[pa-lees-EE] - The last “E” is a hard “E”.
I grew up in Springfield, Virginia where my love for Saturday morning cartoons and boxes of sugary cereal fueled years of creative hyperactivity, often expressed through drawing and funny voices. I knew I wanted a career in advertising before I went to college, so I took fine art classes at the Torpedo Factory. I completed my undergraduate education at Virginia Tech, where I majored in Marketing and minored in Art. (Go Hokies!) Despite my diligent career planning, I ended up in a government job purchasing fuel for jets and tanks. After a couple years, I started to feel like Ron Livingston’s character in Office Space, so I packed up and drove out west to further study Design and Advertising.
After graduating from the Art Center, I interned at CP+B Los Angeles (LA) and assisted with the Mini Cooper account (and other, less sexy intern tasks). Inspired by my fellow graduates, I joined the Push Workshop to further study strategy and evaluation and improve my portfolio.
I got my big break when TBWAChiatDayLA offered me a place in their Young Bloods program. I spent the next 14 months working late into the morning on every account in the agency. I got elbow deep in Gatorade’s “G” campaign and their G-Series product release. Working on Pedigree’s For the Love Dogs campaign allowed me to leverage my experience growing up in a home with a wide variety of dogs. Chiat soon took off my prospect patch and I was hired to work on Energizer, as well as other accounts, like Principle Financial and Jimmy Dean.
After two years at Chiat, I headed down the street to work on Volkswagen (VW) at Deutsch LA. At Deutsch, I produced two ADWEEK Ad of the Day spots and a wide variety of integrated work for VW. I then ventured to JWT where I worked on the Marines and the U.S. Virgin Islands, producing everything from experiential to TV and a slew of content pieces. Most recently I spent two years at Commonwealth/McCann working on national and global Chevrolet campaigns. The Shattering Perceptions commercials were ADWEEK's Spot of the Day and were viewed well over 2 million times.
In my free time I walk my two dogs around the city, take MMA classes and go to as many music and comedy shows as I can.