My father was a samurai and my mother was a grizzly. The word samurai 侍 means “to wait upon.” It’s about serving people, not money. Take care of your clients, customers and employees and the money will follow. I use this principle to foster client relationships that last and to build brands people love.
If you’re going be a bear, be a grizzly. Be the best. But with growth comes responsibility. In my career, I have mentored countless young creatives and account people with the goal of lifting them up—to make them better people. Now imagine applying this philosophy to a brand and how they treat their customers and you’ll see how I can grow a business. To make them relevant, meaningful and engaging.
I bring a combination of these unique perspectives into everything I do. So, what can I do for your business?
EXPERIENCE
2020 – NOW Art Director, Creative Director
Creating in-your-face concepts and designs for a variety of clients including Facebook, ExtraHop and myself. I write and publish my own Dungeons & Dragons adventures with a long history of terrifying players—with pretend monsters, not IRL.
2012 – 2019 Edelman – SF SVP, Creative Director
Lead multiple creative and account teams to create award-winning digital stuff for a number of global brands, including: Box, Charles Schwab, HP, Juniper, Lagunitas, LinkedIn, PayPal, Starbucks and Volkswagen. Oh, also in charge of leading the 5B dollar Adobe count and tripling their user base in a span of 7 years. During my tenure at Edelman, I was the most awarded Creative Director in the company’s history—winning over 50 awards for both advertising and PR—including multiple Cannes Lions and one trivia contest during happy hour.
2006 – 2012 Yahoo – SV Senior Art Director
Jumped to the client side to help the number one digital company in the world (well, it was number one at the time) by creating lots of purple campaigns for the Brand Creative Group, Yahoo Labs, Yahoo News, Yahoo Small Business. Also designed many large events, such as the Yahoo Sports venue at the Vancouver Winter Olympics which beat out ESPN for number one coverage of the games online.
2004 – 2007 Academy of Art University – SF MFA Instructor
Inspired, mentored and taught Masters students in design for 4 years. A good teacher asks “What did you learn?” but a great teacher asks “What did you teach me?” Many of my former students have gone on to be inspirational designers and leaders in the advertising community.
2004 – 2006 Freelance Art Director
Developed innovative designs and concepts for a few award-winning advertising agencies in San Francisco and Chicago. Clients included Corona, Clos du Bois, Dell, Hyatt, HP, Kia, Microsoft, New Holland Construction, Sonoma Land Trust, Jamba Juice, and Smith & Hawken.
EDUCATION
Academy of Art University – SF Advertising Concept & Design
The Ohio State University – OH English with minor in Russian
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