As a child, you had a very unconventional upbringing, teaching yourself to read by memorizing The Bible. What was your impetus for learning to read? My dad joined a doomsday group when I was young. He viewed traditional education as a poor investment. Why teach math and science when the apocalypse was imminent? Instead, we were raised on a steady diet of the King James Bible. I was captivated by my dad’s enthusiastic readings, even if I didn’t understand them at first. He was a spirited storyteller and dramatically described apocalyptic imagery in the Book of Revelation: the Four Horsemen, the great red dragon, the seven angels with seven plagues. There’s nothing quite like stories about how the world will end—especially when you believe the rapture will happen by your seventh birthday. I was hooked.

But the real impetus for learning to read was far more practical: I wanted to avoid embarrassment. As early as age six, I was expected to read Bible verses aloud to large groups of people, even committing chapters of scripture at a time to memory before I could watch our weekly movie.

Despite an isolated upbringing and limited formal education, my immersion in the King James Bible became an unexpected gift. Its complex language, rich metaphors and vivid storytelling developed my reading comprehension and became the foundation of my education—and eventually my career. When I later put myself through university, I arrived knowing little about the world at large but with deep experience making sense of difficult text. If you can read, you can learn anything.

How did you discover your passion for strategy and copywriting? In a high-control religious group, I was not allowed to question the belief system. It wasn’t until college that I had the freedom to think critically, and when I did, the whole world opened up. The questions I had suppressed throughout my childhood finally found space. I discovered that intellectual conflict wasn’t a battlefield to survive but a playground for learning. I gravitated toward philosophy and literature, where people far smarter than I was challenged me to examine ideas from multiple perspectives. I learned to see respectful disagreement as a path to discovery, growth and deeper understanding.

After earning my master’s degree, I realized those skills had value beyond the classroom. I spent the first half of my career in communications, helping executives develop stronger presentations, speeches, and messaging for employees and clients. I also coached speakers for our local TEDx, helping them distill complex ideas into engaging talks.

Five years ago, I transitioned from in-house marketing communications to agency work at MiresBall, where I brought this same skill set to branding and marketing strategy. Whether I’m writing copy, facilitating a workshop or helping shape a brand, the work is fundamentally the same: using language and storytelling to bring clarity to complex ideas and inspire people to act. My learning journey shapes how I approach creative strategy today. The best ideas emerge through lively conversations where they are tested, refined and strengthened. When people set aside egos in service of a better idea, magical things happen.

Now, as marketing and strategy director at the San Diego–based design agency MiresBall, what does your typical day-to-day look like? What do you enjoy most about your position? What I enjoy most about working at a creative firm is the constant learning. Every client brings a new challenge, a new industry and a new opportunity to understand something I didn’t know before. I’ve collaborated with audio manufacturers, community foundations, museum directors and civic leaders, just to name just a few. My days are spent listening to clients, asking questions, and turning discovery conversations into brand and marketing strategies. From there, I work with our team to refine ideas, challenge assumptions, and watch concepts evolve into creative solutions that are both meaningful and impactful.

As a curious person and lifelong learner, I find that process incredibly rewarding. I get to spend my days helping organizations better understand who they are, what they stand for and how to communicate that with the people they serve.

What have been some of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on at MiresBall? The most rewarding projects are the ones where we bring an organization’s purpose to life through creativity grounded in strategy.

Lofta, a sleep monitor manufacturer, wanted to simplify the confusing journey of diagnosing and treating sleep apnea. We helped create a human-centered brand that made healthcare feel more approachable, replacing clinical complexity with empathy and clear storytelling.

The nonprofit organization San Diego Foundation was evolving from a steward of donor-advised funds into a more visible civic leader. The brand needed to reflect that transformation while honoring the trust it had built over 50 years. The result was an identity that matched the organization’s growing role in improving quality of life across the San Diego region.

Atria Wealth Solutions faced the challenge of standing out in a crowded financial services market. Rather than relying on industry clichés, we built the brand around the company’s culture of accountability, follow-through and straightforward communication—qualities that were already true internally but hadn’t yet been expressed externally.

Projects like these reinforce my belief that strategy gives creativity a purpose. It establishes the principles that guide every decision, aligning clients and creative teams around a shared vision.

Your creative philosophy is informed by ikigai, the Japanese principle of finding what you're passionate about and how it fits into the world. What is your personal experience with ikigai, and how do you employ that at MiresBall? Ikigai is a Japanese philosophy that explores the intersection of what you’re good at, what the world needs, what you can get paid for and what you love to do. For me, ikigai has become a framework for making intentional choices about how I invest my time and energy. Whenever I notice my engagement slipping, it’s usually because one of those four elements has fallen out of balance. Once I can identify what’s missing, I can make better decisions about what’s next. If my work doesn't fully satisfy my creative interests, perhaps I can pursue those interests outside of work. If the world no longer values a particular skill, I can learn a new one.

At MiresBall, this framework helps me think about the intersection between what an organization does well, what its audiences need and how we can create meaningful connections between the two. Using ikigai as a guide has brought me closer to that balance as I’ve advanced in my career. My work is more fulfilling, and my skills remain in demand—surprisingly so in the age of AI. As organizations place greater value on distinctly human skills like storytelling, critical thinking, empathy and creativity, I’m hopeful that the work I love and the humanities that shaped me will continue to matter.

How is the rise of technology helping or hurting the brands you work for? Technology has the potential to help us become better listeners, uncover patterns in human behavior and create smarter solutions. Better digital tools allow us to design more intuitive user experiences and free up time for the more meaningful, creative and strategic work.

The warning with technology is when we over-index on the tools and lose sight of the people they’re meant to serve. Lofta used technology to solve a deeply personal problem, and we built a brand that reflected the experience behind it and led with its experience. The future of branding is finding that balance: technology that keeps the human experience front and center.

If you could choose any product to create an ad for, what would it be and why? I’m drawn to organizations that build community and bring people together. TED is a great example of a platform that gives people a place to share ideas, stories and perspectives. I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to create ads for TEDx, but I’d always be open to a conversation with TED.

One organization I admire right now is Grandma Stand, which began as a grassroots initiative in Central Park. Volunteer grandmothers sit at a table to offer advice and listen to passersby. It’s a simple idea but a powerful one, and its expansion across the world demonstrates the need for more intergenerational connection. I believe our seniors deserve the microphone, not isolation in their homes. We have so much to learn from their wisdom and the stories they carry; they are some of our most underrated sources of perspective and connection. And while technology can help us solve many problems, there’s still no substitute for a meaningful conversation, especially with a grandparent.

Do you have any advice for creatives starting out in the field today? I encourage creatives to develop strategic thinking. Creativity and strategy are often treated as separate disciplines, but in business, the best creative work requires a strategic foundation. Strategy helps you define the problem, understand the audience and measure the impact—things that matter to leaders.

Creative professionals are more than makers; they are problem solvers. The more you come to understand the business, the audience and the purpose behind the work, the more valuable your creativity becomes. ca