Senior Florida political operator, President of Costello Strategy Group, co-founder of GovMastery, and publisher of The Costello Brief. Available for podcasts, panels, and interviews on Florida government technology, procurement, and politics.
Senior Florida political operator, President of Costello Strategy Group, co-founder of GovMastery, and publisher of The Costello Brief. Available for podcasts, panels, and interviews on Florida government technology, procurement, and politics.
I have spent my entire adult life building a career in or adjacent to every level of Florida government.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree from Florida State University's MAAPP program -- the Masters in Applied American Politics and Policy -- I began my career as a DOD acquisition program manager at Eglin Air Force Base, learning how to manage the buyer side of multimillion dollar government technology acquisitions from the inside. Wanting to get more involved in Florida-specific issues, I transitioned into lobbying state government for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local governments. Florida State also asked me to return and teach in the same MAAPP program from which I had received my graduate degree -- doing what I enjoy most, teaching people how to affect government outcomes.
In 2010 I was asked to join what was considered a long-shot campaign to mount an outsider challenge against the establishment's chosen candidate for Governor. I decided to take the chance. It paid off. Our team, led by Susie Wiles -- now Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump -- successfully elected Rick Scott as Governor of Florida. That opened the door to serve at the highest levels of state government as Governor Scott's first Legislative Affairs Director and senior policy advisor.
My time in the Governor's Office coincided with welcoming the first two of my three sons, Jack and Dillon. I made the decision to return to the private sector to focus on raising them and building a consulting career. But I never fully left public service -- Governor Scott appointed me to the Northwest Florida Water Management District Board, a role I held for eight years. It perfectly aligned my desire to serve with my love for the part of Florida where I grew up, started my career, and still live today.
In 2020 I founded Capitol Strategy Group -- now Costello Strategy Group. The rebrand reflects my personal approach to consulting, my commitment to embracing technology as the great competitive advantage in a space that still relies too heavily on the old boys network, and an honest acknowledgment that every firm with Capitol or Capital in the name is virtually indistinguishable from the next one.
Today my focus is on building Costello Strategy Group and SLEDstack, our proprietary Florida government market intelligence platform, growing GovMastery into the leading national resource for companies selling into state and local government markets, and raising Jack, Dillon, and William with my wife Jessica. We watch the sun set over the Capitol from our front porch in downtown Tallahassee every evening. This market is not just what I do. It is where I live.