I began working full time to help support my family at age 15, and got my first job in the printing industry soon after, laying out stationery systems for a local thermographer in Orange County, California. I attended night school at a portfolio center in San Diego and was hired by Weyerhauser Paper Company, Impak Center in Atlanta, GA, to support the produce business in the Pacific Region, starting a one-man office in the San Francisco Bay Area, and eventually working with national accounts such as Dole, Clorox, Chevron, and several notable Northern California wineries. Six years later, the technical crew at Kinko's in San Ramon, CA, put me in touch with Ian McLean of McLean Design, where I worked for more than 5 years on major consumer brands -- McLean Design launched Monster Energy, as one small example -- before heading out on my own midway through 2002. Interestingly, I've met several people who started their own businesses, or left comfortable positions, in May of 2002, I think as an act of personal re-creation in the wake of 9/11. It's been an interesting journey, and an education I wouldn't trade for all the comforts in the world. I am surrounded by family and friends, and live everyday in the love of Jesus Christ
