By nature and by training, I am a designer, photographer, and art director with two decades of experience.
As the founder of a creative services studio and the founder and executive director of a mental health nonprofit, I've demonstrated my commitment to a client- and cause-focused mindset, cultivating teams and effecting positive change within communities.
My professional journey spans both freelance and agency roles, where I've honed my skills in logo design, brand development, and creating style guides for consistent brand representation; as well as strategic planning and executing integrated marketing campaigns across various mediums, including print, digital, and display design.
Recognition in print design, photography, event management, and film has offered me roles as an adjunct professor in Design and Photography, conducting portfolio reviews, and offering career mentoring.
I have a genuine eagerness to contribute to impactful, creative endeavors alongside other cool humans.
Here are the highlights from more than 20 years of experience in the creative services industry; for my expanded CV, click here. Or explore my portfolio with a curated selection of work.
And what will you not learn about me just by reading my resumé? Scroll down for more of my personal story.
There is more to my story than what is on my resumé.
I am a first-generation American of Irish and Danish-born immigrant parents. I was raised along the shoreline of Connecticut in a culture of hygge—a strong appreciation for simplicity, wood-burning stoves, and tea time. Childhood freedom often found me exploring the woods near my home, creating original "paintings" from mud and swinging off a mystical bent dogwood that I knew as the "elbow tree." My innate love of nature and animals was deeply encouraged, and my mother’s passion for horses ignited my journey in equestrian sports early on.
Multiple generations of my family have made a living by designing, creating, or cultivating beautifully crafted things; a heritage that most likely led me to study fine art direction in college and beyond. My parents and grandparents set a strong example of an entrepreneurial mindset, finding their place in this country through the development of their own small creative businesses, and perhaps more importantly, they continuously model giving back and serving others within their communities.
Upon graduation, my professional life took me in the direction of working as a designer, photographer, and creative director in industries such as adventure travel, conservation, human resources, finance, and signature event planning. During this time, I traveled with colleagues across the country—from NYC to Sitka, San Fran to Sayulita, Mexico, and many other places in between—producing large-scale events, implementing brands, working with the press, and much more. These roles held me responsible for creating integrated marketing campaigns, getting my hands dirty on the computer and behind the camera, collaborating with and presenting ideas to clients and other team members, and “wearing many hats” for any role in which I might be needed. In conjunction, I operated as a freelance designer and photographer, later establishing my studio, { The Summer House } which routinely offers reduced fee or pro-bono creative services to nonprofit organizations.
As my personal and professional lives evolved, I felt a strong desire to make a bigger impact in my community. Through collaboration with colleagues I had met along the way, I had an opportunity to launch a nonprofit focused on equine-assisted therapies, specifically making mental health services accessible to an underserved area of North Carolina. My combined passions in both design and nature have offered me the experience to cultivate Equuvation into an innovative think tank, as well as to create impactful therapeutic programs, connecting people to horses and nature for the sake of healing, wellness, and education.
Career Highlights (pdf)
Complete Resumé (pdf)