Leader & Creative

I loved movies and shows for as long as I can remember. The stories, the worlds, the way they could pull me somewhere else entirely. I started college studying finance, then switched to graphic design after I got hooked experimenting in Photoshop, building logos, compositing images, learning what made something work. Design was the hook. A DSLR camera was the shovel that got me deeper. Deeper into photography and filmmaking. I started to notice that everything I'd learned about color, composition, and balance in design was making me better behind the camera too.

I wanted to use this for ministry, and creative work has always cared more about the work than the degree, so I dropped out and took a job at a church in St. Louis. That's where I actually learned the craft: After Effects, motion design, becoming a jack of all trades because I had to be. It's also where I led people for the first time, a group of volunteers, long before I ever led a team. From there I came to Life.Church, then spent a couple of years outside the church world as a lead cinematographer at a production house, traveling the country, working with well-known companies and notable names, learning to move fast and interact with executives on a global scale. I came back to Life.Church as the Worship Filmmaker, directing music videos and leading through live album recordings, and one of those videos led to an interview with Canon. Then, not long after, I was offered a seat leading on the Filmmaking Team. That's when I found something I didn't expect to love as much as I loved the camera: developing people. Two years later, I was asked to lead the whole team.

Now I don't do the work. I help the people who do, and that's the work I actually love.