Marketing & digital leadership

Steve Chalk

Three decades of building brands, teams, and digital operations — from Atlanta advertising agencies to IBM to leading digital strategy at one of the country's largest media ministries.

Atlanta, Georgia

Steve Chalk

I approach technology and marketing from a product and creative director's perspective: figure out what the audience actually needs, then build the team, tools, and operations to deliver it well. That has meant everything from directing brand campaigns and photo shoots in my agency years to standing up in-house capabilities — mobile apps, streaming platforms, AI infrastructure — rather than leaning on outside vendors.

Along the way I've managed marketing budgets up to $2 million, overseen a $30 million broadcast airtime budget, and grown social channels from zero to audiences in the hundreds of thousands and millions. I hold a bachelor's degree in Marketing, with a concentration in advertising, from Georgia State University.

Where I fit

I'm pursuing a few kinds of roles. Each page below explains how my experience translates.

Experience

[Year]–2026

In Touch Ministries

Director of Marketing · Digital Operations Leadership — Atlanta

Led marketing and digital operations for a global media ministry, managing teams across mobile app development, OTT/streaming, web, and AI infrastructure.

  • Created the ministry's Instagram and YouTube channels and built Facebook and Twitter nearly from inception — now 342K Instagram followers and 1.5M YouTube subscribers.
  • Managed marketing and digital budgets up to $2M, and for a period the $30M broadcast airtime budget.
  • Partnered with donor development on sustaining the donor file and donor communications.
  • Worked with IT to automate content delivery into the video streaming service and podcast distribution platforms.
  • Directed all vendor and agency relationships — budgeting, forecasting, management, and analysis.
[Years]

IBM

[Role]

Social media work for one of the world's largest technology companies, including training mid-market sales teams to use social platforms and LinkedIn to build personal brand and credibility.

[Years]

Synaxis

Account Executive — Atlanta

Boutique agency work spanning brand and social strategy, including a social media consulting engagement for Emory University and photo shoot direction and budgeting for the After Six formalwear brand.

2002–2005

Merge Agency

Account Lead — Atlanta

Project management, copywriting and editing, print production direction, and marketing budget planning. Led the After Six formalwear brand overhaul and the launch of its Seven Unlimited youth brand — including a Hispanic-American tuxedo campaign that sold out in three weeks.

2000–2002

Engine 5 Design Co.

Founder & President — Atlanta

Founded a branding agency serving emerging technology companies, leading new business development and account management.

1993–2000

Early agency years

Account Manager roles — Atlanta

Direct Technologies (1997–2000): managed MCI/MCI-WorldCom customer-service mail programs and worked with programmers on a code-analysis process that cut paper use and postage. Corporate Reports (1996–1997): annual reports for Home Depot, Georgia-Pacific, BellSouth, and UPS. The Criterion Group (1993–1995): travel and tourism advertising for resort groups in the vacation ownership space.

Skills & platforms

Leadership & operations

  • Team leadership & management
  • Digital operations strategy
  • Budget planning & forecasting
  • Vendor & agency management
  • In-house capability building
  • UAT for sites, apps & e-commerce

Channels & disciplines

  • Brand & campaign strategy
  • Social media (organic & paid)
  • Email & SMS/MMS marketing
  • Donor & lifecycle communications
  • Mobile apps, web & OTT/streaming
  • Copywriting & editing

Platforms & tools

  • HubSpot & Mailchimp
  • Google Ads & Meta Ads
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Bynder (DAM)
  • AI tools & workflow automation
  • Google UX Design Certificate (in progress, 2026)

Let's talk

I'm exploring marketing and digital leadership roles — Atlanta-based or remote — and I'm always glad to compare notes on digital strategy, team building, or ministry media.