My name is Mario. Last name Johnson. I kid. Last name Schulzke.
I am an equal parts entrepreneur, marketer, and teacher. Or at least that is what I tell my mother.
re: entrepreneur. I founded IdeaMensch, where we have interviewed and featured over 7,000 entrepreneurs, makers, and doers since 2009.
re: marketer. I spent my twenties running digital marketing campaigns for some of America's biggest brands. Since then I have been doing the CMO thing at the University of Montana, Geniuslink, and now am the COO of Pathlabs.
re: teacher. I teach marketing to both business students and nonprofit leaders at the University of Montana.
My goal in life used to be to live an interesting life. Then I had a child. I am an immigrant, a grandson of refugees, a (slow)Ironman, and a Costco Exec member. My lifemates are a curly-haired wife, a baby girl who won't nap, a cat named Walter, and a vindictive long-haired wiener dog.
Cabin
Off The Grid Adventures With A Clueless Craftsman If you texted my wife to inquire about my weekend activities from recent years, her response would likely mirror the above. It's probably true, accompanied by some sassy (and well-earned) emojis. But it's also the title of a
Present
I started working in marketing right as the commercial Internet got started, before the days of Google or social media. It felt like the Wild West back then. We had very questionable ideas and were dumb enough to try most of them. Those early days were so much fun, and
2025
The end of the year is a nice time to reflect upon what went well, what went wrong, and what you aim to do about it in the coming year. I no longer do New Year's resolutions; instead, I try to define broader themes with specific goals. I
Open The Beach
Sometimes, in Florida, the beaches have to be closed when large sharks are seen close to shore. They can stay closed for a long time, usually until the sharks are confirmed to have moved on. Or until a highly trained angler (often having traveled from far away) catches the shark.
yes then no
Early on in my career, I said "yes" to just about any opportunity that came my way. I treated every opportunity like a door that needed opening. * Publish a book on how to write complaint letters? Yes. * Help open a German restaurant in LA? Yes. * Go door to
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