About Me
Where It Began
The Christmas morning that changed everything
On December 25th, 1999, when I was 6 years old, I received my very first game console—a Nintendo 64 with A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2. From then on, I grew up with and learned to love video games as a story-telling medium. It became my goal to someday also share the excitement and wonder of being able to transport yourself into a living story with others one day, and that's why I'm now a Game Producer!
Learning the Basics
It starts with a lesson
Starting off learning Game Development during my undergraduate studies at LeTourneau University, I was eager and excited to learn how to make the games I loved! In Winter 2014, I graduated with a Computer Science degree with dual concentrations in Game Development and Network Security, but wasn't yet confident in my ability to contribute as a game programmer. I looked up graduate programs (including SMU Guildhall) and applied to every programming company I could think of. All while learning Python to fill in my scripting language knowledge gap to help interview without having to type "public static void main" every time I went up to a whiteboard.
The Apple Years
Seven and a half years of learning, growth, and yes... Beer Bashes
Two months after graduation and two weeks of phone and on-site interviews later, I was accepted into Apple as an iOS Automation Software Engineer. And yes, there were many Beer Bashes. 🤟 (I got to see Demi Lovato and Lady Gaga 🙀)
Over the course of 7-and-a-half years, I learned a lot about how to be a good engineer, but more importantly, I learned how to help others and have fun in new and challenging spaces! After COVID-19 hit, I had 2 years of remote work to start reflecting on where I really wanted to be. I looked back at SMU Guildhall and applied for their graduate program as a Producer to see if I could take on the vital role of helping developers of all disciplines be as productive as they can be.
SMU Guildhall Journey
Cohort 32 and the transformation into a game producer
After being accepted into Guildhall's Cohort 32 in Fall of 2022, I got to experience the pleasure and hardship that 50 other students had while journeying through a breakneck course to prepare us all for the real world of game development. Through the curriculum, we managed to ship two titles to Steam: SeaFeud and Asurya's Embers! I'd be lying if I said it wasn't hard in many ways, and I dearly miss those who didn't finish the journey, but as I continue going forward I find myself anticipating the next growth opportunity to prepare for a future in game development.
Wartorn & Stray Kite Studios
Becoming a producer with infinite hats at Stray Kite Studios
In October of 2024, I joined Stray Kite Studios as a producer to help ship their first title: Wartorn! After a few months of breakneck work, we released on Steam Next Fest 2025 and Early Access on June 17th. Throughout that time, I got to enjoy learning more than I'd ever thought possible about different game development disciplines, practices, and more... including the fact that Unreal has a Python API!
During my tenure, I learned to leverage my previous software engineering and automation experience to create tons of dev tools/scripts to help design, localization, and marketing make and record changes for our game patch updates! You can see many of the learnings and tools I wound up making during my time at Stray Kite Studios via the Notion link below.
Current Focus
What drives me as a producer today
Production Philosophy: I believe great games come from empowered teams. My role is to remove obstacles, streamline workflows, and create environments where creativity can flourish.
Technical Approach: With my engineering background, I focus on automating repetitive tasks and building tools that let developers focus on what they do best. If I can write a script to do it, I will.
Team Collaboration: Having worked across disciplines—from iOS engineering to game production—I understand the unique challenges each role faces and how to facilitate better communication between teams.
Continuous Learning: The game industry evolves rapidly, and I'm committed to staying current with new tools, methodologies, and technologies that can benefit our development process.
For Fun
What I do when I'm not making games
- Gaming: Still an avid player of Nintendo and F2P games across all platforms—currently playing Mario Kart World, Hearthstone, and Genshin Impact (and waiting for Ankama to re-release Waven)
- Automation Projects: I love finding creative ways to automate mundane tasks, both at work and in personal projects
- Learning: Always picking up new programming languages and tools. Recently exploring machine learning applications in game development
- Community: Participating in local game dev meetups and trying out or contributing to open source projects (e.g., an experimental Changeling species for Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup), or singing karaoke and dancing Salsa with friends!
