I moved from the Southern part of the U.S. to California about seven years ago—for a broadcasting internship. At that time, I hadn't been introduced to the tech industry.

Prior to moving to California, I spent my entire life living in small towns. The only jobs I worked were in the fast-food or hotel industries. Terms like creative, tech, and innovation were hardly used in my neck of the woods. So I had a lot of pent-up creative energy that needed to be released.

Once while working at a fast-food joint, I got permission from my supervisor to change the drive-thru greeting. On the back of a sausage biscuit receipt, I doodled a new greeting that led to sales increasing, during our busiest hours, by 15%. That's the seed which led me to helping companies craft brand writing to build better connections with their customers.

Craving something more than working at fast-food joints and hotels, I went to Sacramento to join a internet radio station.

The internship I worked began in Sacramento, California. Part of my daily responsibilities included forming internet radio partnerships, managing communities across social media, and event promotions.

Prior to that internship, I had no idea that people got paid to do work online. I dabbled in social media for a local hotel I worked for. But nothing really serious.

Through that Sacramento internship, I discovered I had a knack for engaging people across the internet. As part of my broadcasting internship, I managed a business Facebook group. To my surprise, I grew membership in that group from 13k to 55k in a few months. I also created and deployed a community outreach model that segmented that same group into geographical regions.

That gave me my first real taste of digital communications and audience engagement. That taste stuck with me. I wanted more.

I decided the San Francisco, Bay Area of California would be the place for me to experience more of that same work. So... I moved to the tech capital of the world!