What does "making things" actually mean to you?
I started as a graphic designer doing digital and print work. Technically I was making things, but I was pretty siloed in that world. As I got more confident and wanted to try different things, I branched out - animation, interior design, UX, selling my own artwork and t-shirts, building apps. I even got heavy into DIY remodeling. I've laid thousands of square feet of hardwood floors, built stairs, done custom trim work. The list goes on. When someone once asked what I like to do, I just said "I really like making things." That's still the best way to describe it.

AI opened the door for you to build apps. What changed?
I could always come up with interesting ideas and understand how things work together, but I could never sit down and actually code. I could design it - that came naturally - but the syntax, connecting different systems... it always felt hard. I never hit flow state with code. Now AI does some of that hard work for me. I'm genuinely excited about it. I've spent many nights up until 3am in different tools, trying things out, learning, connecting design with systems in ways I wasn't able to before.

Most creatives at your level focus on strategy and direction. Why stay hands-on?
I did that for years - more leading, strategy, direction. But one day I looked up and wasn't thrilled with what I saw. I was removed from part of what I loved and missed it. I wanted a world where you could work with people on all aspects of a project or own the entire thing, not be siloed in a big corporate machine.

What's the last thing you made just because you wanted to?
I built a 6-foot high by 18-foot long chair rail with wall treatments in my entry. Before we started it was a pretty basic drywalled entry, and we wanted some detail. My wife and I designed it, I did the woodwork, then we caulked and painted it together.