A Brief History of How I’ve Paid Taxes Over 15+ Years

IDEO (2018–2023)

  • As a designer and project lead, I primarily worked on design challenges with a complex story at the center. I used my skills as an experience designer and writer to craft narratives, directed videos, produced audio stories, and build immersive digital and physical environments.

  • I built a reputation as one of IDEO’s premiere storytellers by elevating narrative within brands (Orbia, Cities United) and taking a relentlessly creative approach to make strategies more tangible and memorable — like an audio walking tour that embedded insights into physical space or a choose-your-own-adventure experience to build empathy for onboarding.

  • My last full project work won a Social Impact Award from San Francisco Design Week. Our clients was the Transgender Law Center, and as team lead and writer/director I challenged our team to let the voices of trans leaders not only inspire us, but actually dictate the direction of our work.

  • The most time I ever spent on one project was 2022’s “This Work Can’t Wait” campaign, an identity refresh and marketing

TV Development (2016–2018)

  • Baratunde Thurston and I spent 2017 developing an amazing news/comedy show and shooting two pilots. It was hilarious, insightful, and focused on solutions more than problems. We found a sweet spot where satire could reveal truths, and people could be left feeling empowered to fix something instead of just stressing about it. For all these reasons, of course the show couldn’t survive.

  • As co-creator and executive producer, my primary role was installing the writing and pre-production process. We built a refreshingly original way of creating television with a strong team that respected one another. I’m most proud of the WAY we made our pilots.

  • In 2016 I helped launch TV projects hosted by my friends and creative partners, first serving as a writer and producer for a three part PBS series of one-hour TED specials recorded at the Town Hall Theater in New York, hosted by Baratunde. Later that year, I wrote and produced for You Can Do Better, a comedic self-help show created by my friend Matthew Latkiewicz.

Google (2016-2017)

  • I was recruited to join the core team that initially developed the personality for Google’s AI (The Google Assistant). This meant everything from curating jokes to writing Easter Eggs to crafting answers to questions like “How are you?” “What’s your favorite color?” and “Do you poop?”

Cultivated Wit (2012–2016)

Adult Swim (2012)

  • Co-created a digital property called Thing X. I was the managing editor for its launch before I moved to California.

  • My two creative contributions were an instructional drawing series where no matter how hard the teacher tried, she could only draw ducks, and a Succession-style dramatic miniseries about a Dog CEO.

The Onion (2008–2012)

  • Managed the writer’s room for nearly five years. This meant structuring workflow and overseeing process on everything from breaking news to an entire satirical encyclopedia.

  • I also learned how to write jokes, pushed The Onion to places it had never taken its satire before, and drank entirely too much whiskey. I’m not sure I’ll ever be around this much concentrated talent and laughter ever again.

Other Recent Stray Projects

  • In 2018, I gave a TEDx Talk about brainstorming. It’s an attempt to synthesize the near-infinite amount of lessons I learned about generating ideas while working for The Onion.

  • In June 2019, Matthew Latkiewicz and I premiered our play Life Plan for five shows at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. It’s an immersive satirical sci-fi presented in the form of a sales presentation from the year 2068. The audience is pitched an opportunity to “live your dream life in your real life,” but of course… there’s a catch.