After almost 2 years of research and planning, one of my greatest entrepreneurial endeavors came to life: Green Heron Compost Services. Primarily, this company provides food waste collection and processing services for residential customers, commercial clients, and various events in the Greater Knoxville, TN region. The company recycles the collected food scraps by composting the waste with other organic materials to produce an all-natural, nutrient-dense compost fertilizer that is sold or donated locally. Additionally, Green Heron Compost has the exclusive contract to manage the City of Knoxville's Compost Pilot Project, a grant-funded program through the city's Waste & Resources Department. Over the last two years, the city pilot project has grown threefold under our management.As the Founder and Owner of the company, my roles have changed and evolved over the years. When I first started the company, I was responsible for almost every aspect of the business: driving daily routes, cleaning buckets, compost processing, sales and marketing, bookkeeping, website management, customer service, and so on. But the company began to grow rapidly, doubling in revenue and subscribers in 2021 and again in 2022. As demand increased, I hired a small team to manage daily operations so I could focus on duties like client acquisition, speaking engagements, grant applications, compost sales, employee training, and expansion logistics.

With about a decade of success freelancing, I started Emblazo Digital, a small digital marketing and web design agency with a team of five employees. Emblazo primarily worked with B2B and B2G software and tech companies to develop and execute custom digital strategies and build a strong and effective web presence for clients. As the owner and founder of the company, I managed a team of talented individuals of varying disciplines: a copywriter, PPC strategist, graphic designer, web developer, and videographer. Together, we produced comprehensive digital media and campaigns for companies and government organizations.Not only did our team produce various forms of media like websites, branding, videos and animations, case studies, email campaigns, slide decks, and other materials, but we also developed marketing strategies complete with calculated KPIs and benchmarks in order to track and ensure success for our clients. All this, while working with strict and tight deadlines.

In this remote position, I transcribed confidential audio files of police interviews and legal recordings from various government agencies in Washington DC. My duties included transcribing dialogue between individuals of various dialects and typing their words into standard English while adhering to proper grammar and punctuation principles. Not only did I work with strict deadlines but I also had to adhere to strict document formatting requirements.

At Pyxl, I created digital marketing strategies based on industry trends and continuous data analysis. Daily activities included creating website workflows and copy for blogs, websites, social media, email campaigns, and premium content like white papers. Additional duties involved performing keyword and website analytics in order to create and implement customized digital strategies for our diverse clientele. Projects involved performing comprehensive research on industry-specific trends while tracking, reporting, and interpreting data retrieved from campaigns.

I was a seasonal ecotourism rafting guide in Alaska on the Kenai River and Skilak Lake. On daily trips, I fully controlled an oar-rig raft of up to 11 guests. During the trip I had the privilege of entertaining my guests with information about the wildlife, environment, history, and culture of the area while fielding their questions. My main goals were to ensure safety, comfort, and protection throughout the trip while also providing entertainment and information based upon the guests interests and needs.This position requires a Six Passenger (6-Pack) Merchant Mariner License and Coast Guard Certification as well as Kenai River Special Management Area (KRSMA) Licensing. In addition, I acquired CPR and First Aid training in tandem with Swift Water training. Other licenses include a Transportation Workers Identification Certification (TWIC card) in order to drive company vehicles.

Under a National Science Foundation Grant (IP Dr. Eric Pappas), I researched, organized, and produced a variety of multimedia for two websites: Change Is REEL and Frontiers in Sustainability. These websites, created by our small collective of undergraduates, address issues of sustainability through a series of short videos, articles, and visuals. Dr. Pappas' research suggests that, in order to change and understand our global problems, we must first understand ourselves and become more enlightened individuals. This concept is called "Individual Sustainability" or "Sustainable Personality." For this project, I created two separate websites to house our materials by using the wordpress.org Content Management System. I installed various widgets and external objects via code to optimize site analytics, social media connections, form compatibility, search engine optimization, and video tools. In addition, I directed and produced each video on both sites. This required the skill to work with cameras, patience and vision to organize the student speakers, attention to the scene details and background noise, as well as extensive editing knowledge. To create continuity between each video, I created a custom animated intro scenes in Adobe AfterEffects.

As the only graphic designer within this department at the Alumni Association, I was responsible for creating all of the print and graphic media for this organization. Because this department hosts many fundraising events, my work included many print materials like brochures, posters, banners, social media advertisements, email advertisements, merchandise designs, and t-shirt designs. To complete these visuals, I used a variety of programs like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe InDesign. As well, I was to adhere to the James Madison University brand guides for colors, typefaces, and approved logos. This position gave me experience working in a larger office and corresponding with various faculty on multiple projects at a time. I learned how to organize myself and my designs at a higher capacity and increase my teamwork skills in an office setting.