I was born in California to two amazing parents who taught me the values of love, family and community. My dad was born in Hawaii so he taught me, my brother and sister the principles of aloha — this is the value set I use to guide my life.

Christmas morning 1986, I opened a gift that had inside it a Nintendo Entertainment System — I remember it like it was yesterday. It’s a bit funny, I didn’t really like the ‘video game’ part of it as much as I like the worlds and the character stories. Looking back as an adult, I realize how much it taught me about character development, world building and storytelling. I had a paper-route and saved every dollar I made to buy comic books. Similar to video games, I wasn’t so into the ‘comic books’ themselves, but rather the art direction and styling — they taught me the value of craft and visual language. I would also watch the 49ers every Sunday. It was somewhat of a family ritual. I realize that watching sports taught me important life skills. Much like Nintendo and comic books, there were lessons I was learning. So watching the 49ers — taught me the value of teamwork and the competitive spirit.

In 1993, I bought my first skateboard — and it literally changed my life. It gave me complete freedom to express myself. I am so thankful for what skateboarding brought to my life. Along with the freedom of expression, it also gave me friendships and purpose. The culture of skateboarding brings so much with it - including fashion and music. Skateboarding introduced me to Stüssy — it was at that point I understood the power of brand. Stüssy is still one of my favorite brands to this day. In 1997, I heard Wu-Tang Forever and I had never heard anything like it before, or after, almost 30 years later. The time spent listening to Wu-Tang grew my creative curiosity exponentially and brought with it an entirely new perspective to how I saw the world. It was an evolutionary step in my creative journey.

It was a Thursday afternoon in summer, without an appointment or giving them any notice, I walked into a creative studio called Mekanism in San Francisco. Not knowing the President of the agency was sitting in the lobby, I asked if I could show my work to someone to get advise. He said I could show him. So I did. After sharing three pieces of my work and little bit about myself and my goals, he offered me an unpaid internship and I took it. It was one the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I will always be thankful to him for taking a chance on me. After that, I became obsessed with creativity. I loved every single part of the entire agency experience — including the highs and the lows. It taught me so much about myself. It forced me to push beyond my comfort zone. It challenged me to compete and fight for everything. I still love everything the creative services business as much today as I did from my first day as an intern. Fast forward 16 years and I have had the chance to work on some of the world’s most admired brands at the most admired agencies and studios, along side the most talented people in the world. It’s been a crazy ride.

I have always had big ambitions — some bigger then others; Regardless of size, they’ve all shared one thing in common — using my passion for design and creativity to help businesses achieve growth through the power of brand. I have always loved the creative process and now I’ve taken the leap into entrepreneurship to help 7-figure businesses become 8-figure brands.