About Us

Our Mission

Our messaging is developed by an Emmy award-winning staff inside this old West Tampa cigar factory in a working-class neighborhood – which suits us just fine. Our mission is to help hard-working people in the home service industry to create clear, compelling research-tested video messaging that connects and helps grow their businesses.

Doug Smith

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

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Doug is an award-winning journalist who spent more than two decades in broadcast television and is now putting his intellectual curiosity to work as an entrepreneur and advertising innovator.

Doug leads the effort at Focused Media Strategies, crafting targeted, market-tested messaging and smartly placing them before the most likely customers on broadcast television, streaming services, and social media. This strategy has demonstrated a history of FMS growing revue for franchisees in the home service industry from coast-to-coast.

Doug graduated with honors from U.C. Berkeley in the ’80s and has lived and worked in Sacramento, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Tampa.

He worked tirelessly throughout his career as a journalist to make a meaningful difference in his community. He worked with members of Congress and elected leaders to fight injustice and change laws. His greatest accomplishment helped free an innocent man who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for causing a fatal traffic accident. Doug’s work ethic resulted in nine local Emmy Awards, two Edward R. Murrow awards, a National Headliner award, and the duPont-Columbia Silver Baton, the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. He has taught seminars for the non-profit watchdog group Investigative Reporters & Editors and served on numerous panels.

Bryan DiCerb

Co-Founder & Creative Director

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It started for Bryan back in high school. He wasn’t even a week into a video production class, and he could see his future.

A degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Florida followed and then a successful local television news career, which took him to West Palm Beach and then Tampa.

After eight years and numerous Emmy Awards, Bryan left local news to develop television shows for Brenton Productions. He spent more than a decade creating compelling content and produced more than 500 episodes of nationally aired programs like Two Guys Garage, Car Fix, Coomer’s Country, and Addictive Fishing, to name a few. Bryan produced the shows as entertainment but, more importantly, as subtle product placements for advertisers. As the Creative Director for Focused Media Strategies, he has traveled the country shooting video and commercials for franchises in the home service industry.

Bob Jordan

Director of Research

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Bob spent 45 years creating and marketing distinct news brands. He has deep experience in product research design and, more importantly, crafting marketing messages and media campaigns that establish, support, and defend prominent brands.

He gained experience in highly competitive markets like Los Angeles, Seattle, and Orlando, where he served as News Director, and in Tampa and West Palm Beach, where he worked as Station Manager and General Manager.

Carson Light

Director of Integrated Media

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Carson always makes it a point to take his time with clients to help them warm up to an idea or sometimes to cool off. He mastered this skill set at a young age selling hot chocolate and snow cones at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Carson’s travels have led him to work for some of the most established media companies in the world, like Hearst, TEGNA, and Nexstar in broadcast and digital sales.

Alexa Miller

Director of Digital Media

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Alexa makes it a point to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies in digital and social media to help small businesses break through all the clutter on the internet and get noticed for the right reasons.

For her, it’s not just a job but her passion – analyzing data and working with people. Alexa grew up in El Paso, speaks Spanish, graduated from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, and absolutely loves Texas!

Darrin Shaw

Director of Design and Motion Graphics

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Darrin spent more than 30 years in the media industry, creating unique imaging to build distinct brands nationwide.

His vast experience in multi-platform showcasing spans the traditional and emerging technology spaces as a world-class Designer. Throughout his career as a Design Director, Darrin sought to cultivate creativity, asking his team to dream big while maintaining a hands-on approach throughout the design process.

Tim Eck

Creative Storyteller

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Tim began his career as a photojournalist, and telling compelling stories remains his first love. Over the decades, he’s worked to create and market distinct brands within broadcast and cable television, including HGTV.

Tim has created and produced hundreds of television segments, news shows, and commercials throughout his career and is a licensed drone pilot. Over the course of his 30-year career, Tim has won six Emmy Awards, three Telly Awards, and two prestigious Edward R. Murrow Awards. Tim has lived all over the east coast and currently lives with his wife in Tampa Bay.

John Pierce

Video Editor / Producer

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John has spent a lifetime creating and editing video projects for large market media companies throughout the United States before coming to Focused Media Strategies.

He’s won dozens of national awards, including numerous Emmy, Telly, and Addy awards. In his free time, John enjoys fishing and playing golf.

Gabriel Guerrero

Graphic Design Specialist

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Gabriel is a graphic designer and animation artist with an MBA in International Business.

Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Gabriel takes a global approach to his craft and has spent the past 15 years helping businesses visualize the creative direction of their companies. Gabriel has a heart for nonprofit organizations and loves volunteering.

Sarina Fazan

Community Engagement Correspondent

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Sarina is a four-time Emmy Award-winning Journalist. Her greatest passion is sharing stories of people having a positive influence in their communities.

That’s why Sarina was a natural choice to help spotlight those selected for Precision Garage Door’s initiative, Opening Doors in Our Community. The program helps those in need and honors people who are making a difference in their community with a new garage door,

Over the course of her two-decade career in journalism, Sarania was once named Journalist of the Year in the Tampa market and nominated for Woman of the Year. Sarina’s on-camera skills are the culmination of a lifelong dream. Born in India, English was not her first language. Yet, she forged an exceptional journalism career and, like Barbara Walters, fought to overcome a childhood speech impediment to follow her dream.

Will Whitley

Account Executive

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Will spent six years in the United States Army fighting for our country during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005. Once he returned to the states and started a family, Will began his career in media sales.

Will looks at his current role as an Account Executive, similar to his time in the military, as a service to others.

Cindy Fay

Account Executive

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With over 40 years of agency, account management, and sales leadership experience, Cindy’s clients have spanned numerous industries across the Midwest.

She thrives on bringing order from chaos, getting into the details, and providing energy and leadership across each project. When not working with clients – you’ll likely find her rowing a kayak, volunteering across several non-profits, leaning in with friends and family, or planning an upcoming travel adventure.

Sean Smith

Account Executive

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Sean grew up playing baseball – little league, high school, and then Wheaton College, and the lessons he’s learned on the diamond have helped shape how he approaches his role at FMS.

It’s always about helping the team and doing whatever it takes to ensure a successful outcome. He also enjoys reading, wakeboarding, and golfing.

Bill McGinty

Video Content Creator

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Bill’s career in broadcasting started in the late ’80s at WBKB-TV in Alpena, Michigan, which at the time was the smallest TV market in the United States.

Over the next few decades, he crisscrossed the country, with stops in Rockford, Illinois, Reno, Nevada, and Tampa, Florida. Perhaps the most interesting moment in Bill’s career came in October 1996 while he was reporting in Tampa and watched his personal car burn in the middle of the St. Petersburg riots.

Bill has won seven Emmy Awards for his reporting and has been honored with two Edward R. Murrow Awards for writing and reporting. Bill is a native of Pittsburgh and earned a degree in mass communications from John Carroll University in Cleveland.

Robin Wood

Accounting

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Robin knew from a young age that she loved working with numbers, and now three decades later in her professional career, she’s worked with millions of them. Robin graduated with a degree in accounting and applied finance from Milligan College in Tennessee, and now calls the Tampa Bay Area home.

Contact us to schedule your complimentary consultation.

Focused Media Strategies
1906 N Armenia Ave Suite 315
Tampa, FL 33607

813.723.1175 [email protected]

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