BRAND/MARKETING STRATEGIST • CREATIVE DIRECTOR/ART DIRECTOR • DESIGNER • PAINTER • PHOTOGRAPHER • PODCASTER • WRITER/AUTHOR/SPEAKER
I thought I was going to be a high school art teacher.
I received my B.A. from Northwestern University in art theory and practice along with teaching certification.
Before I could find a teaching position, I was offered a job as a technical illustrator with a small agency. I illustrated installer manuals for an auto parts manufacturer.
This led to graphic design, then art direction, and eventually creative direction at a number of agencies in the Detroit area.
When the auto industry began its implosion in the mid-2000s, it took down the agencies in the area.
I began consulting, and eventually returned to school where I earned an M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications from Eastern Michigan University.
I started teaching design at a number of colleges and universities, and also teaching graduate courses in Integrated Marketing Communications for EMU, while still consulting.
I teach at EMU, both undergraduate and graduate courses. I published my first book in 2017. I still consult. And I paint.
The consistent theme of my career has been storytelling. Whether the means are visual or written; in print, online, or on canvas; whether for a client, or to teach students, or even to tell my own stories.