Leading career development classes, presenting to college undergraduates, and organizing book clubs comes from a passion for personal development.

Learning and developing are two constants in my life. 

One major opportunity was organizing and leading a personal development course at TAIT to hold discussions with new and veteran designers. This course tackled internal self-talk, goal-setting, handling crucial discussions, and learning to work across barriers. I created a syllabus, course outline, reference materials, and prompts and topics for the weekly session meetings.

The course provided an opportunity to learn individual and interpersonal skills through open dialogue. The books aimed at building emotional and relationship skills and creating a general sense of awareness around working collaboratively. We started from the ground up and had excellent insights and conversations.

Reach and Teach Inc is working hard, during this slow time in the entertainment industry, to educate the next generation of people in entertainment. It was great to spend 30 mins to offer a peek inside the world of touring design. Check out the interview here.

For my own development, I hold biweekly book club sessions with peers and completed the altMBA in August 2020 to develop my ability to promote brands and function on diverse teams. 

Mentorship opportunities have included a chance to return to Notre Dame and sit on a panel for a Sophomore Careers Course that was a new offering this year; as well as the chance to volunteer to speak as part of a 12-week series connecting high school students with industry professionals. I also presented on "Balance Creative and Technical Aspects of professional development" with a Studio Design Engineer from General Motors as part of the Themed Entertainment Summer Skills session. We answered the question, "How do we as engineers work with creatives to get the creative vision across while making something safe and profitable?"