MY STORY

From Milwaukee to Art Center — and back again

I grew up in Milwaukee. Left at 18 for a full-tuition scholarship to the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Colorado — and two years in, one semester from my Associate’s degree, I discovered Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. I transferred anyway. Some decisions don’t make sense on paper but are completely obvious in the moment.

At Art Center I trained under some of the most rigorous design educators in the country. What followed was nearly two decades of professional work with brands that most designers only dream of: Disney, Mattel, Nokia, Sony, Warner Bros., High-stakes, high-volume creative work that teaches you to get up to speed fast, understand a client’s world deeply, and perform at scale.

Building Milwaukee’s Creative Community

I came home in 2005. I had family. What I didn’t have was a single connection in Milwaukee’s design or marketing community. So I did what I’ve always done: I got curious, asked questions, and figured out what the city actually needed.

What Milwaukee’s design community needed was each other. I founded AIGA Wisconsin, the professional association for design and served as its first president. Within three years, we had grown from zero to more than 500 members — creating the connective tissue the community had been missing.

Fifteen Years in the Classroom

The AIGA work brought me to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where I joined the design faculty. I had never taught before. I said yes anyway.

What followed was 15 years of curriculum-building, program transformation, and mentorship at a scale I hadn’t anticipated. Internship programs. Professional practice courses wired directly into the industry. By the time I stepped back from full-time teaching in 2024, I had mentored more than 1,500 emerging designers. 

“Once you’re a teacher, you’re a mentor forever. I have students who graduated ten years ago still reaching out, wanting to talk about where they’re going. That is who I am.” 

Back at the Studio

I returned to Dig Design full-time in 2024 with a deliberate focus: clients where I can have a fast, visible impact. Founders. Nonprofits. Organizations bootstrapping their way to the next level. The stakes are different from Fortune 500 work. The rigor is identical.

I helped Steelhead Collective — a nonprofit operating across the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia — build the brand foundation they need to pursue serious institutional funding. I developed the brand identity and packaging strategy for Aunt Manda’s Ginger Beverage, working with founder Patricia Bent to build a brand capable of making the leap from local sales to retail grocery distribution.

Dig Design is a Milwaukee studio with national reach. The next chapter is the expansion.

“I feel like I have superpowers now that I never had before. Now I am fearless in my approach.” 

CREDENTIALS

•    AIGA Fellow highest honor a chapter can award

•    Founding President Emerita, AIGA Wisconsin (0 → 500+ members)

•    Faculty 15 years 1,500+ designers mentored

•    Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles

•    WOSB Certified · WBENC Certified · SAM.gov Active

•    International experience — Hubei University of Technology, China