I was born in the Northeastern USA (and still an Eagles fan). While very young my family moved to Houston, TX, where we stayed just long enough for me to learn how to speak with an accent. We returned to the Northeast when I was around 10, where I would attend several schools due to moving around the area. Family circumstances required me to drop out of high school during my senior year (despite ranking near the top of my class) so that I could work full-time.

By my Junior year in high school, I was eager to save money for a car but realized I needed to work a job while securing reliable transportation. After interviewing a couple bus drivers waiting to depart, I arranged to be dropped off at a local fast food restaurant in the afternoons after school. I quickly proved myself to not only be resourceful, but hard working and reliable. Eventually I was made an hourly manager, while being offered as much overtime as I could work. Regrettably, I chose working hours over school hours and stopped attending (no worries, I ended up graduating college later).

Once I realized working 70 hours a week in fast food was not giving me time to live my life, I found an office job with regular office hours. For several years I was a customer service representative taking inbound calls for aftermarket limousine part orders. I quickly became a customer favorite, enjoying the opportunity to speak to people from all over the US (and sometimes Canada).

A local mail order warehouse hired me on as a data entry assistant, which turned into a receiving lead, to warehouse control associate, and finally a returns processor. I continued to take college classes for years during the evenings. I ultimately had to leave so I could schedule my graphic design classes during the weekdays.

I went from a mail order warehouse to a retail customer warehouse, which allowed me to work evenings and weekends while I finished my core classes for my art degrees. Because I was able to adjust my schedule for each semester, I completed my three degrees before accepting a new job at my old warehouse (this time as a graphic designer).

As I finished my art degrees, I completed an internship at the mail order warehouse where I used to work. This time, I was responsible for the design of the online versions of their various catalogs. I spearheaded the creation of design templates that could be utilized quickly and efficiently for overflow inventory. I was also instrumental in offloading inventory through online vendors such as Amazon and Ebay.

The latest (and longest) job that I worked was for a Florida-based department store’s e-commerce website. I worked several positions, starting as a digital image tech for products and eventually working my way up to a leadership marketing position. The majority of my time was spent designing emails, web pages and advertisements for the company website and outside affiliates that reflected the store’s brand.