BIO
Born and raised in the Midwest, I never let geographic isolation keep me from being curious about the world!
A lover of art from an early age, I received my Bachelor's from the University of Iowa in 1999 with a Graphic Design major and Photography minor. A big fan of music and journalism, I also spent time on the Management Team of the student-run radio station and writing album and concert reviews for the student newspaper.
I'm married to my high school sweetheart, have three beautiful children, and a 16 year-old beagle that I all love to dote on. I've been a comic book nerd since I was 8 years-old, have over 25,000 songs in my digital music library, and either write or draw every day.
I love telling stories. Let me help you tell yours.
WORK EXPERIENCE
I've been fortunate to have great diversity in my employment, working everywhere from non-profits and local government to digital marketing agencies and Fortune 100 companies.
With every new role, I picked up new skill sets that make me a highly versatile resource for any marketing or communications challenge. I've seen campaigns of every shape, sizes, and budget.
Most importantly, I know what solutions are the right fit and what's overkill. But I also know how to "plus one" a solution to take it one step further and exceed expectations.
2000 - 2001
With an educational foundation in graphic design and photography, I interned for one year at Meredith Corporation in their Integrated Marketing department. I worked with clients such as Home Depot, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Kraft Foods on design collateral.
2001- 2002
Working with the Iowa Bankers Association, I added web design to my skill set, maintaining the hard-coded websites of over 40 member banks with content and design updates.
2002 - 2008
Originally hired as a graphic designer by Allied Insurance (now Nationwide Insurance) in their Corporate Communications department, I was tasked with performing a content audit of their corporate website and redesigning it. My audit eliminated several redundancies, sped up load time, and streamlined the content to make information more accessible. I redesigned their corporate website two more time during my tenure as well as contributed to defining their digital content brand standards. In addition to this, I also conducted several studio and location photo shoots for internal and external publications, brochures, and magazines.
2008 - 2009
At Principal Financial Group, I directed the application of brand standards for websites and applications across six lines of business. This required a high degree of accuracy because incorrect information published through any of these channels could negatively affect stock price. I also administered usability tests, recorded user feedback, and compiled reports for internal clients to make process improvements to marketing campaigns and consumer retention applications.
2010 - 2015
While working for the City of Ankeny, I ostensibly became the City's "voice" across their social media channels, publishing multiple content updates daily and helping to grow their Facebook and Twitter audiences by 900% during my tenure. I was recognized nationally twice for social media campaigns I administered in the areas of citizen feedback and engagement. I also led the successful redesign of the City's website, introducing new technology that assisted residents in submitting service requests and finding information faster. Internally, I was a training lead who educated multiple departments on feeding information into the website's content management system and served as the last checkpoint before publication to ensure that information met the City's brand standards. I also shot, edited, and produced over 50 promotional videos for the City's YouTube channel, resulting in over 70,000 views.
2015 - 2018
As Creative Director at Choice Creative Solutions, I oversaw two graphic designers working on a multitude of marketing and advertising campaigns for clients as diverse as Community Choice Credit Union, the Iowa Speedway, Fareway Meat & Grocery, and Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino. I served as a senior-level client contact who authored several creative briefs that outlined objectives and detailed multiple solution strategies for campaigns that included out-of-home signage, event marketing, direct mail and email campaigns, radio and television advertising, digital marketing, social media, and clickfunnels. I managed workflow through project management software to ensure that resources were allocated properly and campaigns were delivered on time. I also managed all aspects of digital marketing including campaign targeting, placement, and performance measurement. Lastly, I produced hundreds of hours of radio advertisements, including writing, performing, recording and editing.
RELEVANT SKILLS
• Exemplary academic credentials including a Master’s Degree in Communication Leadership and a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design.
• Develops in-depth understanding of complex topics and creates compelling messages for multiple internal and external customers, utilizing diverse marketing and brand experience to apply concepts with high attention to detail and an emphasis on accuracy and quality.
• Extensive proficiency on the complete range of Adobe Creative Suite products, with command-level experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
• Additional web and multimedia software knowledge, including Google Ad Words, Facebook Ad Manager, Snapchat Ad Manager, Dreamweaver, Premiere Audition, Bridge, Acrobat, Hootsuite, Buffer, Flash, Google Ad Builder, Visio, Canva, Wordpress, Wix, Squarespace, HTML, and CSS.
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
• Friends of the Ankeny Library - Board Member - 2018 to present
• Art for Ankeny - Board Member / Founder - 2013 to present
• Ankeny Jaycees - Marketing VP - 2011 to 2018
RESUME
For a print copy of my resume, please click on the "Resume" link in the navigation at the top of the page or on this link.