Forward Marketing Team Members

We are comprised of Senior Team Members and Junior Team Members. Our Senior Team Members are a collection of Houston’s best and brightest, each catering to their own expertise. They are Houston’s acknowledged thought leaders, many of which you will recognize as frequent speakers at local conferences and events.

Under our Senior Team Members is a collection of young, bright and aggressive Junior Team Members working with each of their senior counterparts. They are a blend of full timer workers and select students from internship programs with The Art Institute of Houston, the University of Houston, Houston Baptist University, the University of St. Thomas, and other regional colleges. If you think you have what it takes to be a part of this lean and mean team, visit our Employment page. For more information, read our team member bios below.

Team Members

Lewis Southwick, Vice President & Senior Team Member – Forward Marketing Vice President Lewis Southwick is also our Director of Marketing Research, with additional areas of expertise in search marketing, social marketing, and content production. Lewis started his career in Internet marketing when the internet was in its infancy in August of 1999, where his team built the largest online optical e-commerce site FramesDirect.com. Since leaving, he’s honed his skills in search engine marketing, social media marketing and content syndication in the financial services industry, cosmetic surgery, information marketing and professional services marketing. Lewis can be reached at lewis@forwardm.com.

Erik M. Sims, Senior Team Member – Erik M. Sims is our Design Manager. He is responsible for graphical and website design at Forward Marketing. He maintains our network of community forum websites. He is also our lead designer for both strategy and development of client websites, landing pages, blogs and related social media account optimization. Erik is experienced in HTML, CSS, Photoshop, WordPress, photo content, video content, plus audio editing and production. Erik was a radio personality on 89.7 KACC-FM for two years while majoring in Radio/TV Broadcasting. He’s currently pursuing a degree in Media Production at University of Houston. Erik can be reached at erik@forwardm.com.

Tony Nguyen, Senior Team Member - Tony Nguyen’s is our Search Marketing Manager who’s experience in both organic and paid ranking results dates back a decade. He previously worked for Directory One, AOL Time Warner and Symantec. He has been an instructor of Internet Marketing at Houston Baptist University, as well as a frequent lecturer at the Houston Internet Marketing Forum and Houston Website Designer Forum.

Nick Pierson, Senior Team Member – Nick Pierson is one of Houston’s leading website analytics practitioners. He uses and consult on both Google Analytics and Adobe Omniture tools. His skill sets include A/B and multi-varient testing, traffic conversion, segmentation, Moniture’s Site Catalyst, and Google Website Optimizer. Additionally, Nick is in the process of becoming a Google Analytics Certified Consultant. With over half a decade of Internet marketing experience, Nick’s previous roles include search marketing and web design for companies including Houston’s TopSpot IMS.

Andrew Taravella, Senior Team Member – Andrew Taravella is our Photography Manager, responsible for all our commercial and Internet photography, He has a bachelor’s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and served as a helicopter pilot in the U. S. Army for eight years. Since completing his military service, Andrew is in his 19th year with the Houston Police Department. He is currently assigned with the Homicide Division where he’s a Certified Forensic Photographer and Crime Scene Analyst . Andrew teaches crime scene and photography related classes at the Houston Police Academy & other learning institutes.

Tom King, President & Senior Team Member - Tom King has been a technology leader in Houston since 1994 when he launched the syndicated CompuTalk radio show on KPRC 950 am and served as the computer expert for KHOU-TV. Today, Tom is the President of Forward Marketing, has taught Internet Marketing at Houston Baptist University, leads the Houston Website Designer Forum seminars at The Art Institute of Houston, and is the founder of the Houston Internet Marketing Forum. Tom has been Google Analytics, Web CEO Search Engine Marketing Professional, and University of British Columbia Website Analytics certified. He has a BBA in Marketing from Texas A&M, a J.D. from Boston University School of Law, and sits on the Art Institute of Houston’s Digital Media curriculum advisory committee. Tom can be reached at tk@forwardm.com or 713-449-2000.

Malcolm Gross, Accounting Coordinator - Malcolm Gross is our Accounting Coordinator, responsible for  accounting & financial activities. He’s also responsible for other operational areas including banking, payroll, & purchasing. Additionally, he’s responsible for managing the relationships with the related vendors. Malcolm is also a full-time accounting student at the University of Houston-Downtown campus. For more information, visit MalcolmGross.com.

Liudmila Bulavinsteva, Design & Content Production Coordinator - Liudmila Bulavintseva is one of our Design & Content Coordinators. She assists in our creative services department including website design with WordPress, logo design and image editing with Adobe Photoshop, video production with Adobe Premiere, and animation with Adobe Flash. She is a Web Design & Interactive Media major at The Art Institute of Houston. For more information, visit Bulavintseva.com.

Mai Ho, Design & Content Production Coordinator - Mai Ho  is one of our Design & Content Coordinators. She assists in our creative services department including website design with WordPress, logo design and image editing with Adobe Photoshop, video production with Adobe Premiere, and animation with Adobe Flash. She is a Web Design & Interactive Media major at The Art Institute of Houston. For more information, visit MaiHo.org.

Linda Q. Le, Human Resources Coordinator  - Linda Q. Le is one of our Human Resource Coordinators. She assists in our Human Resource department including recruiting, organizational and space planning. She is a Human Resource Development major, with a minor in Business Administration at the University of Houston. For more information, visit LindaQLe.com.

For More Information

Forward Marketing (FM) is a full service marketing firm specializing in Internet “ROI”. We also manage the Houston Internet Marketing Forum (HIMF), the Houston Website Designer Forum (HWDF), and related seminars with partners such as the Art Institute of Houston. For more information, Contact Us, Follow Us via social media, or call us at 713-449-2000.