Portfolio and Blog
About Me
Professional
I graduated from West Texas A&M University in May of 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication. My studies centered around journalism, where I learned to write news articles, press releases, feature stories, and more. While in college, I participated in the school newspaper as the News Editor.
Also while in college, I interned for the Amarillo Independent newspaper as a beat reporter. I covered local government, which required me to attend weekly city commission meetings and sometimes turn a story around in as little as one hour to make my press deadline. During this time, I amassed more than 30 published articles, all while taking on a full schedule of classes.
After graduating, I worked briefly as a freelance reporter, which produced a few appearances in the Amarillo Globe-News. I began an internship for TAG Publishing — an Amarillo-based book publisher — and was brought on full-time. For the 3+ years, I both wrote and did graphic design work for TAG. I ghostwrote two books that went to print and are available for purchase on Amazon.com; created book covers and book interior layouts; and produced marketing materials for the company’s authors. I also wrote and laid out the company newsletter. On the side, I worked on HTML websites for some area companies including the Ultimate Surface, Bistro to Go, Granados Autos, and the Coachella Wild Bird Center.
In 2014, I launched Amarillo Auto Search, an online-only car classifieds website. Amarillo Auto Search taught me WordPress and introduced me to social media marketing. I oversaw the production of a 30-second TV commercial that aired on Telemundo, I bought ad space, and I ran campaigns with Google Adwords.
While running Amarillo Auto Search, I worked in the Creative Services department of Anderson Merchandisers and ANconnect. There, I wrote and laid out the company newsletter, photographed company events, copyedited press releases, and wrote content for four websites for Walmart and Best Buy in-store associates. I also created B2B presentations that were used to pitch to companies such as Sony Music, H.E.B., Walmart, and more.
My interest in cars eventually led to my employment at Automotive Marketing Solutions. For AMS, I photograph dealership inventories for display on each of the dealers’ respective websites. This includes juggling as many as 16 accounts at a time. I do this with little oversight for the Lubbock-based AMS. I also manage one employee.
Personal
I am a father to two great boys — Pratt and Nash. My wonderful wife, Maegan, works as the Marketing Director of Underwood Law Firm in Amarillo. We have one dog, Maggie Mae, who is quite sassy and sheds horribly. I like classic Ford cars and trucks and flipping cars for profit from time to time.
I like to learn new things, such as auto body repair and painting, working on websites on the side, and am getting into coding for iOS with Swift.
