Welcome to
Prudent Pedal!

 

Why I Created Prudent Pedal

 

My life took a 180-degree turn in my early thirties.

Up to that point, my life’s charge was to become the third-generation CEO of my family’s chain of auto parts stores. The company was started from my immigrant grandfather’s car trunk during the depression and built by my father and uncle after their father’s premature death. I played in our stores from the moment I could walk and began officially working in them at thirteen.

As part of my professional development after college, l sold software for a Silicon Valley software company and managed purchasing operations for a mega parts operation a state away. Five years later, I rejoined the family business and began graduate school.

As I completed my MBA at Saint Louis University, it all came to an end.

What happened next?

 

 

My Story
Jeff McKay

Jeff McKay

Founder & CEO

 

My teams and strategies have helped the world’s top professional services firms achieve industry-leading growth rates, optimize marketing investment and maximize brand value.  I worked with exceptional teams as the SVP of Marketing at Genworth Financial, the Global Marketing Leader at Hewitt Associates, and in senior roles at Towers Perrin and Andersen. AND, I can never forget my “Karate Kid” time selling spark plugs and software in the auto parts business. It turned a brat into a businessman.

I earned an M.B.A. from Saint Louis University and a B.S. in Marketing from Illinois State University. I sit on the advisory board of the Salvation Army and help individuals going through a tough stage of life as a Stephen Ministry leader.

I married up and have three incredible kids adopted from Guatemala. When not working,  I am reading a book, perfecting my “pedal stroke” with my Tower Racing cycling teammates, helping my wife manage our 2 dogs and 2 cats or soaking up the remaining time I have with my soon-to-be college-bound kids.

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What clients say

Jeff contributed far more to the organization than we could have dared to ask: he stepped in and led the marketing team as if he had been there for years, serving as mentor to support their professional development; he successfully ran and improved the marketing processes during a series of high pressure and time-sensitive work supporting several large software releases; he provided strategic consultative guidance to the management team; and he served as a very helpful sounding board for all kinds of topics for colleagues from every function.
Stratford Dick

Head of Product Management, Autosoft DMS

Jeff was in complete control, educating our team about a very complicated business space, imagining and defining strategies for brand development, managing a very smart and senior client team, and just generally driving the project forward. His personality and the way he interacts with his clients and partners is wonderful. He’s got a great, supportive, positive energy that fosters creativity and open expression. In short, Jeff McKay is a top-notch marketing, business and branding strategist, and I recommend him and his agency as highly as I can.
Mark Skoultchi

Partner, Catchword Branding

Read more feedback

Why “Pedal”?

We use the bicycle pedal stroke as a metaphor for producing maximum power with maximum efficiency.

Cyclists need pedaling to be both effective and efficient to produce large amounts of power that can be sustained over time.

The pedal motion is made up of two semicircles: the first pushing down and the second pulling back. The left semi-circle followed by the right semicircle creates a seamless transition from the left pull back to the right push down. Getting it right means more total power from each revolution for equal or less energy input.

We see Marketing as one leg of an efficient machine and Sales as the other. The goal is create equal strength and power distribution that produces maximum strategic impact for the firm.

 

Prudence is always in season.

Molière

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