Trace Christian

Trace Christian founded Main Course Media to put the caliber of marketing usually reserved for big budgets within reach of the local businesses that give a community its character. He came to it from an unusual direction: venture capital, startups, and financial analysis, where the whole job is telling the difference between a number that means something and a number that just looks good. That habit is why every report Main Course sends a client leads with leads, calls, and dollars instead of impressions and rankings.

Before starting the agency he spent more than two years at an established digital-marketing firm — Groundbreaker Marketing, now Main Course’s partner firm — doing the hands-on work: local SEO, Google Business Profile optimization, Google Ads, and the website builds underneath them. He interned at firms across Dallas before that. The through-line is that he learned this work by doing it manually, on real local businesses, with real money on the line, which is what makes it possible to direct AI systems to do it now without losing the judgment that makes it work.

His written work on home services, local business, and marketing has been picked up by Forbes Advisor, Yahoo, Better Homes & Gardens, Family Handyman, and Homes.com. He studies at Dallas Baptist University. Outside of work you’ll find him running, thrifting, chasing good coffee, and serving at Watermark Community Church in Dallas.