1. What was your very first job?
My first job was at a local pizza place inside a food court near my home in Oxnard, CA.

2. What degree(s) do you have and where are they from?
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from University of Phoenix

3. What has been the most interesting advancement in your field since coming into the industry?
I think the availability of resources available to designers is leaps and bounds where it was only 10 years ago.

4. How did you get into the world of marketing and agency life?
My first Agency experience was in Lansing, Michigan. With the agency located in Michigan’s capital, the majority of the clients were government affiliated.

5. What do you do when you are not at work?
I like to stay active by running. You can usually find me running around Mission Bay or on the trails along Hwy 52. I participate in several competitive races a year (mostly 5 and 10K races). I also enjoy riding my mountain bike and swimming during warmer months. I also enjoy disappearing to nature every now and then. Some of my favorite places are Yosemite and Zion National Park.

6. What are your personality test answers? 
I seem to fluctuate between INTJ and INFJ (Meyers-Briggs) depending on the test.

7. What VSSL Value do you identify with most and why?
I identify most with “All Hands on Deck.” As a former Navy sailor, I was always eager to pitch in with my fellow shipmates to complete a task. At VSSL, the satisfaction of working on a project as a team and seeing it through to the end is more satisfying that anything I could accomplish on my own.

8. If you could invent something to solve one of your biggest problems, what would that invention be?
Really wish love potions were a thing, because dating apps sure aren’t working at all. Or maybe an invention to destroy all dating apps so people will actually talk to each other rather than worry about how you look in a photo.

9. What’s one thing about yourself that would surprise people?
I like to collect art. I grew up around a lot of art (my parent’s house is practically a museum), and of all three of us children it rubbed off on me the most. While I have a favorite artist (Shag), there’s no one style or aesthetic I’m drawn to over another. I like what I like, and that could be any style of medium. If it resonates with me that’s all that matters.

10. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
When I was little, my mom would use a funny expression around me and my siblings: “Wish it into the cornfield.” For years we never really understood what it meant, but as we got older we finally realized what that statement meant. To wish something into the cornfield is to let it go, to not let it upset you or affect you in a negative way. As a chronic overthinker, I have found this to be invaluable advice for my own sanity.

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