A Brief Introduction

I wanted to share some brief personal background that goes beyond my ABOUT ME page.

I have a unique education and career path that lead me to where I am today. I graduated Western Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. My goal, back in those days, was to work in an outdoor setting with animals, scientific education or conservation. During college, I worked seasonally as a tour guide and environmental educator at Mammoth Cave National Park. My passion for teaching and leadership started there.

All along, I had this side passion for creating art and design. I decided to go back to school after earning my B.S. to get a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. That degree lead to me landing a corporate job at the famous fortune 500 company, Fruit of the Loom. I spent over 21 years at FOTL as a graphic designer and worked my way into a trusted, valued creative leadership role. In my years at FOTL, I touched on just about every aspect of design from illustration, design production, print (presentations, signage), packaging, digital email and social media design, video editing and animation and ultimately creative direction. I learned a lot, managing projects end-to-end, planning through execution and production, writing SOPs, mentoring, collaborating with marketing, design, sourcing, executives and external vendors and manufacturers. I took the lead on research and was nominated to work on advanced ideas and innovation teams. I provided workshops on creative workflow efficiencies and AI integration. I was instrumental in cost-savings planning and process improvement procedures.

After Fruit of the Loom, I was hired at Inked Brands as a Senior Designer of Marketing before being promoted to Creative Manager within my first 3 months. I managed creative operations, revamping templates, mentoring junior designers and direct reports, improving processes. I had ownership over the wholesale product catalog process from planning, delegation, execution and production. I managed vendor relations and problem solving, reducing catalog spending by $24,000 per year. I also helped plan and design 4-5 brand guidelines for Inked’s brand partners, including writing the AI policies.

My independent work stretches a couple decades, providing design work, branding, illustration, and creative direction for non-profit organizations and small businesses. A list of my clients can be found on my about page and from portfolio examples.

I also teach a 300 level Graphic Design course part-time as an adjunct instructor at Western Kentucky University. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Watching a student go from never having opened the software to solving problems on their own and producing impressive designs within weeks reminds me how much I enjoy teaching and helping others grow.

This blog will be a space where I share my experiences more in depth and my thoughts on design, teaching and new technologies. I hope you follow along and if interested in reaching out, you can check out my contact page.