I was born in Denver, Colorado and moved to Austin, TX when I was 8. As what I thought was a selling point, I was told there were fire ants. I assumed this meant they were basically mini-dragons that breathed fire. So the first thing I did when I leaped out of the Uhaul was submerge my hand in an ant pile. When I realized the truth, it was worse than finding out Santa didn’t exist.

I’ve been a little obsessed lately with scuba diving, struggling through some piano lessons and currently learning Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

I’ve always kind of thrown myself into a leadership role. I have always had a hard time not stepping up and taking initiative whenever I saw what a team potential could be. Now that I’ve had 15+ years of being in the weeds of design, I love building into others and seeing them have moments of inspiration and am always anxious to see what they come up with. I was nervous about it for a long time and resisted any sort of management simply because I love designing,. But I see myself as managing things, but leading people and working with people I simply love spending time with and working through the challenges of a project together is more inspiring to me than any solo work I have done.

My hipster answer is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Trippy as hell and such a heart wrenching story about love lost and holding onto the best in a relationship.

But my more mainstream answer is basically a five way tie between Shawshank Redemption, Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Jurassic Park and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Currently the next stop is Kauai, Hawaii for my son’s 16th birthday. We have lots of surfing, waterfall chasing and maybe some scuba diving planned.

For sure the one that comes to the top for a drama is Breaking Bad. From the moment I saw pants flying in the air, I was hooked. I even named my cat after a character on the show, Badger and I dog i used to have Walt.

Other runners up are Succession, The Bear and Friday Night Lights.

Comedies that rule my home are Always Sunny, Schitt’s Creek, The Office and What We Do in the Shadows.

I was so proud when I was assigned to work on it, but quickly realized it was part of the hazing at a studio. It was American Idol. It was basically 50 Shades of Blue and was so happy to pass it off and move over to FX.

It’s all the hype and for good reason. It has come into its own. But it serves a specific purpose and if harnessed right, allows us to be more efficient, allowing us to do what we do best. I see AI as three things:

1. AI is a tool
It’s not here to do our jobs for us. It’s just as imperfect as we are. It’s something to support us, not put things on autopilot for us. Those most worried about this have not spent time testing its limitations. It aids me every day in some way, but it also frustrates me as much as it aids.

2. AI is here to do the things I don’t need to
Ideally, it frees me to to do the things that only I can do. Which is creative problem solving that’s through my own lens. There are numerous mundane tasks that keep me from doing not only what I’m best at but what I love doing.

3. AI is a jumping off point
That blank stare that you get when you think “I don’t know where to start”? What AI brings to the table is giving that first shitty draft that gives you something to work from when you just need to start. It’s the pen on a blank page when you just need the shove.

Designer Will Patterson nails it when he points out that it’s really doing what we’ve always done. AI in art essentially acts as a mood board to give us inspiration to create something on the back of the art that has come before.

Within one year I had 5 different managers over myself and the product. My team had to pivot each time and each time I was so proud of what we came up with and the energy we were able to maintain. We really leaned on each other to get through it and I grew so much alongside each of those designers.

I have found the most joy working with teams who have a great chemistry and who have each other’s backs.

So that will always override any vertical I work in. But some of the things I would love to do is spend some time working in fitness or entertainment. I find a lot of joy and therapy working out and am also always drawn to the entertainment industry because stories in film always inspire me.