Big news to announce today –

After more than 5 years, 38 passport stamps, 3 great bosses, nearly 17,000 fan emails, 1 LEGO book, 2 products I’ve strongly influenced, 450,000 frequent flyer miles, hundreds of in person adult LEGO fan meetings, and way way too many visits to the LEGO company store, I’ve decided to leave the company and pursue another opportunity.

This new opportunity came up pretty quick and is a huge step forward in my career. I’ll be joining a terrific marketing agency in Dallas building an internal practice around consumer interaction. It’s not that I don’t believe in the work we’ve done at LEGO – quite the opposite. I believe in it so much, that it’s time for me to help other companies form relationships with their consumers.

This was not a decision I took lightly – after 5 years, I feel like I have ABS plastic running through my veins. It’s also important to know that I’m happier now more than ever before with the direction the LEGO Company is going, especially as it relates to community of all ages. It’s been a long, hard, tiring road to drive these last years in getting consumer thinking integrated into the company culture, but it’s worked. (I’ll likely be posting more about that in coming weeks)

As you may have seen on my LEGO blog a few days ago, one of my major personal goals has been met this week (adult community featured on the cover of Wired).

Working at LEGO has been the realization of a childhood dream. I loved the brick and the brand before I came to the company, and now I love it even more. I’ll be doing my best as a “private citizen” now to help promote the brand.

Stay tuned on the blog for more about my adventures. If you’re interested in hearing more and you’ll be at SXSW, be sure to email and ask me about the lunch event I’ll be holding (more later).

If you’re interested in how I broke the news to the LEGO community, check my LEGO blog