As a teenager, I found great solace in Fall Out Boy’s lyrics. I was deeply depressed and struggling with growing up in a toxic environment. Their music gave me something to latch on to and be inspired by at a time where I exploring what it meant to be an artist. I remember using the lyrics to “Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner” in a collage in my high school art class. Back then, I never considered art or design as a way forward. Though I grew up carrying a sketchbook with me wherever I went, I thought the only way to work as an artist was to be a painter, and that wasn’t one of my strengths. It wasn’t until I got into a college level drawing class as a junior that I discovered digital art and graphic design. I made my first piece of graphic design around that time- a poster for a play being put on by the theatre club.

Years later, I’m working full time as a graphic designer and freelancing for awesome clients.

I was recently on a “From Under the Cork Tree” kick and got inspired to make something for young Katelyn. I think she’d like it. I’m living a life she never could’ve dreamed of. We made it, kid.