My Experience
Below is a list of the companies I have had the pleasure of working with in my design career. Click any of the following images for more details on that project.
My Path
My path into UX and web design began in college, where I discovered a passion for building digital experiences that balance clarity, usability, and visual impact. Since then, that curiosity has grown into hands-on experience delivering real-world solutions across freelance, startup, and government environments. Today, my portfolio includes work for multiple federal agencies, complex enterprise tools, and public-facing platforms. What follows is the progression of that journey and the experiences that shaped how I design.
Education
2016-2020
B.A. Interactive Media Studies
Miami University (OH)
My path into design did not start with design at all. During my sophomore year at Miami University, I was pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering with a clear goal in mind: becoming a developer. Everything changed the following year when I enrolled in an Introduction to User Experience course. What began as a single class quickly became a turning point.
Through wireframing, prototyping, and core design principles, I discovered a discipline that blended problem solving with creativity in a way I had not experienced before. UX design offered the balance I was looking for. It allowed me to leverage my technical background while focusing on how real people interact with technology. While my interest in web development remained, UX gave me a more human centered perspective for applying those skills.
That first course sparked a deeper commitment. Throughout the rest of my time at Miami University, I immersed myself in UX design, building hands on experience and refining my perspective as a designer. What started as curiosity ultimately shaped my academic journey and set the foundation for how I approach design today.
What further solidified my desire to go into the field of UX Design was in the summer of 2019. I had the opportunity to intern at DAtAnchor, a data security startup based in Columbus, Ohio. In this role, I was responsible for redesigning the company website to better align with modern design standards and the visual direction of our competitors.
Career-to-Date
2019
Freelance Work
In 2019, while I was still completing my education, I had the opportunity to work directly with Lucid Salon on a website project. It was my first real exposure to collaborating closely with a client, navigating feedback, and building trust throughout the design process. That experience showed me how thoughtful design and clear communication can come together to create a website that not only looks good, but genuinely engages users.
Around the same time, I also contributed to a startup mobile application called PROtect. That project was a turning point for me. It was the first time I experienced the full scope of UX, from research to design, and it completely changed how I thought about building digital products. PROtect is what sparked my passion for UX and set the direction for my career moving forward.
2020-2021
First UX Position & More Freelance Work
I began working at Organized Living in May 2020 as a UX and UI Designer, marking my first professional UX role after graduating from Miami University. In this position, I collaborated closely with the CEO to translate his vision into interactive prototypes and tangible design solutions. I also worked alongside multiple development teams, including one based locally and another in Vietnam, gaining valuable experience in cross team collaboration.
In November 2020, my role at Organized Living came to an unexpected end when I needed to step away to address personal matters that required my full attention. It was a difficult decision, but ultimately a necessary one. During that time, I continued working full time at Lowe’s while taking on freelance web design projects in the evenings and actively applying for roles within the UX field.
One of those freelance opportunities came from Alicia Lipton, who was running for Lebanon City Council. She reached out to me to design a campaign website, giving me the chance to continue sharpening my UX and web design skills while balancing significant personal and professional transitions.
2021 - Present
Dynamo Technologies
In September of 2021, I was presented with an opportunity to resume my UX design career at Dynamo Technologies LLC. Dynamo is a government contracting firm that partners with agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture, NASA, the United States Army, the Department of Homeland Security, and many others.
Through this role, I was contracted to work closely with the USFS Research and Development team on a full refresh of their public facing website. As this was my first experience working within a government environment, I quickly became immersed in learning detailed design guidelines and strict accessibility requirements. This project challenged me to design thoughtfully within established constraints while prioritizing clarity, usability, and compliance.
Following the success of this project, I was offered an additional contract through Dynamo Technologies LLC within the United States Forest Service, this time supporting the Business Operations division. The work closely mirrored what I had previously completed for the Research and Development team, which is why Dynamo identified me as a strong fit for the role.
This website served internal Forest Service employees who were seeking services or solutions to specific challenges. My primary goal was to restructure the site to make information easier to find, while also refreshing the user interface and overall branding. By improving navigation and clarity, I helped create a more efficient and approachable experience for internal users.
In January 2022, while balancing the demands of BusOps and R&D, I took on a short-term consulting project with Burris Logistics to improve their Item Management Portal. Despite my already packed schedule, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to demonstrate my reliability and problem-solving skills. The portal was complex, managing vast amounts of product data, and its user interface needed significant improvements—particularly around bulk editing and navigation.
I dove into the project by quickly prototyping low-fidelity mockups, iterating based on early feedback to refine the user experience. From there, I developed high-fidelity designs using Material UI, adding features like collapsible sections for better organization, clearer button visibility, and space-efficient iconography to enhance usability. The end result was a sleek, more intuitive design that the client loved—and they were so pleased that they took the mockups directly to development for implementation.
In December 2023, I joined a project with USGS to design a Unified Field Application (UFA) that would combine several outdated hydrologist tools into a single modern app. This was my first full application design project, requiring in-depth user workflow mapping and the structuring of complex tasks like sensor readings, inspections, and trip tracking. I used Material Design for the UI and created both low-fidelity and high-fidelity mockups, working closely with knowledgeable and tech-savvy USGS stakeholders, many of whom were former users of the legacy tools. Their feedback, detailed walkthroughs, and use of Mural for asynchronous collaboration made the process efficient and smooth.
We successfully launched the first version of the UFA, receiving glowing feedback from both users and stakeholders. The project was so successful that USGS has made it their number 1 priority project going forward. This project remains my favorite to date due to the strong collaboration, meaningful impact, and the challenge of designing a real-world field application.
In January 2024, I joined a high-stakes project for the newly formed Permitting Council, a government agency established by the Biden administration to streamline federal infrastructure permitting. With no existing branding, content, or vision, I led the design from scratch, starting with low-fidelity mockups and defining the information architecture (IA), eventually building out full visual branding. Midway through the project, a leadership change required a complete IA overhaul and new mockups. Despite these challenges, we pushed forward with close collaboration and multiple stakeholder reviews, successfully launching the site in December 2024.
2025 was a tough year for government employees, myself included. Both of my main contracts, USFS Business Operations and USFS Research and Development, were cut due to the DOGE government restructuring. On top of that, I was taken off the Permitting Council contract as the team there felt confident moving forward with just a small group of developers. Luckily, I still had USGS as my primary contract, and new opportunities with Dynamo were on the horizon.
In 2025, as AI surged in popularity, Dynamo recognized the opportunity to create a business centered around AI products, primarily as a SaaS offering for other businesses. This led to the creation of Holokai. Dynamo's CEO assembled a small team, bringing in a few developers and me as the lead designer. My role was to take a handful of screenshots, images that the CEO felt captured the vibe of the new company, and transform them into a full-fledged brand. It was a daunting challenge, but one that I look back on with immense gratitude. From scratch, I built the entire brand, paying meticulous attention to every detail, from the company’s voice and tone to its color scheme and overall aesthetic.
The project wasn’t limited to just creating the brand. Holokai also needed a website, and, of course, the actual AI product itself. The scope of the project expanded quickly, requiring me to design not only the brand but also the digital experiences that would showcase and sell the product. For more details on my journey through this project, you can check out my full experience on the Projects page.
Fast forward to 2026, and I’m still at Dynamo, working on USGS, Holokai, and now contributing graphic design work for the company as well. Writing this summary has really made me reflect on how much I’ve learned and grown as a designer. I’m incredibly grateful for all the projects I’ve been part of, and I’ve learned to always find value and growth in them, no matter how they concluded.