My professional work has created opportunities to contribute beyond the organizations I work with directly.
Over the past several years, I have been recognized by business, university, nonprofit, media, and sustainability organizations; featured for my perspective on marketing and customer experience; and invited to speak with students, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and professional communities.
Those opportunities have grown out of a career spanning entrepreneurship, Fortune 100 consulting, executive marketing leadership, publishing, mentorship, and community involvement.
This page brings together selected recognition, media, speaking, and professional engagement from across that work.
Recognition has come from several different parts of my professional life, including business, higher education, nonprofit leadership, sustainability, and community involvement.
Pittsburgh Business Times — 30 Under 30
In 2026, I was named to Pittsburgh Business Times’ 30 Under 30, recognizing young professionals contributing to the business community and future of the Pittsburgh region.
Duquesne University — Dukes from the Last Decade
Duquesne University recognized me through its Dukes from the Last Decade program, which highlights alumni from the previous decade whose careers demonstrate professional achievement, leadership, and continued impact.
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation — Pittsburgh’s 50 Finest
I was selected as one of Pittsburgh’s 50 Finest, a recognition highlighting emerging professionals and community leaders throughout the Pittsburgh region.
Sustainable Pittsburgh — Silver-Level Workplace Designation
Essey Marketing earned a Silver-Level Sustainable Pittsburgh Workplace designation in recognition of its efforts across sustainability, responsible business practices, community involvement, and environmental stewardship.
My professional perspective has also been featured beyond my own publications and platforms.
I have been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine for insights related to customer experience, marketing technology, automation, and the ways organizations can use digital tools to improve how they communicate with and serve customers.
That opportunity reflects a broader part of my work: translating complex marketing, technology, and customer-experience challenges into practical ideas that business leaders can actually use.
My background across agency ownership, enterprise strategy, executive marketing leadership, and consulting gives me a perspective that spans both ends of the spectrum. I work with smaller organizations where speed, resources, and practicality matter, while also operating inside a Fortune 100 environment where scale, governance, technology, compliance, and customer experience all have to work together.
That range continues to shape the topics I write about, speak about, and contribute perspective on publicly.
Speaking has become a natural extension of my professional work.
I regularly speak with university students, marketers, entrepreneurs, business owners, and professional groups about the realities of building businesses, navigating digital change, developing careers, and making better marketing decisions.
My presentations are grounded in direct experience rather than theory alone. I draw from building Essey Marketing, working with more than 100 clients, serving as Chief Marketing Officer of 3Rivers General Contracting, working inside a Fortune 100 organization at Nationwide, publishing across several platforms, and navigating a career that has never followed a particularly traditional path.
The goal is not to present a polished version of success after the fact. I try to talk openly about what worked, what failed, what changed my thinking, and what I would approach differently knowing what I know now.
Topics frequently include entrepreneurship, digital marketing strategy, AI, SEO and search, business ownership, personal branding, career development, enterprise marketing, and building a nontraditional career.
Education has remained an important part of my work since graduating from Duquesne University.
Much of what I know about marketing came from practical experience rather than a textbook. I learned through building websites, running campaigns, working with clients, managing businesses, making mistakes, testing ideas, and gradually understanding how all of the pieces fit together.
That experience is one of the reasons I enjoy working with students and early-career professionals.
I regularly participate in university classes, alumni programs, guest lectures, mentorship opportunities, and career conversations focused on marketing, entrepreneurship, business ownership, and professional development.
I also created Digital Marketing for Students to extend that work beyond individual conversations. The publication focuses on practical lessons, tools, career advice, and marketing concepts designed to complement what students are already learning in the classroom.
Mentorship is not about giving someone a perfect roadmap. Most careers do not unfold that neatly. I try to offer context, perspective, and lessons from experiences I have already had so someone else can make a better-informed decision.
Writing has become another significant extension of my professional work.
Across several publications, I write about marketing, entrepreneurship, Pittsburgh, career development, philosophy, nature, travel, leadership, and intentional living.
People Building Pittsburgh profiles the founders, business owners, creators, technologists, manufacturers, nonprofit leaders, and community builders helping shape Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania.
The Essey Marketing Newsletter focuses on practical digital strategy, search, websites, content, analytics, AI, advertising, and business growth.
Digital Marketing for Students brings practical marketing education and career insight to students and early-career professionals.
Stoic Life explores Stoic philosophy, mortality, resilience, perspective, ambition, attention, and intentional living.
The Wilderness Within focuses on nature, conservation, travel, mortality, and the broader questions that tend to emerge when life slows down.
Together, those publications give me a place to develop ideas beyond the constraints of individual projects, client work, or professional roles.
Professional involvement for me also extends beyond formal speaking engagements and business roles.
I participate in advisory work, mentorship, nonprofit support, alumni programs, business-community initiatives, and projects focused on Pittsburgh’s future.
That includes serving on the Pittsburgh Tomorrow Creator Advisory Board, where I contribute ideas, feedback, and perspective as the organization works to strengthen Pittsburgh and tell the stories of the people, businesses, and developments shaping the region.
It also includes my work through The People Building Pittsburgh, which was created in part to increase visibility for people doing meaningful work throughout the region.
I am particularly interested in opportunities that sit at the intersection of business, marketing, technology, education, entrepreneurship, and Pittsburgh.
©2026 Chris Essey | Essey Marketing
