As a veteran I spent a lot of time working on a team. In the Army you place the mission above all else and you never do anything alone. A big departure from my usual way of doing things. I've always been very independent, someone who likes to figure things out on my own, and one to color outside of the lines. Learning to do both has proved a very useful skill.

I first found my way to UX by way of web development. I was interested in how you could type a few words and on the other side, a website was built. I started looking into how to actually design a website and stumbled onto Human-Centered Design. Now this was something special. A way to inform design decisions with standard practices, accessibility and usability guidelines that I didn't know existed, and the research into the users who would actually use the site.

I found I loved the marriage of logic and art that UX/UI represents. I enjoy making informed design decisions and letting research lead where a project needs to go, but I’m also not afraid to color outside of the lines and march off into frontier territory. I’m a bit of an introvert and enjoy the deep dive, flow-state of working alone, but I also have plenty of Army experience to know that some things no one can do alone, and I appreciate the help when I can get it.