I’m a mindful mentor, a creative leader, an Addy-winning designer & a certified UX professional. I believe in selflessness, fostering collaboration & inspiring those around me to be better than I. As the Creative Director for Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, I run an award-winning, full-service, in-house ad agency based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Morning:
Each morning, I start my day around 5:45 with my dogs, brew a pour-over pot of coffee with this freshly ground beans, make a healthy breakfast for my wife and kids (Shakshuka is a fan favorite), do some light yoga and meditation and then sit down to strum on my guitar for about an hour before turning on some chillhop and diving into the day’s tasks from my home office (Here is a link to my favorite playlist). Occasionally, we have team gratitude meetings where we’ll meditate for a few minutes reflecting on what we’re each grateful for that day. We’ll then go around and share what we’re grateful for with each other
Afternoon:
In the afternoon I generally start with a healthy vegetarian lunch and a NordicTrack stationary bike class. Twice a week I host a non-mandatory zoom meeting with my team that is there to allow the team time to relax and laugh together or just have meaningless small talk. Once a month, a member of the team is assigned to share something. It could be something they have been working on, a passion of theirs or someone they’re following on their social channels. Also once a month, I host a 20-minute creative challenge. The topic is introduced and then each person has 20 minutes to execute on the idea with any medium they’d like. This helps people remain nimble, get ideas out faster and leads to some super fun team sharing. Outside of those few consistencies, my workday is never the same. Some days you could find me directing a TV ad, being the talent in a photoshoot, writing a new brand campaign, hanging branding in an amusement park, developing a new AR filter or even hand-making branding elements. Being an in-house, ad agency creative director really gives you the opportunity to deeply understand the brand and get your hands dirty experimenting in ways that are only limited by your imagination.
Evening:
In the evenings, when I’m not freelancing or sitting on a number of boards as the creative chair, I can be found outdoors with my family, in the kitchen or playing my guitars. I have a passion for mountain biking that I share with a few friends, co-workers and my young boys. You can find is in South Park at least once a week. I find that these activities compliment my career well. Connecting with nature is a natural reset that allows space for original thinking. I use cooking and music creation as an additional creative outlet. If you’re looking for some amazing food inspiration, I highly recommend, “The French Laundry Cookbook”. To me, these outlets are so much more free-flowing and experimental than sitting down and committing something to paper and a new way of thinking. I zone out with some instrumental music playing and allow other ideas to come into my head without filters.
Personal website:
http://www.foodandrevisions.com/
Eat’n Park Hospitality Group websites:
https://www.enphospitality.com/
https://www.parkhurstdining.com/
https://www.dineattheporch.com/
