I’ve always been fascinated with the movie “Forrest Gump” about a man whose life is intertwined with some of the biggest stories in our history. He isn’t the reason for the stories, but his interaction within those moments often reveal the humanity at the center of the event. Without the story, there are only events. And those events are simply names and dates without any context.

Stories are central to the human experience.

I didn’t understand it at the time, but this is why I wanted to get into journalism. I wanted to travel the world and be the first to witness stories as they unfold. I also had an ability to understand and investigate complex topics and then simplify the message for readers.

As the editor of my college newspaper, I felt a responsibility during major events to make sure my readers understood what it meant to them and to make sure their stories didn’t get missed in all of it. I knew the difference between sharing my opinion and sharing the facts, and when to share both.

But there is another side to me that is also true.

I love technology, and I love making things. As a journalism student, I also learned how to design graphics, film and edit videos, develop websites, and even mix audio. Interestingly enough, these are all tools that are important for communication. They are the mechanisms for sharing stories or building connection. And it is these skills that have allowed my life to be intertwined with some pretty cool stories as well.

So where has that taken me? I could say I punched my ticket to New York and crawled into a prestigious newsroom, but that’s not how it unfolded. Instead I got to work helping others communicate better. I started my first business that gave me a great chance to fail forward, while learning from some wiser business minds. I then worked for a large software company followed by two startups before beginning my current business. In all of it, I have worked with hundreds of clients that I have helped find the intersection between better communication and execution through technology and innovation.

Throughout my career, I have created websites that foster connections between organizations and the people they serve, I have contributed to products and applications that improve operations as well as user engagement, and I have created multiple user experiences for emerging interactive technologies.

As a communicator, I explore complex subjects to find the big picture and simplify the message. As a problem-solver, I find and execute solutions out of my deep understanding of media technology. As an innovator, I don’t settle on what already works but I explore the possibilities of what could be and take the steps necessary to achieve it.