Although he was born in Chile, Director of Client Service Tino Acchiardo considers himself a Memphian. He moved here at the age of 7, when his father accepted a position as professor and Medical Director of Nephrology at the University of Tennessee School of Medicine.
Tino left Memphis to attend journalism school at the University of Missouri, and after graduation got a job working for a medical device company in California as their Director of Marketing Communications. “I basically combined the health care knowledge-base I got from my Dad with what I had studied in journalism and communications,” he says.
Tino eventually returned to Memphis in 2000, seeking a job in advertising. “I’d worked with ad agencies in the Bay area for 10 years,” he explains. “I liked what they did. I liked the relationship part, and the creative collaboration part. Instead of being the client, I wanted to be on the other side.” With Memphis being a hotspot for healthcare and medical device development, Tino had no problem finding work. He was hired as an Account Executive for MedComm within a week of being interviewed. He later worked as Senior Account Executive at two other large Memphis agencies—inferno and Signature Advertising—before joining Running Pony in 2015.
When not working, Tino loves to travel. He’s been to 25 different countries, most recently Iceland. “I like adventure. I like renting a car and driving wherever the road takes you. Even in Iceland, I never met a stranger,” he says. If you have a similar wanderlust, Tino offers this advice for fellow travelers: “Don’t overplan it. Don’t overthink it. Seek adventure out. Seek out what the locals do. I highly recommend an Air BnB, because then you’re living and shopping in a neighborhood instead of a tourist zone. You get a real taste of what it would be like to be a resident of that country or city. You’ll find you can really connect with people over good food, good wine and a lot of laughter. It doesn’t matter what language you speak.”
It’s that same sort of “connection” that also drives Tino’s philosophy for providing great account service to Running Pony’s clients: “Be nice to people. Be empathetic and compassionate. Always be responsive. Always be accountable. Always recognize what the clients’ needs are. And make your client the hero. That’s my job.”
