How I Stay Connected to Culture.
I believe people should have a life outside of work. Not just because we need time to reset, but because the things we choose to experience and study, continue to exercise the creative muscles we bring back to work.
I learned that early in my career in Chicago. At 24, I was asked to curate a VIP dinner for some of our top clients and handed a $30,000 budget for 25 people. My first thought was, “What the hell do I do with $30,000?” Then I realized I already knew how to answer that question. Outside of work, I had been curating events, exploring the city, building relationships, and paying attention to its fashion, food, entertainment, and cultural scenes. I knew the people, places, and experiences that could make a night memorable. What I had been practicing for myself suddenly became a skill I could bring into my professional life.
I've continued that practice ever since. Today, much of my creative exploration happens through the arts and through the experiences I create and participate in. I'm a member of cultural and social institutions, spend time in museums and galleries, travel with the intention of learning from different communities, and continue to curate my own experiences with artists, chefs, designers, musicians, producers, and other creatives. Along the way, I've learned how culture influences people, how environments shape conversation, and how the smallest details can change the way an experience feels.
These projects also give me the opportunity to work in ways that complement what I do professionally. I manage production teams, collaborate with videographers, illustrators, animators, event producers, lighting designers, florists, chefs, and venue managers. I get to build worlds from scratch, experiment, make mistakes, and follow an idea simply because I'm curious about where it might go.
Curating a Table of Reflection
An intimate dinner exploring food, art, music, and human connection.
I curated an intimate dining experience for 20 guests around the idea of intimacy and reflection. Working with a chef, beverage designer, florist, and creative partners, I developed the concept and brought together a three-course dinner with wine pairings, jazz, fashion, conversation, and a view of New York City. A mirrored installation became part of the experience, using reflection as a visual metaphor for community and the ways we see ourselves through one another. Held inside a hidden art studio in New York City, the evening became part dinner, part art experience, and part social gathering, bringing together friends, creatives, and cultural voices around one table.
The Mustachio Ball
A nightlife-driven approach to men's health, wellness, and mental health awareness.
The Mustachio Ball began in Chicago before brining it with me to New York as my answer to a simple question: How do you get young men to care about their health when they aren't showing up to health fairs, reading health campaigns, or going to the doctor? I created a philanthropy-driven experience that brought health awareness into a space they already understood: nightlife and culture. I sourced the venue, built the production team, developed partnerships and sponsorships, and created an experience rooted in jazz, hip-hop, fashion, and fine cuisine. More than 250 people attended and purchased tickets, with proceeds supporting digital awareness campaigns. After being covered by Modern Luxury and Chicago media, I brought the experience to New York. The project was deeply personal, shaped by losing more than 5 male friends before the age of 30, including friends who died by suicide.
The All White Soiree at The Drake Hotel
My first large-scale event, where fashion, philanthropy, and nightlife came together.
The All-White Party was my first major event project, created in Chicago in partnership with Sean Rogers and the Drake Hotel. I developed the concept around an end-of-summer all-white celebration and turned the hotel into a fashion and cultural experience supporting breast cancer awareness. We produced a citywide promotional campaign, brought together local designers for a fashion show, partnered with influencers and media, and built an event team to execute the experience. We sold out 150 tickets at $65 each and raised thousands of dollars for the organization. More than anything, this was where I discovered how much I loved building experiences, organizing teams, producing content, and turning an idea into something people could actually walk into.
Weird & Okay Launch Party
An evolving art practice about identity, culture, and the freedom to be yourself.
I recently took a year off to study culture, reacclimate myself with the curious creativity, and expand my design discipline through my own art practice, Weird & Okay, now Weird Saint. It became a creative laboratory where I explored experiential build-outs, product development and mass production, self-marketing, influencer marketing, animation, and AI. It also gave me a way to experiment with experiential work, something I've exercised in about 15–20% of my full-time roles but want to explore much more deeply.
This was the launch of Weird & Okay during New York Fashion Week, hosted on Fifth Avenue with gallery-owner colleagues and members of New York's arts, fashion, and entertainment communities. More than 150 people attended, including artists and guests from Universal Music Group, with branded content, curated food and beverage, and experiential elements throughout. Today, I still dedicate roughly 5–10 hours a week to continuing that practice, using my art as a place to learn whatever I'm curious about next, from AI-powered animation to new ways of building and producing creative experiences.