In my earliest professional role, I served as a project manager for a small, but global, industrial design firm in Springfield, Illinois, during which time I was promoted to Senior Project Manager. In this role, I acted as a communications liaison between the company's home office and factories in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, India, and other countries to oversee production of housewares, decorative items, and small furnishings. Simultaneously, I managed anywhere between twenty and sixty simultaneous pre-production projects by working with industrial designers in the United States, Europe, and South America to establish pricing models and break-even points on potential new products.
Most products were intended for use within the company's own wholesale catalogue targeted towards small boutique shops; at other times, I would manage products for larger corporate clients, eventually placing upwards of a hundred pre-existing or bespoke products for seasonal and permanent collections at stores like Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Crate and Barrel, and The Container Store.
As needed, I produced industrial and graphic design for both catalogue and bespoke projects, with several of my designs eventually being sold in stores either as products or as finished packaging for other designers' products.
