Spelling it out.

My big break came when Ms. Higgins-Spoletti caught me drawing comics in class. Instead of detention, she marched me to the high school newspaper advisor’s office. For three beautiful years, I churned out editorial cartoons, movie reviews, and “humor” articles for Southwords, where I eventually took over as Production Head. My senior staff took home the Golden Eagle, the NISPA’s highest honor — and the first such award in our paper’s 50-year history.

In a slight reality check, my first jobs after college were “revenue operations” roles that bordered on data entry. Two years of confining my creativity to hobbies felt like staying in a bad marriage for the sake of a pet. In 2017, I cold-emailed half of Chicagoland for tips on breaking into the ad world. One reply mentioned portfolio school.

My book of spec work begat freelance gigs, which paved the way for agency roles. Now I’ve led branding projects, managed teams, and grown my expertise across a slew of voices, tones, and industries. As for why I do it, I once described writing to a friend as “speech perfected…” and boy do I love to talk.

Resume