Technology and entertainment have been lifelong passions. My first paying jobs were in the theatre, where I learned to love the arts— in particular, the technical and geeky aspects of design, carpentry, lighting and sound reinforcement. In the early ‘90s, I obtained a design internship at Silicon Graphics. It was there that I was exposed to the role computers could play in entertainment. I was blown away by my first experience with high-performance computing: *NIX operating systems, digital audio recording and video production.

Soon after, I landed my first full-time job working for the then well-known local landmark, Drapers Music Center. My experience helped professional musicians and audio engineers make instrument and pro-audio decisions.

In 1997, I moved to Portland to pursue my education at Portland State University. I studied a wide variety of topics but found myself most interested in the sciences. While working toward my degrees in Political Science and Computer Science I volunteered for Portland's DoveLewis, the nonprofit emergency animal hospital. Little did I know that my career would evolve significantly over the next 18 years.

After a year of volunteer work, I was hired as a veterinary assistant. I later became a veterinary technician and worked in the ICU. I used my technical background to author software and develop hardware solutions to help the hospital.

In 2011, the CEO and strategic planning committee asked me to brainstorm ways the hospital could use technology to expand and create new revenue streams. atdove.org, a video-based veterinary educational website featuring real hospital staff, was one of my recommendations. Today, atdove.org is utilized by over 40,000 veterinary professionals all over the world.