In December 2013, Marty Brown made a good call. “During our annual Christmas trip from New York to Indianapolis, in addition to spending time with family, my wife and I decided to try to meet people in our respective fields, in case we decided to move back someday.” This desire to get acquainted with the tech community in Indianapolis led him to attend IndyXmas.

Although he was already researching companies in Indianapolis, IndyXmas helped to seal the deal. “I was thrilled when I read about the IndyXmas thing, because I thought the event struck exactly the right tone– an open invitation to meet the tech community firsthand, on this one night when lots of out-of-towners are back in town. I attended the event and walked away with a new appreciation for the local tech community.”

Through IndyXMas and informal introductions, Brown sought connections who could help him get a feel for the tech scene in town and assess job opportunities. One particularly helpful connection among many others was Apparatus’ Aman Brar, a fellow Wabash College alum. “Aman’s been my fairy godmother, in terms of transitioning back to Indy. He introduced me to everyone I could ask for and asked the right questions to help me figure out what I wanted to do.”

Of ability to connect that “only happens in Indianapolis,” Brown paraphrased a conversation with local tech leader Kristian Andersen, saying, “There may be fewer total opportunities in tech here than on the coasts, but the access to those opportunities is wide open, because you’re only one phone call or email away from just about anyone.”

Through a series of those connections, Brown landed his job as VP of Marketing at One Click Ventures in Greenwood. He handles branding, customer experience, public relations and customer acquisition and retention initiatives across all three of One Click Ventures’ brands.

One Click Ventures is an e-commerce company focused on eyewear, through its SunglassWarehouse.com and Readers.com properties. This fall, the company will launch a new prescription eyewear brand.

“If this were a company that simply plugged away and optimized marketing spend, it’s unlikely I would have joined the team,” Brown said. “However, One Click’s team understands that it’s about solving real problems for customers and building brands on top of that experience. For me, there’s nothing more exciting than building something new.”

Marty grew up in the Broad Ripple area on the north side of Indianapolis, attending Bishop Chatard High School. In the eight years since Marty graduated from Wabash College with a degree in English, he picked up an MBA from Wharton, and has lived and worked in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York and San Francisco.

Before moving to Indy, Brown and his then-fiancé lived in New York where he worked for Zynga and then Lolly Wolly Doodle, the pioneering, VC-funded company known for selling children’s clothes directly through Facebook. After they got married and took their fateful trip home over Christmas 2013, they decided to move back home to Indianapolis “so we could put down roots without constantly thinking that we’d probably move in 3-5 years.”

The couple has settled into a home in downtown Indianapolis, where they rarely have to use their cars on weekends. Having grown up in Indy, Brown recognizes a distinct shift in downtown since his childhood. “When I was a kid, you’d go downtown for a Pacers or Colts game and then you left. But now, downtown is a playground. It’ll be Christmas before we’ve tried everything within walking distance.”

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