I’m more interested in understanding why something resonates than simply just making it look or sound good.

My creative career started in music. Long before I knew what “brand strategy” was, I was a college student switching my major from music to art, so I could learn how to design album booklets that felt as emotional as the songs themselves. Storytelling through music was my first love, and pairing words with visuals—especially typography—gave me a way to push the meaning further and create those “yes, I so get it” moments that filled me up.

It turns out, that instinct to find new ways to connect with audiences translates really well to marketing.

After earning my Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2003, I began my career in Los Angeles, California, working for a reality television production company. There, I picked up video production and story editing skills and even found myself behind the mic, recording voice-over for on-air transitions like “coming up next.” This experience was valuable, as it was a crash course in storytelling, pacing, and audience attention—lessons that still shape how I approach creative work today.

In 2004, I moved back to Ohio to be closer to friends and family and dove into marketing, where I could use my enthusiasm for storytelling to connect with audiences, and turn those engagements into measurable results. Over the years, I’ve worked across agencies, corporate environments, and non-profit organizations—each adding a new layer to how I think about brands, audiences, and impact.

I cut my teeth in the agency world first at a digital firm focused on branding and website design. Then, I switched my focus from digital media to the world of media relations in the position of PR manager for a corporation. Knowing that marketing was my place in business, while maintaining a solid work travel schedule, I earned my Master’s degree in Marketing and Communications in 2008. Shortly before graduating, I was recruited to serve as Director of Marketing for a non-profit, where I led the effort to unify and modernize a long-established brand that had never fully defined its voice or visual identity. This was an opportunity that allowed me to flex my design and strategic skills and afforded me the opportunity to build a small team.

From there, I spent several years at a consumer insights, strategy and creative agency overseeing its largest accounts, managing everything from consumer research through creative development and execution. That experience cemented my belief in the power of insight-driven strategy and the importance of truly understanding the audience before making anything. I later joined an award-winning integrated communications agency, where I served as Account Director and ultimately Director of Strategy with a heavy focus on the tourism industry. Storytelling for destinations was incredibly fulfilling for me, as the offerings and audiences couldn’t be more diverse, but the messaging had to resonate for all — such an exciting challenge to “find the hook.”

Across my career, I’ve worked in both B2B and B2C marketing, across traditional and digital channels, supporting everything from small organizations to large global brands. Today, backed by more than 20 years of well-rounded experience, I work as a freelance consultant—partnering with agencies and brands to deliver smart, memorable, emotionally resonant creative grounded in solid strategy.

I’m known for wearing a lot of hats, obsessing over details, and never losing sight of the human on the other side of the message or those I get to work with along the way. I also bring some unconventional skills to the table—like voice acting—and unsurprisingly give quite a bit of attention to sonic branding, a crucial and highly impactful piece of the marketing mix in my book.

If you’re looking for a partner who can turn insight into ideas, strategy into storytelling, and brands into experiences people genuinely connect with, let’s talk about what we can build together.