About

What do you get when you mix a bachelor’s degree in psychology with an associate’s degree in graphic design? That would be me! I spent the better part of my senior year of high school torn between the two fields and chose to pursue psychology with the hope of becoming a therapist. Fast forward seven years. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was desperately missing a part of myself, that I was trying to be someone that I’m not. I enrolled at DMACC and instantly felt like it was the right fit. For the first time in my life, I felt ambitious and excited for my future. The summer of 2022 I interned at Casey’s Store Support Center in their user experience department, and since then I've just kinda stayed! I have the best UX mentors from whom I have learned so much about designing with a specific user in mind. I've also conducted research (concept testing, usability studies, and competitor research), designed an app for stores to order the kitchen supplies with, participated in a UX roadtrip to 7 midwest states over the course of 8 days where we observed the checkout experience and conducted team member persona interviews, worked with Agile and Scrum teams, designed marketing materials, worked with business partners to design internal logos, built app and web prototypes, and just, in general, really polished my skills as a designer. 

I once was asked to describe myself with three words. I don’t remember what I was interviewing for, and I don’t remember what words I chose at the time. But, as I was writing my story and designing my personal branding, that challenge and the words Imagine, Design, and Innovate kept coming back to me. I purposefully chose verbs instead of adjectives because they are not just words that passively describe my career. I want to always be actively imagining, designing, and innovating new experiences every day.

Imagination has long held a special place in my heart. I’ve always been an idealistic daydreamer, a lover of fairytales and magic, and an avid fantasy reader. I never want to lose the freedom to envision the possibilities of what could be. I believe an active imagination is a designer’s most valuable asset. It’s important to be curious, to wonder, and to seek solutions that are outside the box. But even more importantly, imagining allows us to place ourselves in others’ shoes and to empathize with their experiences. Understanding how others experience the world opens one up to new problems and new solutions.

All the imaginings in the world will amount to nothing without the ability to design. My high school art teacher forced us to memorize the elements and principles of design, and I honestly can’t thank him enough for that (you’re the best, Mr. Emmert). Designing is a process, and it’s messy and frustrating and sometimes it involves a lot of espresso, a lot of erasing (or cmd+Z-ing), and a lot of laying on the floor wondering how carpet is manufactured. But, I live for the moments when I become so engrossed in a project that hours pass without my even noticing until I realize that I’m starving, and I have to go the bathroom. In psychology, we call that a “flow state” and design flow states are my favorite thing. I love collaborating with others and challenging myself to learn new skills and be the best designer I can possibly be.

I’ve always been the sort of person who wants to help others and make the world a better place. That’s how I ended up on the therapist track. Innovation is where new ideas and good design intersect. It’s where designers start making the world a better place. I don’t want to just create for the sake of creating. I want to be purpose-driven, and I want to have a positive impact even if it is just as small as making sure someone has a stress-free experience using a website. No problems are too small to be worth solving, and no problems are too big that they can’t be solved with some teamwork and imagination.

I married my best friend, Cameron, in September 2021. I’ve beaten him at Mario Kart exactly 3 times. We’re in a disagreement about how many times he’s beaten me, but it’s probably over 300. We adopted the cutest dog in the whole world, a Samoyed named Koda. He loves going for long walks, playing in water, and ripping the arms off snowmen in the winter (hey, it's a stick... what can I do?). When I’m not designing, I love reading fantasy adventure novels and cosplaying. Three of my cosplays have won craftsmanship awards. Most people would find 83 hours of hand embroidery tedious, but it kept me sane during the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020. I was a barista for 3 and half years and used to be able to make hearts on my lattes. 

I am a former youth behavior counselor that changed my career, so I can design amazing digital experiences. I have some professional experience doing both graphic design and user experience design. 

My design philosophy centers around imagining the possibilities, allowing myself to enjoy the messiness of the design process, and to be innovative in seeking ways to make the world a little more well-designed.