From Brooklyn to Brooksville

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, I’ve always been a creative person. Long before I knew what a career in creative design looked like, I was making things.

At seven years old, I filmed a stop-motion Star Wars movie with my dad using my original Kenner Star Wars action figures. In elementary school, I was creating my own comic books, complete with superheroes, stories, and adventures. Looking back, those early projects were probably the beginning of my love for storytelling, design, and bringing ideas to life.

I was also part of the first graduating class of the High School of Telecommunication Arts & Technology in Bay Ridge. That’s where I got my first taste of computer graphics on those old Apple IIGS computers. While most of the students were making the cursor bop across the screen, my best friend Dave and I had the Starship Enterprise blowing up a planet.

I’ll never forget the teacher looking at what we had done and asking, “Um… how did you do that?”

Keep in mind, this was 1989. The graphics were nothing like what you can create today, they were blocky, pixelated, and pretty primitive by modern standards. But back then, it felt like cutting-edge technology. And, honestly, it was a lot more fun than making a cursor move around the screen. LOL.

In 1989, my family moved to Spring Hill, Florida. I spent a semester at the University of South Florida before realizing that a traditional college path wasn't quite the right fit for me. I decided to pursue what I really enjoyed and attended Tampa Technical Institute, earning an A.S. degree in Commercial Art.

I started my career designing ads for several different Yellow Pages companies. Yes, Yellow Pages. Remember those giant books that used to show up on your doorstep? Do they even exist anymore? I eventually found a home at the Tampa Bay Times, Florida’s largest newspaper. And yes… I know, do newspapers even exist anymore?

That’s where I spent the next 25 years, developing new skills, learning new technologies, and watching the creative industry transform around me. What started as designing print advertisements grew into experience with digital advertising, web design, email and social media campaigns, video, audio, marketing, workflow development, project management, team leadership, and emerging technologies like AI.

When COVID hit, I transitioned to working from home. Then, in 2024, Hurricane Milton dropped a crane onto our St. Pete office, making the remote arrangement permanent. From then on, I continued doing my job remotely from Brooksville, Florida, proving that you don’t necessarily need an office to make things happen.

After 25 years, my time with the Tampa Bay Times has now come to an end. It wasn’t necessarily the ending I would have written for myself, but after a quarter-century of learning, creating, solving problems, and adapting to an ever-changing industry, I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.

The tools have changed. The technology has changed. The industry has changed. But I’m still that kid who likes figuring out how to make something cool happen.