Biographical Note

The longer version

Illustrated collage of an early Apple computer, Duke Chapel, Danish architecture, Stanford, the San Francisco Bay, and a laptop.

I grew up in Durham, North Carolina, with a Southern sense of hospitality and penchant for sweet tea. I played with KidPix on my ’90s Apple computer, graduated to Illustrator and InDesign in middle school, and eventually became my school’s yearbook editor. I’ve always loved making something out of nothing, whether through graphic design, sculpture, or code.

My first real job was at the Duke University student store during high school. I folded a million shirts and answered a million questions from students, prospective students, and their parents. That’s where my fascination with consumers began: I kept a running list of the most common questions and imagined what I’d change if I ran merchandising. Later, I enrolled as a Duke student, studying Visual and Media Studies. A semester in Denmark, surrounded by sleek design and energy-efficient architecture, inspired my senior capstone on ‘green architecture.’

After graduation, I took a more conventional path working at Bain & Company in Atlanta and then DC, where I helped two big-box retailers transform their merchandising operations. From there, I packed up two suitcases and flew to SF, moving into a basement room in a three bedroom apartment with friends from Atlanta. What was supposed to be a temporary ‘externship’ quickly became a full-time job with Thumbtack and a permanent move to the West Coast. It was the golden era of consumer tech, and I was hooked by the scale of impact, the camaraderie, and the beautiful waters of the San Francisco Bay.

I’d always dreamed of attending Stanford’s d.school, but at the time it didn’t grant degrees, so I did the next best thing and attended Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. It was a magical two years of far-flung travels, late-night karaoke, and lifelong friendships. Stanford opened the door to venture capital at Lightspeed, where I went looking for the next great company. My favorite part was accompanying my boss to Faire’s board meetings: digging into the growth charts, understanding the flywheels, and imagining what could come next. I loved it so much, I eventually joined Faire.

At Faire, I gradually started spending all my time on AI: testing new tools, rolling them out, and automating workflows. That grew into a product leadership role and a seat on the management team, where I led company-wide AI enablement, with the goal of shipping product dramatically faster, without sacrificing quality.

After years of helping others adopt AI, I’m now fully focused on building with it myself, and it’s brought me right back to where I started: making something out of nothing. You no longer need a big team, a budget, or permission to bring an idea to life. It’s an exciting time to be a maker, and I’m making the most of it, building things that make the world a little better, each and every day.