My parents always told me to become an engineer, that there was little future pursuing art and design. In my second year of college I was introduced to html and shortly thereafter got my first gig as a freelance illustrator. I switched majors but quickly realized that what I needed to know (back in 2003) wasn’t being taught in a classroom yet. I dropped out, and ever since I’ve pursued the art of problem solving with an unquenchable passion. I’ve freelanced, started my own agency, built products from concept to completion, acted as designer, project/product manager, creative director and thoroughly enjoyed the journey that continues to unfold each and every day.
In 2017 I was approached by an investor who had just started working with a new EdTech company called ClassHero. They had done the difficult task of working with a team of educators to produce a Pre-K through Grad 5 math application that intelligently personalized learning for students. They had a 1 page website and UI put together by their development team. I met with the founder and saw the vision he painted me. I originally joined the team as a COO, helping to put structure and tools in place for our development team and projects and then shifted to running product. Together, we've designed and built a brand, and product that does the revolutionary work of simplifying core math curriculum for teachers and students allowing educators with little to no product training to replace paper-practice and supplemental math apps in the classroom with an easy to use and engaging math program.
Setmore was founded as an internal startup, backed by it’s parent company. With limited resources we built Setmore, an online appointment booking app, from the ground up as a lean startup. Immediately launching a single page site, we started signing up users with an MVP and realized we were gaining traction. Over the next two years we steadily built a web app, android and iOS app, signed up over 100k customers and booked millions of appointments. I did the bulk of the initial planning, UI design, branding & website, management and leadership. Setmore is still going strong.
In 2012 I moved my family to southeast India to act as creative director of a software company in Chennai. I bounced between PDX and MAA designing, managing and creating new products, working with developers and designers, having a great time exploring a new culture and taking on one of the biggest and most rewarding challenges of my career.
When I helped name and found Full Creative we were already getting a steady stream of client work, we just needed the brand. We hit the ground running and in our first year I helped pitch and secure contracts with Fisker Automotive, Paul Mitchell, Mazda, Panera Bread, Porsche and we were invited to come present at Nike. I helped manage a team of designers and project managers, also acting as lead designer on multiple projects. It was a fun ride, I learned a great deal and missed a decent amount of sleep :)
I vividly remember screeching out of the parking lot of my warehouse job I’d taken to pay my way through college for the last time. I’d finally built up a significant enough client base to go full-time freelance and I was elated. What started as logo, print and illustration jobs evolved rapidly into website design and development. On most projects I acted as a jack of all trades, acquiring clients, juggling simultaneous projects, and creating my own process while I designed and taught myself to front-end code. I eventually joined forces with other contractors, taking on larger more complex projects.