How It All Started: The Deadline-Driven Beginning

Before I was leading multimillion-dollar brand rollouts, regulatory-compliant packaging launches, and end-to-end creative operations for global products—I was the production artist that didn’t break.

I started my career in 2002 at Providence Business News (PBN), a weekly business newspaper where speed wasn’t a bonus—it was survival. Every issue had a hard print deadline, every Wednesday night was a controlled sprint toward press time, and missing a deadline wasn’t an option.

I thrived in that pressure cooker. Within just 18 months, I was promoted to Production Director. Why? Because I wasn’t just hitting deadlines, I was building better systems, solving pre-press problems on the fly, and making sure ad traffic and editorial design moved like clockwork. I learned how to lead under fire, how to juggle competing priorities, and how to make the impossible happen with zero drama and a lot of grit.

I stayed at PBN until 2005, then expanded my skill set across book production, technical journals, event production, video and product development with different companies – continuing to master creative operations, production, manage cross-functional workflows, and set quality standards others had to meet. That original newsroom grind laid the foundation for how I work under pressure, how I lead teams, and how I deliver, no matter the medium or industry.

• Crisis mode doesn’t scare me – because I’ve lived in it.

• I don’t flinch when the pressure’s on – I get sharper.

• I know how to lead creative teams when the stakes are high and the timeline’s tight.

That formative experience built the foundation for everything I do now: from launching full product lines under impossible timelines, to managing vendor meltdowns, to owning entire brand ecosystems solo while juggling regulatory compliance, e-commerce readiness, and creative leadership.

This is what I do and I love it.