Troy Parkins
The Storyteller

Troy Parkins grew up loving science. As a kid, playing with petri dishes, microscopes, Bunsen burners and test tubes helped prepare him with the necessary skills to graduate from the University of California, Davis with a degree in Molecular Genetics.

While at UC Davis, he took a life-changing job as the Science Reporter at the California Aggie campus newspaper. He soon realized that translating science and medical jargon into plain English that people could understand was his love, more so than extracting fruit fly DNA in the lab.

Excited to hone his skills, he went to Stanford University and earned a graduate degree in Journalism/Mass Communications. He was the Science Editor for the Stanford Daily and wrote for the Peninsula Times Tribune.

After Stanford, he traveled across the country to work as a Medical Writer for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). There he met "rock star researchers" and wrote about cutting edge cancer and neurological research.

Troy then took another life-changing job. He joined a small company named America Online to start up their Health Channel. This was his start into the digital world, and he has been addicted ever since. He had various positions in his 12+ years at AOL, running content, technology and operations departments. Troy did things from overseeing fantasy baseball sports content to chasing hackers.

Post AOL, Troy again changed directions, & took another life-changing job. He wanted to open a 'brick-&-mortar' business, so he opened 3 small donut/coffee shops in the Northern Virginia area. His shops made custom-made-to-order donuts.

After getting tired of working 21 hours a day, Troy decided to go into the emerging field of social media, returning to NIH to lead their effort of going from the 19th century (mailing brochures) to the 21st century (posting them online and promoting via social media). He helped with digital and social media strategies.

Then another life-changing opportunity knocked on Troy's door. He joined a television media company, Barrington Broadcasting, to work with TV stations on their digital presence, both on the sales and content sides. Troy worked directly with newsroom staff to produce compelling content/social media presence, as well as with sales executives pitching digital solutions to merchants. Troy worked with digital sales teams to increase digital revenue, and with newsrooms to increase page views and engagement. In 2013, he had the opportunity to deliver a presentation at Social Media Week in Chicago on a concept called Content 2.0, which was used to increase station digital and social media presence.

In 2014, Troy joined digital AIM as a co-founder to provide digital solutions for media companies and small and midsized businesses. He is excited to bring all of his previous experience to the table and help business owners.

When not cracking the digital code, he can be found at the poker table, cracking tells and bluffs. As an avid traveler he has seen the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal and the tallest Paul Bunyan statue. He has run with the bulls in Pamplona and walked with the ducks in Memphis. He hopes one day to play golf on the moon while drinking Tang.