My story
A career built on curiosity, creativity, and a few unexpected turns.
I started my career in video games, working on Tony Hawk at Activision. Before long, I found myself teaching the next generation of artists at the Academy of Art University, The Art Institute, and CCA. It was my first taste of something that’s stayed with me ever since: the satisfaction of helping other people grow.
But building skate parks didn’t feel like enough. In 2007, a TED Talk by Jeff Skoll and Stephen Kinzer’s book All the Shah’s Men inspired me to create something that mattered. The result was Operation Ajax, an interactive graphic novel about the 1953 Iranian coup. It was the hardest project I’d ever taken on, but it won a Webby and an FWA, was published by Verso Books, and landed me my first speaking engagement at SXSW in 2012.
Standing on that stage, I discovered how much I loved sharing what I’d learned. That experience launched a multi-year international speaking tour across Latin America and Europe.
Looking back, I can see a pattern I’ve repeated ever since. I get inspired by something new, take on an ambitious challenge, struggle through it, learn, and share those lessons with others. Sharing introduces me to new people and ideas, and the cycle begins again.
That cycle took me into immersive experiences for Sony, the NFL, and Westfield, virtual reality at Jaunt, where I developed a program to support emerging creators, and eventually Booz Allen Hamilton, where I coached senior leaders at HHS through the COVID-19 response.
Along the way, I learned to move comfortably between creative teams, corporate environments, and government agencies. Different worlds, but many of the same challenges: making sense of complexity, bringing people together, and helping good ideas become reality.
Most recently, I trained as a Certified Integral Coach at New Ventures West and realized that the cycle I’d been living was the same one I wanted to help others navigate.
Today, I coach leaders, speak, and facilitate teams. I help people find the courage to pursue ambitious ideas, navigate the challenges along the way, and bring others along for the journey.