Design is where my natural strengths of empathy and creativity connect with my aptitude for analytical thinking and technology. It's the crossroads where I can bring together these two sides of me, enabling me to put art into action and design with purpose.
When I'm not working, you can find me climbing in the Eastern Sierra, running trails with my wife and pup, diving into alpine lakes, and snowboarding at Mammoth Mountain. I also love reading fantasy novels, playing guitar, and listening to almost every genre of music.
My design journey began at AppFolio, where I started as a web designer. I had no previous design experience, so I learned so much about responsive web layout, color theory, UX strategy, APIs, Content Management Systems, and accessibility standards. Working at AppFolio provided an exciting introduction to the world of design and helped me realize how impactful the choices designers make can be on end users.
Wanting to build on my early design skills, I took a role as a Project Manager at Yoko Co. This gave me a high-level, holistic view of the entire website creation process, from initial UX discovery to design deliverables like mood boards and prototypes to the handoff between design and development. We used WordPress to build all of our sites, expanding my CMS knowledge. My time at Yoko Co reinforced the importance of cross-functional collaboration.
After Yoko Co, I enrolled in CareerFoundry's UX design program to go deeper into the design process. Through the course, I learned user research, journey mapping, wireframing, user testing, iterating, and documentation best practices. I had the opportunity to create multiple projects from end-to-end, cementing my skills. My year at CareerFoundry was instrumental in growing tremendously as a designer.
During my CareerFoundry course, I volunteered with TechFleet to get real-world experience. I took on a role as Content Strategist for a new crypto wallet product. Collaborating with other designers, I helped conduct competitor audits and created a custom copy component library. TechFleet gave me experience aligning design and content.
After TechFleet, I leveraged my skills into a UX design contract role at Shiftwave, a startup. I was excited by their technology and contributed across projects like internal tools, user guides, and app design sprints. Shiftwave let me apply my end-to-end design abilities.
Since my contract at Shiftwave, I have continued growing through freelance web and UX design projects. I work directly with clients to redesign or build responsive websites. My journey so far has given me invaluable lessons that I am grateful for. I look forward to learning and developing as a designer.
