This is the little bit of magic that makes a series of data points into a real person, isn’t it?

As a kid, I had no idea what to do. People started asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I told my dad that I wanted to be an auto mechanic, and he told me that he knew I could do it, but that nobody would take their car to a woman for repairs.

When it became obvious that I had artistic talent, my parents encouraged it. I was put into art classes in addition to my regular schooling; some with kids 5 years older than myself. I displayed my work at local arts and crafts fairs. I won awards. I became a very competent artist, but I struggled to actually express myself through that medium. I could draw what I saw, but there was something missing.

Meanwhile, my parents fretted about my career prospects. My dad told me that you couldn’t earn a living in the arts, but that maybe I could design cereal boxes as work. This was my first bleak introduction to the concept of a career in marketing.

Meanwhile, in school, I discovered writing. Writing essays and short stories earned consistent praise from my teachers. I was good at it. And I was better able to express myself through writing than through any visual or musical medium. I read prolifically, until my parents scolded me for wasting time. Novels, textbooks, encyclopedias, even the copy on packaging for household products. I consumed any and all words voraciously.

As I moved into college, I started as an art student. As any college student does, I evaluated my career prospects. I realized that my art program included no business education. Most artists are in one way or another going to be self-employed, and will need an understanding of how to manage a business.

I lost my drive, and upon encountering some financial difficulties, I dropped out of that program and joined the workforce.

During this time, I wrote and published my first novel. I would go on to write and publish a second novel, and to collaborate with some peers on 3 collections of short stories under the Hot Mess brand.

After the Great Recession, I lost my full time employment and started to drift from temp agency to temp agency, desperately trying to get my bills paid. Without full time work, I went back to school for business.

I was immediately enthralled by the subject matter. Marketing, management, supply chain logistics, even accounting provided me with an academic hunger that had been missing for a long time.

When faced with choosing a focus for my degree, I chose marketing because I thought it would dovetail nicely with my passion for writing. I also earned a minor in creative writing.

I wasn’t finished. I left my part time job and enrolled in the MBA program at Western Washington University. The grad school environment was wonderful; I was surrounded by people who were generally interested in learning and not just there because they needed a college degree.

While completing my MBA, I worked with Intellitonic for my internship, and also worked as a graduate assistant for WWU’s marketing department. I was definitely busy, but I loved what I was doing so much that I hardly noticed the workload.

After graduating, I started work with Ethical Gains, and continued to do contract work for Intellitonic. After Ethical Gains closed its doors, I was self-employed as a digital marketer and general business consultant.

Self employment was a valuable experience, but now I want something with a little more stability and focus.

I want to get the right products from the right brands into the hands of the right consumer at the right time, and I want to use all my grit and creative energy to do it.