I'm a marketer who builds the systems behind the marketing. I co-founded Beni, an AI company for schools, and built its brand and a sales CRM covering every public school district in the US. I branded and sold a Malibu grief retreat, and grew a therapy brand to 170K followers. UC San Diego, 3.95 GPA, based in Santa Monica.
Beni
Brand, product and go-to-market for AI in schools
Beni gives school districts control over how AI works in their classrooms. As co-founder I own brand and go-to-market and build across the product: the website, the student chat, the animated mark, and integrations with Google Classroom, Clever and ClassLink.
On the data side I built our sales CRM, a pipeline over public education data covering all 17,444 US public districts and 19,913 verified decision-makers, and led security hardening ahead of district pilots. I also wrote the sales and investor decks.
- Role
- Co-founder, 2025 to now
- Results
- 17,444 districts · 19,913 verified contacts · 67% of US students covered
- Stack
- Python, FastAPI, Postgres, SQL, Claude API, SSO (SAML, LTI 1.3)


Healing with Horses
Branding and selling a Malibu grief retreat
A somatic grief retreat for women: three nights at a Malibu hilltop estate, mornings with horses, and a program featured by National Geographic. I built the path from first look to booked bed: landing pages, a page for every room with live bed inventory, and per-bed Stripe checkout.
After booking, guests sign in to a private portal: their room and dates, a payment-plan tracker, seven agreements they e-sign in place, PDF receipts and travel notes. Around it: a 40-second ad made with AI video tools, "last bed" story campaigns, and emails that follow up when someone looks at a room or leaves checkout.
- Role
- Marketing & web for Angela Schellenberg
- Results
- 8 rooms sold by the bed with live inventory · guest portal with 7 e-signed agreements · 6,522 contacts on triggered email
- Stack
- Node.js, SQLite, Stripe API & webhooks, Resend, field-level encryption, Vercel





Content Engine & DM Agent
AI that makes the posts and answers the DMs
Built for a therapy brand I grew from 1K to 170K Instagram followers. Every morning the engine scans 16 competitor accounts, picks the post worth making, designs the carousel and emails a one-tap approve link. Approved posts publish to Instagram and Pinterest.
In the DMs, a Claude agent answers questions, recommends the right offer and hands crisis messages to a person. I rebuilt it to cut reply time from 15 seconds to under 5. I later turned the engine into Warmly, a product for other coaches.
- Role
- Designer & builder
- Results
- 170K+ followers · 16 accounts scanned daily · DM replies 15s to 5s
- Stack
- Python, Postgres, Supabase, Claude API, Instagram Graph API, Render
Equine Therapy Malibu
Rebrand and website in 8 days
An equine therapy practice in Malibu was leaving its old name and Squarespace. I rebuilt the brand and site, moved its #1-ranking old domain over with 19 redirects, and set up checkout for memberships and a $5,355 certification.
Before handover I found and fixed four silent problems, including a payment plan that would have billed forever.
- Role
- Freelance brand & web, 2026
- Results
- $3,000 fee · 8 days to handover · 27+ automated emails
- Stack
- Next.js, TypeScript, Stripe, Resend, Vercel
Bear Pickle
A pickle brand, in development
My own brand. The idea: you can't own a bear, but you can own the newsroom. Bear Pickle talks like a local news channel ("Bears make pickles now, says news host"), so the brand explains its culture without a sales pitch. The first ad is a Super 8 spot of a bear introducing his pickle.
The research behind it: refrigerated pickles are trending for crunch and a "less processed" feel, pickles are turning into snacks, and shoppers avoid sweet or neon ones. That pointed to a game-day pickle, with in-store demos Friday 4 to 7 and weekends 11 to 3. The product is designed to be shelf-stable, with brine at pH 4.6 or lower.
- Role
- Founder
- Stage
- Brand and product development
- Work
- Positioning, market research, ad concept, label spec, food-safety rules




Experience
Education
Marketing
Technical
Hiring for marketing or growth? Send an inquiry below, email sammschellenberg@gmail.com, download my resume, or find me on LinkedIn.