"When I design, I want to provide better results then the client imagined."

Years ago, I started my career as a newspaper reporter. Every day was different. I interacted and talked with people about their lives, their struggles. I sat in on county board and school board meetings, wrote about court news and covered fires. I wrote about youth sports and took photographs.

In the newsroom, I would wander to the creative department and check out what they were doing. I was curious how reporters' articles and photographers' photos became cohesive, newspaper pages. Instead of writing, I wondered if this might be something I would like to do. And I discovered I did. And that's how it started.

With absolutely no idea what I was doing, I bought software for my PC and started making cards and invitations and posters. I remember making invitations for a friend's graduation, complete with a map and the school's emblem. I thought everything I made was so good. And it wasn't. I knew I needed to go back to school. I needed the education that would allow me to design the right way.

And then my mother got breast cancer, and my life took a different direction. In the end, I became her caregiver and put my life on hold, a decision I'll never regret. She died the summer of 2006. During the time I was her caregiver, I had been debating whether or not to buy a MAC, but couldn't justify the cost -- not when I had a reliable PC. In the end, I didn't have to make the decision, my mother made it for me.

The morning of her furnal, my PC crashed. Before it did, I was able to design and print her funeral program, download the music we needed and scan and print the photos for her funeral. I swear, as the last funeral program was coming through the printer, the monitor went black, white dashes appeared and that was the last time I ever used a PC. At that moment, I knew my mother was watching. This was her way to communicate that she knew of my struggle with deciding to invest in a MAC, wondering if going back to school was a decision that would be in my best interest, but mostly, I felt it was her way to confirm that it's okay to pursue your dreams, at any age, and to always reach for something better. She gave me that opportunity. And here I am.

Is everything I do perfect? No. Can I improve on everything I do? Yes. I'm human and I always want to do better on the next project. I'm always learning, always laughing and always encouraging others. I try to give a little more than I've got to give -- on anything I do, and you should do the same.