Change, Change And More Change

10.08.25

The last few years have been wonderful for me, both personally and professionally. I’ve lived happily with my girlfriend, Caralin, for several years now, and I’ve enjoyed a rewarding career that has so far brought me more opportunities than I could have possibly hoped for.

Today, I’m happy to announce the next step in both of those areas of my life.

Moving on professionally

I’ve spent the last two years of my career at Thornley Fallis Communications, joining the company as a Senior Consultant in 2008 and being promoted first to Account Director and subsequently to Vice President.

Over this time years I’ve worked with some incredible people on great projects for wonderful clients. I’ve also been fortunate to become friends outside work with people like Terry Fallis, Joe Thornley, Eric Portelance, Jeremy Wright, Andrea Pietkiewicz, Jennifer Gordon and more, which makes this next part a little bittersweet.

As of this week, I’ve joined Edelman‘s Toronto team as Vice President of Digital.

Edelman

Firstly, I should say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time at TFC. I love the people there and I’m immensely grateful for the many, many opportunities to grow that I experienced while at the agency.

So why the move?

For me, the decision came down to two opportunities:

An opportunity to work on a bigger scale;
An opportunity to learn from the industry’s best.

Scale: Edelman is the world’s largest independent PR firm, with over 3,300 employees in 52 countries. They work with some of the world’s biggest companies, spanning industry and geographic boundaries, and the digital work they do is cutting-edge. To say that I’m excited about joining a team of this scale, with the client roster they have and with the resources and opportunities that a company like this brings, would be an understatement.

Learning: Over the last few years, Edelman has systematically hired some of the best people in the digital communications field. Whether it’s the great team in Toronto and across Canada, or international thought leaders like Steve Rubel, David Armano, Phil Gomes and Rick Murray, the best people in the industry work here and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to learn from them. This – the quality of people – is the primary reason I decided to make the move. It’s an exciting time in digital, and Edelman has positioned itself right at the head of the field. I’m delighted to join this team.

I’m getting married!

As some of you may know, Caralin and I recently headed down to Peru on vacation. While we were there, we did a five-day trek to Machu Picchu. On the second day we climbed a mountain pass between two glaciers which peaked at about 4,600m (about 15,000 feet) above sea level. At the top of the pass, I proposed to Caralin and for some reason (altitude sickness??) she said yes!

Needless to say, I couldn’t be happier – I’m grinning from ear to ear right now. As things stand, we’re aiming to hold the wedding next summer.

There you have it. Change, change and a little more change.

To my ex-colleagues, a sincere and heart-felt “thank you.”

To my new colleagues at Edelman, who have already welcomed me so warmly, I’m beyond excited to work with you all.

To my new fiancée, you’re amazing and I love you.

It’s an exciting time for me. The last few years have been beyond amazing, and it looks like the next few could be even better.

Onward!

Posted in: personal

Tags: Dave Fleet, personal

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Zane Aveton

I love this post. It made me happy. I'm happy for you - both professionally and personally. Change is good. Life is good. Having a Good Life that involves changing is what it is all about. Hope to see you at BWE10. @zaneology