I come from a small town in the northwest corner of Montana.

After studying chemical engineering and fine art in Montana, I graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design from UW in Seattle, just as personal computers were beginning to disrupt everything, and the industry needed designers.

I designed publications for New Mexico State University, then moved to San Francisco where I worked as a visual information designer for Richard Saul Wurman's The Understanding Business. That led to my first UI design job at Aaron Marcus and Associates, across the bay in Berkeley. Five years after that, I moved back to Seattle to accept an offer from Microsoft as the Design Lead for a small product team in the Consumer Division. I later transitioned to Product Designer in the Office Design and Usability Group.

After seven years at Microsoft, I resigned to explore life. I owned and operated a small franchise for seven more years, and then sold it. After selling my business I had time to enjoy life and focus on personal growth. I'm even better now at both life and design.