About Me
[If you scroll to the bottom of this word salad of a bio, there are some of my illustrations and comic strips. If that entices you to scroll down, you might as well read the words while you do!]
Whether as an Art Director, an Executive Producer, or as Head of Studio, my passion has always been people first, because I believe a strong culture and focus on team members is critical in building and shipping products on time and at quality. Working on so many aspects of game development throughout my career has taught me that every role associated with a product cycle requires passion and skill, thus shaping my approach to treat all team members with respect and gratitude.
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I am a life-long gamer who has been fortunate to spin my passion into a career-long dream. My focus is not on namesake or notoriety, but on leaving the industry better than I found it by helping to shape approaches to the development, diversity, accountability, and culture so that the next generation of creators can delight the next generation of players.
From the early days of my family's first Atari 2600, through fortunate circumstances that led to my father's shop being used as an arcade cabinet storage unit where I got exposed to Q-Bert, Donkey Kong, Satan's Hollow and Mr. Do, on through my first Tandy, NES, Genesis, 3DO, Dreamcast, and beyond, my go-to form of escapism has always been games.
In my early adult life, a want ad brought me to Sierra On-Line, answering phones for angry customers who had just purchased something called a Pentium who were having a hard time installing the latest King's Quest, Space Quest, or Tribes. The job was day after day of being battered, berated, and bloodied, but at night we played GAMES! Actually, we played game. It was a brand-new title called Counter-Strike and the raucous nightly studio play sessions gave me my first understanding of what Community can mean to games.
From there, and for nearly the next 20 years, my focus was on Xbox. I spent 4 years as an SDET at Microsoft before deciding it was time for a major career shift to creative. A few gracious members of the Xbox Art team helped guide me and after a brutal 3 years of 14-hour days split between my day job and night school, and I graduated, with honors, with a degree in Computer Animation. I shifted to Animator and worked on titles like Alan Wake, Toy Soldiers, and even a Gears of War Kinect prototype. This led to roles as Associate Art Director, Art Director, and then finally one more large-scale career shift to Sr. Producer.
Each shift taught me resilience, adaptability, and the importance of nurturing talent within teams. I mentored several people directly at Microsoft as well as at sister studios like Undead Labs, and I spent hours outside of work giving career lectures to troubled children at youth detention centers as well as special workshops at schools focused on children with autism.
In 2022, I took the leap into startup life with the Seattle-based FPS studio, SHRAPNEL, as an Executive Producer, before becoming Head of Studio at the direct request of the employees. Together, we overcame significant challenges to deliver an Early Access build that has been played over 3.7 million times in under 30 days. Leading a passionate team of 100 at peak, I’ve learned how to balance creativity, innovation, and business needs while building a culture of trust and collaboration.
I can ship complex products predictably and at a high quality, regardless of the chaos that surrounds. Now, in what might be the final phase of my career, I want to continue leading teams that are creating escapism for players while I continue mentoring the next generation of creators. My motto is, “Happy people make good things, and good things make money.” By building teams that are excited, proud, and empowered, we can deliver quality experiences that resonate with players and drive success for many generations to come.
