My first job was teaching music. I was 18. In one way or another, I've always been a storyteller. Whether in that classroom, playing the guitar, or painting something digitally, the goal was always the same: create an emotional reaction.

Illustration was what pushed me toward design in the first place. Photography followed and never left. The mediums kept changing. The instinct didn't.

Teaching followed, too. Mentoring designers, building a team from scratch, directing training programs. It was never a separate track. It was the same instinct, pointed at a different audience.

Storytellers work in many mediums. Mine became software design, and eventually, it brought everything else back together.

Today I'm the Founding Designer at onBeacon, where I've been building AI-powered product feedback for two years, and Head of Design at Foto, a photography community for people who care deeply about craft. I write about what I'm learning in it depends, a monthly publication I started in 2023.