My early years were marked by an intellectual curiosity that led me from one academic interest to another. It wasn't until my enrollment at Chapman U. after exploratory terms at Fullerton College and California State University Long Beach that I stumbled upon the world of Advertising — it was a perfect fit, one that satisfied my left and right brain needs and solidified my career trajectory.
With a newfound enthusiasm, I transitioned into a working professional in the picturesque Laguna Beach, CA. That first job with Girard (before they were bought up by Lippert.com) was a rollercoaster ride, working as a one-man in-house agency, learning on the fly, and broadening my skill set in marketing and technology. This foundational experience armed me with the competence to venture into self-employment, which took me to the historic and vibrant city of Boston for the next few years.
A pivotal detour through Seattle before heading back to California in 2007 became a crucial point in my professional journey. It was there, through some serendipitous connections, that I discovered SEO. Intrigued and foreseeing its paramount significance, I immersed myself in mastering this skill.
Back in the warm, sunny embrace of Southern California sometime later, I settled in the quaint town of Yucaipa near the sprawling San Bernardino National Forest, where I bagged my first marketing managerial role at IEHP.
Then, in 2008, the proverbial carpet was pulled from underneath me, and like so many, I was left to my own devices for a while. This period marked the beginning of a varied and colorful marketing career, with stints consulting for Sony in NYC, creating websites for Real Estate agents in the inland Empire, the Beauty industry in Beverly Hills, and Biotech in LA's South Bay (to name but a few).
Then 2020 happened. A series of, let's just call them events, brought me back to working for myself. But unlike those early freelance days in Boston, this time around, I had a better grasp of what it took, and I haven't looked back.