A Foundation in Education

My professional journey began in Big Ten country, attending the University of Illinois (Go Illini!), majoring in Business Administration – Marketing. These 4 years were filled with the joy of friendship, the struggles of emerging independence, and late nights studying and (occasionally) watching live music at Mabel's (God rest its band bar soul).

I worked summers at Underwriters Laboratories Inc. entering technical specifications into a large mainframe computer. I witnessed the evolution of corporate life, seeing the end of sterile workstations, "personnel" departments, and smoking areas literally anywhere in the building.

Engaging Creativity

Upon graduation from U of I, it was apparent that most companies saw marketing as a qualifier for sales jobs. I'm not a salesman by nature and I dreamed of pursuing a truly creative career. I
enrolled in Columbia College Chicago and worked
towards a second degree in Film/Video production.

For the next several years, I strived and thrived in the exciting world of independent film. I wrote several screenplays and served as production assistant on low-budget horror pictures. My experience included an ABC Afterschool Special, the independent film "Go Fish", and an internship with Zeta Entertainment, the Los Angeles-based company which produced the feature-film, "Shilo".

Tragedy leads to Career Development

My life took an adult turn when I returned from my stint in L.A. I was 30 years-old and "mourning" the loss of my youth, when a tragic automobile accident took the life of my niece's one-year-old baby, Zoe. Realizing that life was a true blessing, I seized opportunities in the emerging Internet industry.

In 1997, I began work with a start-up company, HR Sites International, creating templates to post corporate job listings out to "new" job boards such as Monster, Career Builder, and Hot Jobs. We soon partnered with the human resource company Resumix Inc. (now a part of Yahoo). I helped design an applicant tracking system which incorporated job information, candidate data, and reporting.

HR Sites offered a unique work environment that I miss to this day. My manager Chris had amazing skill at providing a setting that was both comfortable and productive. He allowed each member to maintain their individuality. I saw employees not only grow in their roles, but thrive in a way that no other environment could have granted. I owe my professional life to what he taught me.

Mergers and Acquisitions

In 1999, HR Sites was acquired by Webhire Inc., a Boston-based human resource software company. After integrating the HR Sites posting mechanism into the Webhire recruiting system, I pioneered a new product which developed career websites for corporations such as Nintendo, Pharmacia, McDonald's, and Roche Pharmaceuticals.

Over the next 6 years, I continued to collaborate with our software engineers to ensure that our websites took advantage of emerging Internet technology. JavaScript, cascading style sheets (CSS), and C# code were all used to enhance our features, introducing elements such as job alert, job cart, and a candidate profiling system.

Then in 2006, Webhire was acquired by Kenexa Inc., another human resource company based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Along with Kenexa’s acquisition of BrassRing one year later, our client-base grew to include MasterCard, Nestle, TD Ameritrade, and WebMD among many others. Over 150 corporate career sites were maintained by a staff of web designers, client service consultants, and quality assurance specialists. I systematized work flow through the use of SharePoint and ONYX CRM.

In 2007 and 2008, I coordinated efforts with IT and engineering to implement ASP.NET and XML code. Additionally, I wrote and presented extensive internal training and client specification documents, and conducted training sessions demonstrating website optimization strategies.

Rising above the Global Economic Mess

In the spring of 2009, the global economic crisis reared its ugly head on the human resource industry. I found myself unemployed for the first time in 12 years but wanted to rise above negative consequences. Building upon my unique work experiences, I outlined an innovative approach to design, media, and organizational development. inSight Solutions Gateway was born!

The "gateway" is a means of pulling together various business needs into one organization, leveraging the ideal qualities of each area. The initial piece is inSight Design Strategies which focuses not only on website development but also on the appropriate approach each company should take when marketing their business online.

inSight Advanced Media takes the strategies of the design phase and embellishes them with an amazing array of creativity and entertainment. From slick video production to eye-catching flash presentations, advanced digital media gets you noticed. This is further enhanced with blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts and more. We’ll also help you establish a presence on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and improve your marketing success through web advertising and search engine optimization.

Bringing all of the pieces together is the inSight Leadership Center which offers online advice to guide your company, your employees, and yourself far into the future. I pull resources from innovative, integral approaches to leadership, as well as past experiences with good, and bad, management. The inSight principle is to cultivate dynamic leadership today in order to provide better opportunities for tomorrow.