Our Founder

Joe McCormack is passionate about helping professionals gain focus and clarity in a world of too much information, too much collaboration, and too much noise.

As an entrepreneur, marketing executive, and author, he is recognized for his work in concise, strategic communication and leadership development.

In 2006, Joe founded Sheffield Company, a specialty marketing agency that focused specifically on the core value of a concise message and the power of visual storytelling to get a point across through narratives and visual storytelling.

In 2013, he launched The BRIEF Lab after years dedicated to developing and delivering a unique curriculum on executive communication for US Army Special Operations Command (Fort Bragg, North Carolina). The BRIEF Lab’s mission is to teach not only military leaders but also professionals an elite standard of communication to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Joe’s first book, Brief: Make a Bigger Impact By Saying Less, sets the standard for concise communication. His next book, Noise, Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus, addresses the devastating effects on information overload, digital devices, and non-stop distractions. His newest book, Quiet Works: Making Silence the Secret Ingredient of the Workday, proposes practical and realistic ways to help professionals lower the volume of what wears them and tears them. His podcast, Just Saying, helps professionals become effective and efficient communicators in an age of information overload.

In 2022, Joe launched a program called, Quiet Works to help professionals manage the noise in their lives by finding dedicated times and places for quiet. The first Quiet Workplace, an integrated, patented system to provide, promote, and protect quiet in the workplace, is now open in Southern Pines, North Carolina.

Before his entrepreneurial ventures, Joe served as Senior Vice President at Ketchum, a top-five marketing agency in Chicago. He received a BA in English Literature from Loyola University of Chicago where he graduated with honors. He is fluent in Spanish and has broad international experience. Joe and his wife Julie split their time between Southern Pines, North Carolina, and Chicago, Illinois.