The long way around made me a better creative leader

I never intended to work in marketing. With a BA in Anthropology and Religion from Carleton University and an Advanced Diploma in Museum Studies from Algonquin College, I thought I'd spend my life in archives and collections.

At Parks Canada, I reproduced museum artifacts—learning to work with my hands, to obsess over details, and to understand that every object tells a story about the people who made it and used it. I learned patience. I learned that craft matters.

Frameworth Sports Marketing hired me as a production artist. Within two years, I was the Department Manager and Lead Designer, creating branded collections for the NHL, MLSE, The Tragically Hip, Billy Talent, and Roots.

This is where I learned that design isn't just aesthetics—it's strategy. I pitched to clients, managed licensing, mentored junior designers, and discovered that I loved the operational side as much as the creative side. I loved building systems that helped teams do better work.

We raised over $5 million for Canadian charities through these partnerships. The work mattered. It connected fans to teams, told stories about Canadian culture, and created tangible objects people wanted to keep.

Starshot Marketing brought me on as Art Director and Creative Operations Lead. My team grew from 5 to over 50 people across design, strategy, and production. We were working with major tech brands, producing hundreds of assets, moving fast.

I built the systems that made this growth possible—project management workflows, cross-functional collaboration structures, AI-driven creative processes. I championed tools that amplified creativity rather than replaced it. I mentored designers into director-level roles.

We drove $2M+ in revenue in 2-3 months through strategic campaign execution. We delivered multi-partner campaigns in as little as 3 days. On paper, it was a success.

But here's what I learned: you can be excellent at something and still know it's not where you belong. B2B tech work is efficient, profitable, and ultimately disconnected from real people. The brands didn't need storytelling—they needed content machines. And I was very good at building content machines.

I'm proud of what we built. But I'm ready to use these skills for work that connects with actual humans—consumer brands, agencies, entertainment, startups building things people care about.

My latest passion project is c-suite creative on the side—a reminder of why I fell in love with making things in the first place.

I host collage circles: spaces for adults to rest, reset, and reconnect with their creativity. No metrics. No deliverables. Just hands, paper, glue, and permission to make something for the joy of making it.

This work keeps me honest. It reminds me that creativity isn't always about solving business problems. Sometimes it's about helping people remember they're more than their productivity.