Before design, I spent 15 years as a trade worker and contractor. On the side, I fixed cars, built online communities, and produced music. All of it taught me the same thing: if something is confusing, people give up on it.
In 2018, a car accident shattered my left femur and broke my left wrist. It took 11 nights in hospital, a year between a wheelchair and crutches, three surgeries (one of them experimental, to regrow missing bone), and two full years before I could work again. Then, in August 2025, I fell off a roof. The fall broke my right heel away from the rest of my foot, crushed it, and shattered my ankle. Now both legs carry hardware, so I can't just lean on the other side. After a year of physio, it was clear I'd live with arthritis and limits for good, and that the trades were behind me. WorkSafeBC's vocational rehab program wanted to steer me into another trade-related job. I wanted something completely different, so I advocated for myself until they agreed to take the risk and fund my training in a new field. It's also why designing for people with mobility limits isn't abstract to me. Read more of my recovery story →
Contracting also taught me to work with clients, budgets, and deadlines, and to plan a job properly before it starts. Now I'm bringing that into UX/UI design at BCIT and product management at UBC Sauder. I like the messy early part best, when you're talking to people, mapping out what they need, and finding the simplest way to give it to them.
Long term, I want to lead products from idea to launch. Asylumental is where I practise that on my own ideas.
Outside of work and school, I'm a dad of three. When I get a quiet moment, you'll find me under the hood of a car, making music, or building worlds for stories.