About Me

Education

Slippery Rock University: Bachelors Degree

  • Bachelors of Music in Music Therapy

  • Minor in Psychology

  • Major instrument: Piano

  • Minor instrument: Percussion

  • 1000-hour internship at Clarion Psychiatric Hospital

Harness Projects: UX Career Launcher

  • UX fundamentals

  • Advanced prototyping

  • UX research methods

W3schools: Coding Certificate

Certified HTML Developer

Background in psychology and the arts

At the beginning of my career I was a music therapist working as an independent contractor in all kinds of settings around the Pittsburgh area. From schools, to nursing homes, to people’s residences - I went everywhere. This taught me to be scrappy, enterprising, and flexible.

After a few years, my focus narrowed and I found myself teaching more and more. I became kind of a dual teacher/therapist for a unique program for adults with mild cognitive impairment through the Univeristy of Pittsburgh called BRITE. I taught marimba classes (like big xylophones) and facilitated Expression Through Music groups. At the same time I was also teaching lots of guitar and piano lessons and mentoring kids bands at Sunburst School of Music. I built my skills in creating tailored plans to meet individual needs and explaining things effectively within a group.

During Covid, I started my own private piano/guitar lessons studio online. I created my website, marketed on social media, and eventually started seeing some great strides with my SEO. I was successfully welcoming more and more students, and meeting some really wonderful people. I started learning design and how to run a small business.

Career transition to UX

Eventually, the behind-the-scenes stuff of running my studio became more of an interest to me than the teaching itself. I was looking for a change, and wanted to make sure that I made a thoughtful, careful career pivot.

I spent a good long while in career counseling, pouring over what my skills, values, and desires were, and what possible career transitions would suit those. I eventually landed on UX Design because it requires a combination of skills I strongly possess: creativity and relating to people. As I learned more about UX I realized I was already spotting fixes to UX in the world around me, and that doing it professionally was a natural fit.

I completed a course through Harness Projects in the spring of 2022 during which I worked on live UX initiatives for three companies. These projects are what you’ll now see make up my portfolio. One of my desired outcomes going into the course was learning how to think through challenging problems. To my satisfaction, and sometimes chagrin, challenging problems were exactly what I was presented with. I was given a framework on how to:

  • Ask questions

  • Do research

  • Organize my findings

  • Try out solutions based on solid design principles

  • Get feedback and try it all again

I learned the process of iteration.

In addition to all this stuff with process, I got to learn Figma…which I really love. I’m a huge Figma nerd. It’s fun to imagine something in my head and then, like a puzzle, figure out how I’m going to make each interaction play out. I’m excited to continue growing my UI skills in particular.

Outside of Work

I love:

  • Comedy

  • Reading

  • Lifting

  • Meeting new people

  • Animals

  • Podcasts