Garrett Mehrguth is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Directive, a search marketing agency for enterprise brands headquartered in Irvine, California. Mehrguth, fascinated by the role search marketing plays in empowering companies and people to connect, has dedicated the past five years toward that passion. Since its establishment in 2014, Mehrguth has led Directive in its expansion of five new locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Austin, Texas; and London. Directive’s year-over-year growth rate has increased by 300 percent and now boasts a team of more than 50 people over nine nationalities from its headquarters and home of operations in Orange County. Additionally, he is committed to bridging the gender gap that plagues the marketing technology; currently, 25 percent of Directive’s leadership team is comprised of women. As a thought leader, Garrett has been published by Salesforce, Marketing Land, Moz, Marketo, Search Engine Land, Ahrefs, Convince & Convert, Search Engine Journal, and more. He also speaks at Digital Summit, State of Search, General Assembly, MozCon, etc. Additionally, he has been a guest speaker on the following podcasts: The DigitalMarketer Podcast, Salesforce, Mixergy – Startup Stories with 1000+ entrepreneurs and businesses, The Growth TL;DR, Edge of the Web and more. He earned a bachelor’s degree, with honors, from Azusa Pacific University and an MBA. Outside of work, when he’s not writing or reading up on digital marketing and the latest trends, Garrett spends his time indulging in his passion for the ocean, sailing, and fishing with his wife.