizations in the world are all superb selling organizations. It's upon the efforts and success of salespeople that the whole economy floats."

For me, it all started when, like thousands of other doctors in private practice, I was negatively impacted financially by the lower rates of reimbursement from both Medicare and private insurers, which was further compounded by the fact that neither would pay for most of my complementary and alternative treatments. Confronted with an ever worsening recession in California, I was finally forced to close my private practice. "But when one door closes, another opens! The key is not to look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." ~ Alexander Graham Bell.

My 10 years of working as an Emergency Medicine Physician at two teaching hospitals in N.Y.C. has given me extensive experience in teaching and supervising teams comprised of the students (i.e. nursing, physician assistant, medical), residents (i.e. medical, surgical, OB-GYN, family practice), and nurses who were involved in my patients' care. I now bring this experience to Watch Foodie Network, as well as that acquired from running and marketing my own fee-for-service private practice.

Although I'm a workaholic by choice, I also believe in play. I love to travel, especially if it involves ecotourism, and to date have visited at least 24 countries—several more than once. I also love scuba diving, skiing, hobie cat sailing, rafting, hiking with Marley (my best furry friend and constant companion), and photography. I have a rather eclectic collection of "tribal art" from my many travels which I proudly showcase in my home in Valley Ranch (Irving), Texas.