Saturday morning cartoons and Legos shaped my childhood.

 

When I say, “Legos,” I don’t mean the organized, coordinated kind that came with detailed, color-coded instructions. No no! These legos lived in a pile, in a box, in a closet, under the stairs, tucked away for rainy days. But I loved them. My hands were the tools that brought to life all that I could imagine. And cartoons provided me a fanstasic escape from the idle world around me. An infinite space to dream big and envision the adventures that were to come.

 

Time skip to today, I've found the essence of those childhood pleasures in my professional career. They have taken the form of brand strategy and design — strategy as the cartoons, and design as the Legos. 

With strategy, I imagine new ways products and services live in the world. As I research, I seek context. I ask, "What’s going to be energizing or impactful to the consumer? What will evoke a visceral reaction?" I find that little something that helps me connect. That something that is non-reducible and intrinsic. With design, I create. I do. I produce. I breathe life into ideas and make them real.

 

I'm grateful that childhood creativity has come along on this journey with me. I'm proud to see how it has evolved and carried me, and there's so much more to come. Every day I look forward to new opportunities to explore and create.

 

And, yes, I still love cartoons and Legos!