Career

My career experience spans agency leadership, enterprise platforms, product design, and entrepreneurship, including building and operating a multi-state consumer brand. I’ve led brand and experience work across digital and physical touchpoints in close partnership with executives and cross-functional teams.

I bring a judgment-driven approach to brand leadership—connecting creative decisions to scalability, execution, and long-term value.

Level 9

Creative Director / Lead Designer - 2001 - 2021

L9.com

Over a 20-year career at Level 9, I grew from junior web designer to creative director, leading creative direction across client platforms, internal systems, and brand initiatives. I helped define the processes, standards, and design systems that supported long-term client relationships, primarily within regulated financial institutions and international tourism organizations.

My work covered the full lifecycle of digital platforms—from strategy and information architecture to UX, interface design, and hands-on front-end development using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I designed and maintained a custom responsive framework used across all client and company websites, ensuring consistency, performance, and long-term ownership. Website accessibility optimization was a core focus throughout this work, balancing inclusive design with usability, compliance, and technical constraints.

I also served as lead designer for a proprietary enterprise CMS, shaping tools used to manage dozens of complex websites. Partnering closely with developers, marketers, and client IT teams, I ensured everything we built was scalable, maintainable, and intuitive—grounding creative direction in real operational needs.

Level 9 Case Studies

  • Architecting a Multi-Client CMS for Regulated Financial Institutions

    SEE CASE STUDY

  • Multi-generational Design Across a Large-Scale Financial Platform

    See Case Study

  • Designing Our Own Platform to the Same Standard as Our Clients

    See Case Study

  • Elevating a Digital Presence Through Expressive Brand Integration

    See Case Study

Ten Bends Beer

Founder / Brand Lead - 2015 to Present

TenBendsBeer.com

In 2015, I co-founded Ten Bends Beer in northern Vermont and helped grow it from a small-batch operation into a recognized regional craft beverage brand distributed across multiple Northeast markets. From the start, the company was built around two non-negotiables: exceptional product quality and a cohesive, disciplined brand identity.

My role combined creative leadership with operational responsibility. Early on, I was directly involved in recipe development, small-batch brewing, and foundational brand definition. As the business expanded into packaged products, I led the evolution of the brand’s visual system and creative direction, mentoring a local designer and developing a scalable label ecosystem that continues to support multiple flagship beers across Vermont and neighboring states.

Beyond brand and packaging, I held broad leadership responsibility across the business, including website design and development, taproom experience strategy, production planning, contract negotiation, team leadership, merchandising and apparel design, retail sourcing, event programming, and fundraising. Operating inside the realities of manufacturing, distribution, and a volatile market sharpened my understanding of how brand decisions affect cost, operations, and long-term viability.

As the company matured—and as the craft beer industry entered a period of contraction—I made a deliberate decision to step away from day-to-day operations and return my focus to creative and brand leadership. This chapter reinforced my belief that strong brands are built through judgment, collaboration, and accountability when the stakes are real.

Ten Bends Beer Case Studies