Darren Hill

AI-native ecommerce growth leader with 8+ years driving DTC revenue across Shopify, Klaviyo, and full-funnel paid media. Owns strategy and executes daily, building lifecycle marketing, SEO, GEO/AEO, and automation systems that turn into measurable, revenue-tied growth. Scaled two DTC startups from launch to eight figures and secured alcohol, beverage, and CPG brand partnerships. Uses AI tools daily to ship faster and improve marketing systems, ready to lead ecommerce growth end-to-end as Head of Marketing.

Experience

Founder & Ecommerce Growth Consultant 2023 – Present

Bowman Media | Carlsbad, CA

Build full-funnel ecommerce growth systems for DTC brands across Shopify, Klaviyo lifecycle flows, paid media, SEO, and AI-assisted content and automation.
Generated $33,080 in revenue and 2,659 new customers from a 6-week giveaway and Klaviyo lifecycle campaign for a DTC coffee brand.
Drove $20K in 30 days pre-selling VIP memberships for an outdoor brand via a launch funnel and email campaign optimization.
Develop monthly growth plans tied to revenue metrics, optimize conversion rates, and build weekly reporting to guide spend and prioritization.
Deploy AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) and GEO/AEO tactics to improve LLM visibility and lower customer acquisition cost.

Head of Partnerships 2024 – Present

Cursive | San Diego, CA (Remote)

Own the full revenue partnership function for an identity-resolution and AI-agent platform serving growth-stage ecommerce and B2B brands.
Run multi-channel outbound (email, LinkedIn, cold outreach) to source, qualify, and close revenue-share and co-sell agreements.
Translate partner and market feedback into product and AI roadmap priorities alongside product and engineering.

Marketing Director, Brand Partnerships & Audience Growth 2024 – 2025

Dusted Company | San Diego, CA

Secured and managed alcohol and beverage brand sponsorships including Ashland Hard Seltzer, Modern Times Beer, and Solento Tequila.
Expanded production venues 3x and grew social following 10% through partnership and content campaigns.
Launched and grew a sponsored 9-episode podcast, building a repeat audience across San Diego and LA.

Marketing Director, Strategy & Growth Aug 2017 – 2023

Origins | Lehi, UT

Scaled an ecommerce client to 1,000+ orders/day and $4M in revenue within six months through data-driven acquisition.
Led email segmentation, A/B testing, SEO, and paid social to grow visibility, engagement, and repeat purchase.
Built and managed affiliate networks and lead-gen funnels driving compounding ROAS across multiple clients.
Negotiated fulfillment and customer service partnerships to streamline operations and protect margin.

Performance Marketing Specialist 2016 – 2019

Silk Road Media

Helped scale a DTC health and wellness startup (supplements, skincare) from launch to $20M in revenue in 12 months.
Drove 1,000+ sales/day through performance marketing across ad networks and affiliates.
Opened and managed 80+ merchant accounts processing up to $2M/month.

Alcohol & Beverage / CPG Experience

Modern Times / Ashland Hard Seltzer - on-premise and key accounts sales.
Jose Lopez Portillo Tequila - retail partnerships with Costco, Rite Aid, and additional national retail introductions.
Markstein (Budweiser distributor) and 5 Star Beverage - non-alcohol beverage sales.

Skills

Ecommerce & Lifecycle: Shopify, Klaviyo (campaigns, flows, segmentation, reporting), Email Marketing, Lifecycle Marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Amazon

Paid Media: Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, Paid Social, Paid Search

SEO & AI Search: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), GEO, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), LLM Visibility, AI Search Platforms

AI & Automation: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Agents, MCP Servers, Zapier, Make, Airtable, Notion

Analytics & Testing: GA4, Weekly Reporting Dashboards, A/B Testing, Data-Driven Growth Planning

Summary

Experience

Alcohol & Beverage / CPG Experience

Skills