Collaboration
Problem Solving
Helping Others

I’ve always been creative. As a kid, I spent most of my time exploring the creeks of Leavenworth, KS, or the woods in-between subdivisions outside of Tampa, FL, always dreaming up adventures around me.

I started my first band, a pop-punk group aiming to impress girls, when I was 14. My second band, a death metal group (less about impressing girls), recorded and released an album before I finished my first year in college.

I earned a degree in Recording Arts from Full Sail University, hoping to get into post-production for TV and movies. However, when I started working at Acoustech Music in Atlanta, my flexibility and knack for learning new things led me into my boss’s off-shoot company, SpotGenie, a digital media delivery company.

Starting with just dubbing tapes for local TV stations, I quickly began developing systems to make the process more efficient and easily trackable. As we moved away from tapes and into digital file delivery, I was integral in building workflows and QA checks to ensure things got done correctly and quickly. By the time I left SpotGenie, I was the Director of Media Operations, ensuring the entire tech side of the business had the right tools so they could work smoothly.

I transitioned into the non-profit sector when a position was created for me at Epiphany Lutheran Church in Suwanee. As Director of Music and Youth, I had the autonomy to build both programs for this mid-sized church. Always seeking to make people’s work easier, I spearheaded our volunteer program, making sure people felt seen and valued and understood why the work they were doing was so important. I built a team to launch a 5K race for fundraising. When the pandemic hit, I was a fundamental part of pivoting our bi-weekly in-person services to an online experience that helped people stay connected to their community.

Amidst all this, I continued to make music as Vampire Step-Dad, selling music and merch online while building a following with a much-lauded mailing list and a killer live show that feels more like a family reunion than a concert.

Unfortunately, post-pandemic, there were no longer funds for my position at Epiphany, and I was laid off. After having two successful careers, I was once again looking for what’s next.

I took a long look at what excited me through my work and landed on three things:

• Creative Problem Solving
• Working with others
• Helping people do their best work

I plugged these things into Google and what popped up? User Experience Design.

As a constant software tweaker who dives into the settings first thing, I was familiar with UX, but I’d never looked into it deeply. To my surprise, it sounded a lot like the work I was already doing.

Talking with users about their needs? Check.
Making sure we’re solving the actual problem? Check
Mapping flows to ensure we had everything we needed? Check.

While I didn’t have formal design education, I realized I had been doing much of the work already through all my endeavors. So, I decided this was the path I wanted to pursue and found a suitable boot camp, CareerFoundry, to help me get there.

While learning the ins and outs of UX, I still needed an income and health insurance, so I took a full-time substitute position at a middle school. (Who doesn’t love a challenge?) Even in this environment, I’m able to use my skills in problem-solving and optimizing. I work closely with the band director to solve problems like instrument storage and organizing concerts with 140 6th graders. Through it all, I help teachers and administrators do their best work.

I’m so excited to get started in the UX industry. It’s rare that we find something that feels so naturally suited to our way of seeing the world. I look forward to taking complicated issues, boiling them down to distinct problems, and finding the best solutions available so we can move on and continue doing good work.

Maybe you and I will get to do that together sometime. Let’s get in touch and see.

• I love snuggling up with my wife and watching horror movies.
• I enjoy woodworking. I’ve made desks and bookshelves, but I most enjoy tiny projects like making a pin nail organizer.
• I play drums, guitar, bass, and piano. I also sing, but only if you pay me.
• I make all sorts of Halloween decorations. 3D printing, foam tombstones, milk jug skulls. It’s my favorite holiday.