Ralph Severson
Ralph Severson is a partner with Taylor Trusty in Blackstone Media. He founded the company in 1996 as Alpha Direct Marketing LLC in New Albany, Indiana to meet the needs of companies of all sizes that were becoming aware of the Internet and needed an online marketing presence. Alpha Direct’s responsibilities grew to also include website development and hosting over the following few years. In 2006, Ralph teamed up with Taylor Trusty to refashion Alpha Direct into a full media services company, Blackstone Media.
Ralph grew up as an Army Brat. He was born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, but he grew up in the Louisville area. He has lived across the river in New Albany for the past 23 years. Ralph has a degree in computer science, with an associates in accounting from the University of Louisville. Prior to founding Blackstone, Ralph held positions as an architectural engineer, human resources manager and a magazine publisher in conjunction with owning his own printing company.
Ralph’s main goal in his position with Blackstone Media is to ensure that people and resources are being utilized effectively and, of course, achieving maximum customer satisfaction.
He describes himself as a “maestro, orchestrating people and resources.” He is also a bottom-line kind of guy, always fair and honest.
When he is not burning the midnight oil at the office, Ralph is reading or listening to books on his iPod. He is also into board games (he owns nearly 200!), mostly strategy like Axis & Allies, Risk 2010, HeroScape and others. He enjoys live entertainment such as plays, musicals, music and comedy, movies, riding his new motorcycle and taking dancing lessons.
Ralph has been the heart and soul of Blackstone Media since its founding 12 years ago. The secret to his success is talking straight and following through on his promises. With a strong team in place under his and Taylor’s leadership, we know that many more great things are in store for us!