Meet the Instructors

Renee Adams is a Director at LTK, an innovative company that connects influencers, brands and consumers. Renee has 20+ years’ experience in marketing specializing in CRM, email marketing, loyalty marketing and customer engagement.

Renee has managed customer engagement strategies for a hospitality loyalty program and a large-scale retail organization, driving sales both in-store and online. Renee has overseen many different types of email programs; some having generated a return on investment (ROI) of over 6000% and a 36% increase in revenue.

Renee is on the Board of the DFW Retail Executives Association. She has taught Email Marketing at SMU since the Fall of 2015 and was named Rising Brand Star by Ad Week in 2018. Renee holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication-Advertising from the University of Oklahoma.

Sujoy Chandra is an experienced marketer who helps Brands reach, engage, and convert target audiences, at scale, through a combination of insight, design and technology. Sujoy’s marketing experiences includes digital marketing at Tenet Health, a $18B health system, digital engagement at EssilorLuxottica, a leader in vision health and strategic marketing and eCommerce at Hilti, a $5B manufacturer of premium power tools.

Earlier in his career, Sujoy worked in corporate strategy and marketing at Kraft Heinz, a $25B food and beverage company, growing billion dollar brands such as Heinz Ketchup. Sujoy started his career in consulting where he advised Fortune-500 companies on digital transformation. It is here that Sujoy discovered his passion for teaching. By his third year, he had trained over a hundred fellow consultants on a variety of topics.

Sujoy received an MBA in Marketing and Strategy from Carnegie Mellon and an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pune, India. He also holds a patent for product design.

Rost Ginevich is currently part of a FinTech firm that develops and markets a platform to help people with their consumer debt. Before his current role, Mr. Ginevich served as CIO of two public companies and had a successful career in public accounting and consulting.
Rost received his B.S. in Computer Science and MBA from Oklahoma State University. He also holds a certificate in Digital Marketing from SMU Continuing and Professional Education. In 2023, Mr. Ginevich was recognized as one of the "Cowboy 100," the top 100 MBA alumni of the OSU Spears School of Business.
Mr. Ginevich is also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he teaches courses on marketing, AI and cybersecurity.

Steve Hammer is the President and Co-Founder of RankHammer, the 2015 U.S. Search Awards small agency of the year. Steve is a sought-after speaker on the subjects of search marketing, PPC and analytics. In particular, he has been noted as a leader in AdWords Scripts and Google Tag Manager. Steve's experience in online media and traditional marketing allows a strategic and long-term view of search marketing. He has achieved extraordinary and sustainable results in several competitive online industries, often exceeding growth rates in excess of 50 percent per year.

Steve has held a number of exemplary positions including Director of Search Marketing for ACE Cash Express, General Manager for Stir, and a practicing Chemical Engineer for BASF. He holds an M.B.A. from the prestigious Kellogg School of Management. As a former VP of the DFWSEM, Steve is very active in the Dallas Search Marketing community. He has spoken at prestigious meetings and conferences including SMX Advanced, Pubcon, ClickZLive, State of Search, Ignite eCommerce and Interactive Insights Summit.

Sharlene Jenner has over 20 years in the strategy and digital field and is an industry expert in marketing and AI. She is passionate about developing interactions through emerging technologies that bridge gaps, create opportunities and help companies leverage their strengths for success. She has leadership experience in a variety of industries including hotel/hospitality, consumer goods, small business, retail marketing, domestic manufacturing, staffing and healthcare with her latest role as the National Senior Vice President of Digital Marketing and Content with the American Heart Association. This diverse past gives her a unique perspective when it comes to translating marketing strategy to its digital components for all consumer segments. Sharlene is a servant leader that focuses on creating high performing teams to help others succeed and has been named a Top Woman Leader in Dallas in 2022 and 2024.

Brad B McCormick is Principal at 10 Louder strategy consulting and founder of BrandTruthWorkshop.com. Brad has over 24 years helping companies build equity and compete in the digital space. Past digital clients include LEGO, McDonald's, FedEx Office, Indy Car, Cisco, Samsung, Novartis, and SmokeyBear. Brad teaches Digital Marketing Strategy & Performance Management at SMU and is a Past-President of the DFW chapter of the American Marketing Association. 

Emmeline Miles is a creative professional who has spent twenty years as an award-winning writer, copywriter, marketer and entertainer. A veteran of the Walt Disney Company, Emmeline has helped to hone verbal identities for entertainment brands like Camp Jam and Radio Disney, manufacturers like Smart Start, Inc., and smaller organizations like the Dallas Music Teachers Association. In each of her creative endeavors, Emmeline specializes in tailoring narrative to medium, working to help both individuals and corporate entities find their truest voice.

Emmeline earned a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Creative Writing from Southern Methodist University, a Master of Liberal Arts from Texas Christian University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Music from Scripps College in Claremont, California. She has been published in creative and academic circles, and her projects have proven to significantly increase web traffic for the clients whose stories she tells. In her free time, she acts as an independent musician, and is pleased to be a voting member of the Recording Academy.

Dan Sturdivant is a search engine optimization and social media strategy professional with over 20 years of experience developing digital marketing strategies for agency clients.

Dan brings a strong foundation in all phases of digital marketing, with the ability to deliver multichannel business-driving solutions. He is well-versed in strategy and creative development, SEO & social media, lead generation, and competitive analysis.

Dan is the past president of the DFW Search Engine Marketing Association and co-founder of the Digital Career Center. This nonprofit organization helps heads of households with careers in marketing. He teaches Search Engine Optimization & Marketing Strategies at SMU.

Rebecca has been working in the Analytics & Marketing space for over 17 years and her professional motto is "Data Inspires Strategy." With a focus on processes and operations built upon the intelligent use of data, she prides herself in steering the strategic direction of the overall business. 
 
As VP, Analytics at January Digital, she leads a team of data engineers, data scientists, and analysts, supporting a broad range of brands, providing cutting edge attribution, incrementally testing, and AI-backed marketing performance analytics services.  
 
Rebecca is passionate about mentoring others and has been teaching at the university level since 2012, where she passes along her passion for analytics and marketing. She also serves as EVP of Analytics on the Board of Directors for the DFW chapter of the American Marketing Association. Outside of work, Rebecca is a mother, avid traveler, and sci-fi nerd. 

Abhi Vyas is a digital marketing expert with a proven track record of driving results and delivering innovation in the mobile marketing arena. Abhi's expertise is based on more than a decade of experience across all online marketing channels. He is a pioneer of SoLoMo (social, local and mobile) marketing strategy that represents the convergence of collaborative, location-based and on-the-go technologies, primarily used for marketing and discovery purposes.

Abhi utilizes his expertise as Vice President, Performance Marketing at OUTFRONT Media. Abhi also works as an instructor of Mobile Marketing – Tools, Tactics and Strategies at SMU and is a co-organizer, along with SMU CAPE, of a Meetup group on Mobile Marketing & Strategy in Dallas.

He frequently speaks about the disruptive mobile technologies and how brands can use it to drive engagement and improve customer satisfaction. Vyas has several years of marketing and management experience at DexYP (former Dex Media) and Metromedia in various senior marketing management & leadership positions.