I do great work, for great clients, with great people. I am passionate about creating impactful and memorable work that resonates with audiences and drives results. I thrive in collaborative environments where great ideas can come from anyone, and I am always looking for ways to push the boundaries and challenge the status quo. I believe in the power of storytelling and the importance of connecting with customers on a human level. I am excited about the opportunity to bring my expertise and passion to a new challenge and continue to create meaningful and impactful work. Creative leadership via projects, consulting or full-time.Thinking tactically, strategically, and creatively while overseeing a myriad of creative design and UX projects are table-stakes. The best results come when customer experiences are elevated along their entire journey including branding, UX/UI design, marketing, CRM, social and all facets of digital commerce. Reach people where they are, bust through the silos and the channel mentality. I have led hybrid teams of talented writers, designers and UX designers (on and off-shore) to deliver innovative work that drives engagement and revenue growth for a variety of clients. My role involves setting and supporting the creative vision and strategy for each client, while ensuring that all creative output aligns with their brand identity and business objectives. I have worked on a kajillion different projects for literally dozens of brands big and small, and in a wide range of categories. Just a few include Adobe, AMC, ChloraPrep, Focus Brands, Hallmark, Herbalife, Hershey’s, Jackson Family Wines, LVMH, MoMA, NAPA, Salvation Army, Sanofi, Smith Optics, Walmart, and more. Customer experiences are elevated along their entire journey including branding, UX/UI design, marketing, CRM, social and all facets of digital commerce.

As a Group Creative Director on the Commerce and Experience team at Merkle, I am responsible for leading hybrid teams of talented writers, designers and UX designers (on and off-shore) to deliver innovative e-commerce experiences and effective marketing campaigns (CRM) that drive engagement and revenue growth for multiple clients. My role involves setting and supporting the creative vision and strategy for each client, while ensuring that all creative output aligns with their brand identity and business objectives. Our portfolio includes Adobe, AMC, Focus Brands, Hallmark, Herbalife, Hershey’s, Jackson Family Wines, LVMH, MoMA, NAPA, Salvation Army, Sanofi, Smith Optics, Walmart, and more. Customer experiences are elevated along their entire journey including branding, UX/UI design, marketing, CRM, social and all facets of digital commerce. Collaboration with cross-functional teams such as account management, strategy, and user experience is a key part of my job. I work closely with these teams to develop creative solutions that meet client needs and exceed expectations. Leveraging my experience as an associate professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, I mentor and develop the skills of my team members, providing them with guidance and feedback to help them grow professionally.With dentsu acquired DEG in 2020, I have been heavily involved in the on-going integration of DEG and 6 other agencies to form the latest iteration of Merkle. This includes normalizing roles and responsibilities, as well as developing collaborative processes. - Team and individual mentorship- Managing the ever-growing creative team’s workflow and resourcing- Assisting in creative ideation- Pursuit of new-business opportunities- Active participation in multiple integrations including rolling-out new systems from billing and time management to company-wide communication tools.

Serving flagship brands including LVMH (Chandon, Hennessy, Veuve Clicquot) Purina, AMC, Hallmark, HUB International, Party City, Terlato Wine Group, Focus Brands, Salvation Army, PepsiCo, Walmart + Sam’s Club, Hershey’s and many others. I manage a team of designers, UX designers and art directors, and writers, while collaborating with strategists, UI development teams, contractors and senior leadership. I believe that the role of a Group Creative Director is to not only provide creative guidance but to also support the team, elevate their work, clear roadblocks, recruit and nurture, all while ensuring the bottom line stays healthy and the strategy is on the mark. While this has looked different during the Covid lockdown, I was able to quickly reset and promote our culture remotely, encourage creativity and became an even better manager for our remote teams.Along with being in the business of creative direction and new business initiatives, I also am on the business of creative management, developing protocol and process, restructuring the teams, seeking efficiencies and collaboration internally, improving our external impact. Doing so increased the design team’s utilization rates over 15% in the first year alone. I have also led the charge mapping roles and responsibilities, as we navigate our second company-wide intergration within the dentsu family.

http://detourart.comDetour Art is designed to inform and celebrate outsider, folk, visionary, self-taught, vernacular art and environment discoveries found along the back roads around the world. Through my personal collection of art and photographs, I began the research and development of the database, which has served as the launchpad for the website, book, and traveling exhibit.

The promotion of a positive creative learning environment for students and fellow professors was a primary goal as the department underwent the challenges of significant and frequent transition. I developed and presented courses at the sophomore, junior and senior levels and elective courses, including Human-centered Design, Online Presence, User Experience and Professional Practice.Community outreach and connecting educational outcomes with professional practice was a passion. Partnerships with the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art and the Folly Theater were incorporated into the curriculum. Students were also encouraged to partner with local community organizations, utilizing design thinking for social good, and creating a positive social impact. These initiatives also resulted in a significant increase of the program’s visibility, a strong internship program, and approximately 85% of the students have found work in their chosen field within 6 months of graduation. Emphasizing our curriculum, I created strategies for recruitment and strengthening our presence in the design education community, including the development of the departmental website, kcai-graphicdesign.com. 2015-2016: Assistant Professor2014-2015: Program Head, Assistant Professor2013-2014: Assistant Professor2010-2013: Visiting Lecturer

The team created award-winning concepts and managing teams specializing in marketing strategies, brand identity and development. I provide creative direction and solutions from conception through completion (as well as design consultation) to clients, advertising agencies, design studios and broadcast producers. Deeply rooted in human-centered design processes, I can move quickly between the tactical, strategic and creative roles. Collaborative and focused on understanding the motivations of the audience, I approach challenges with an emphais in design thinking and translating marketing objectives into creative strategies. I have a passion for branding and identity programs, UX/UI design, book design, marketing and promotional materials, design for WordPress and Squarespace, and design consultation. Combining my love of design, (graphic, UI/UX), travel, photography and databases, I have designed and developed two travel apps for the iOS platform — Best Road Trip Ever! and Road Trip 66.

Combining my love of visual design and brand experience with the latest strategies in information architecture for both mobile and desktop design. While at Propaganda3, I streamlined and standardized the bidding and production processes (website and mobile development) to maximize efficiency.Well-versed in Apple’s iOS mobile platform, I have successfully created and implemented mobile apps, working with producers and developers to navigate the mobile technologies, and strategies. I am adept at: • UI/UX design• Site maps, wire framing and prototyping• Use case scenarios

Part of the launch team of a weekly tabloid-style magazine on race and ethnicity. Distributed through national newspapers, including the Washington Post, I developed the marketing and sales materials, strategy as well as production scheduling and management of the teams.