When I was a kid, my dad had a collection of National Geographic magazines in our garage, with issues dating back to the 1920s. I didn't care much for the articles, but I loved the ads. Those magazines were my first textbooks. And once I realized that people actually got paid to think up and create ads, I knew that was what I wanted to do.

After college, I got an internship in the art department at Goldberg Moser O’Neill (formerly Chiat/Day and afterward Hill-Holiday). The pay was lousy, but I got to rub elbows with some great creative people. Next I landed in the mailroom at McCann Erickson San Francisco, but after showing my portfolio around I started getting assignments. Soon I was working on Wells Fargo Bank, Safeway, the National Dairy Board and PG&E.

That experience led to a junior art director (and later art director) position at Jamison/McKay. Ultimately, advertising has to sell stuff, and I really learned that lesson working on retail accounts like Wallpapers to Go, Valu-Rite Pharmacy and various shopping malls. At Darien & Kilburg, I was senior art director on several entertainment and sports clients including Namco, LucasArts, the San Jose Sharks and San Franisco Giants. I did everything from designing admission tickets to TV spots to talking strategy with clients.

Gauger + Associates hired me as a senior art director, gave me a chance to work in every imaginable medium, and promoted me to associate creative director. I got the opportunity to pitch new business and mentor creative teams, two things I really enjoy doing. In my spare time, I published an architecture book called “Little Boxes” about Daly City’s infamous 1950s tract homes. In the last couple years I’ve been freelancing consistently at several Bay Area ad agencies and design firms.

For me, one of the most exciting developments in the business is the way television and the internet are essentially merging into one medium. Being able to speak to (and with) a consumer who is already interested in your product is a marketer’s dream, and video is often an engaging way to do that. I’ve become a specialist in concepting (sometimes shooting) and editing web films to be used on client sites and in social media outreach.

The variety of clients and projects I’ve worked on helps me bring strategic understanding to what I do, but in the end it always comes down to communicating a unique benefit in a memorable, emotionally compelling way. I think you’ll see that in my work.