b.1982

I was born in Long Beach, CA but grew up in Northern California. I’m a feather in the wind, often adventuring somewhere, even if its my own backyard.

Art Director.
Design Manager.
Creative Director.
Designer.
Photographer.
Production Artist.
Cat Lover.
Pitbull Advocate.
Animal Addict.
Nature Stalker.

Skills

Photoshop
Illustrator
Indesign
Keynote
Microsoft Office
XD
Sketch
Figma
Slack
Sony Alpha
Canon
Capture 1
Bridge
ACR
Basecamp
Trello
Triple Triangle
Xyron
Guillotine
Perfect Binding Machine
 

I have over 18 years of experience in the advertising and marketing industry. Presently, I am an Associate Creative Director at mint mobile. Here I work on everything from concept, to presenting ideas to client, design and layout, but most importantly I lead a team of incredibly driven and talented designers. I am beyond proud of the multi cultural, multi disciplinary, multi talented team that I built from the ground up. Our team is unique and thrives because of three pillars: support, communication and respect. I am the leader that my team depends on, and I work everyday on that trust to build and keep that title and privilege from them.

Previously I freelanced as a sr. art director for one of the biggest B2B agencies in the US. I needed to get my hands dirty and take a break from managing for a little bit. Prior to that, I was the head of creative where I lead and managed a team of six highly talented, very motivated designers at a small digital agency in San Francisco. They were not just direct reports to me, they were my team and my inspiration. Beyond managerial duties I was there to support my team, in whatever capacity they needed. I had dedicated one on one’s with every member to give them the opportunity and time they deserve, beyond that, weekly team design meetings and always an open door/desk scenario. I take pride in my studio production background, it has laid the foundation to my design/art direction and plays an integral role in how I mentor and lead.

My life's theme in both the professional and personal vision, is storytelling about my experiences. I want to meet new people, share all my knowledge and experience with anyone who is willing to listen, build my network, and create. Oh and take photos, lots and lots of photos. 

My career began 18 years ago as a receptionist at a small PR firm of six employees called Idea Hall. They grew too fast and I slowly worked my way into the art department.  One year later I moved up from a six employees shop to a global agency of 250 employees. It was then that I was introduced to the game of flip cup by the CEO of Young & Rubicam Brands. I spent over three years at Y&R mastering the perfect flip, while simultaneously getting the Land Rover logo size burned into my memory banks as a production artist. I moved on to share desk space with cockroaches the size of mice as an in-house graphic designer for simplehuman.

After learning the art of trash can packaging in 60 page illustrator files, I left client side and returned to agency life. I watched airplanes soar above while freelancing at David & Goliath, commuted two hours for a 30 mile trip through the heart of LA to design ooh pieces for the megamind movie at Quigley Simpson. I designed and produced a 100 page fan book for the San Jose Sharks which is the extent of my hockey knowledge. I landed with the beach bums in Huntington Beach, where I spent hours upon hours changing and revising Hyundai banner offers at Innocean USA. After 5 beautiful years at Innocean, Crispin Porter & Bogusky sweet talked me into leaving the beach and living the mountain life. It’s at CP+B that I’ve learned how important coffee is when learning how to make custom snow globes and how to massage lotion into leather to make it oh so soft at 4:00 in the morning.
CP+B led me to DISH where I was Art Director and Design Manager for the in-house studio. There I had 7-10 direct reports, managed freelancers and oversaw performance reviews and the growth of the team.

Then it happened. My wife got pregnant, and while CO was close it wasn’t close enough so we moved back to CA, specifically Oakland. I started at a digital agency, Covid took over and I jumped head first into the freelance world. Then, mint mobile found me, and it was simply too enticing to not walk through that door.

Every doorway I’ve walked through, I’ve gained invaluable life lessons and skills that have led me to where I am today. I’m hoping your door opens to just as many learnings as my last.