I have lived in beautiful South Carolina for 15years where I received my BA in Media Arts from USC Columbia in 2006. I have worked for 4years in two different design firms in addition to my freelance projects. My first experience in a design firm - that I will not name here - was not pleasant. I learned from my early tenure the importance of honesty and mutual respect between a content-creator and a client. My compass of professional ethics was tested and while it cost me my position at the company I gained a real perspective on this industry in addition to a great appreciation for the clients that have stuck with me as a result of my decision to take the “right” but less certain path.  

My second term of employment was quite the opposite from the first and I have no problem bragging about my employment with Creative Energy owned by Kara and Todd Sherritt. As a former company employee, I know their professionalism, moral compass, and financial ethics should be the bar this industry strives to set. Moreover, the aesthetic Creative Energy is capable of generating is of a higher quality than the major design firms in the region - thanks in large part to Kara's brillant visual direction. However, in July of 2009, the company fell prey to the economic thunderstorm that had seemed to dampen everyone’s business but ours. The decision to scale down the company was not easy. I am happy to know their decisions have created a well-focused enterprise.  I am proud to recognize the important and continued professional partnership between Creative Energy and freelance rebirth.

The most influential statement I have heard from a client is, more than anyone that they have worked with before,  I fully understand their business.. Design and aesthetics are rooted in the exploration of “what” you are trying to communicate. “How” you communicate should reflect “what” you are communicating. It is my professional responsibility to understand what your business is disseminating through Web or video – so that I can develop the best way to design that experience appropriately for the end user.

With 4 years of college, 2 years of professional training, and 4 years of industry experience;  I am comfortable with the fast-paced decisions required for the Web and video industries. With the clients that I share a sense of mutual trust, I am able to present solutions to their marketing problems with a discussion about its effectiveness.  Often, my solution may seem odd or admittedly – “crazy.” While my clients’ wishes are the omnipotent statement on what happens on a project, I am often able to find faster, cheaper, and more efficient solutions to a given problem.

My first boss called me a “champion of the end-user,” in a effort to belittle me for not recognizing the clients unspoken wish to be charged for unneeded services. The client he was referring to had asked for a quote for a custom email service. I needed to know some more information about the project before I could proved a cost-estimate - and I asked the client what they were looking to communicate. “Upcoming events, bus schedules, office hours… just things for our staff,” replied the client. I asked if they had considered a calendar program. The next day, I walked the staff coordinator through the process of setting up a Google Calendar and showed them how they can share the calendar with their staff members. The cost of the project was billed as a one-hour consult because the Google Calendar already exisits as a free service. Admittedly, I lost the company a few thousand dollars (the amount my boss called “fair”) on the project, but the client gained a better solution to their problem and the company gained the client's trust for future work.

It is a genuine partnership between a content creator and client that I feel generates the most successful campaigns. If you have an existing website, advertising material, or video campaign and would like to know how make it stronger – let’s talk about your goals. I extend to all prospective clients the olive branch of a no-obligation, no-cost consultation on your project.