I didn’t begin my career imagining myself as an instructional designer, filmmaker, or media producer. I began as a classroom teacher, teaching high school English in Canada and the United States where I learned early that learning only sticks when people feel seen, capable, and safe enough to ask questions. Those years in the classroom shaped everything that came next.

After more than a decade teaching, I moved into curriculum development and media production, writing teacher’s guides and creating learning materials designed to engage differently abled learners. Over time, my work expanded into instructional design, professional development, and micro-learning media for both K–12 and higher education. In 2015, I returned to school myself to earn a Master’s in Instructional Design and Technology. This was a humbling and formative experience after two decades in the workforce. Being a student again reminded me how vulnerable learning can feel, and how powerful good design is when it supports persistence rather than perfection.

My creative and academic work increasingly converged around questions of access, inclusion, and voice. That convergence led to Always Ask for Help, an ongoing documentary and multimedia project that explores what it means to learn, work, and create in systems that are not always designed for human complexity. The project spans film, animation, and eLearning, and is deeply collaborative, most notably with University of Tampa award winning animation director Dana Corrigan. Together, we use visual storytelling to make invisible learning barriers visible and to normalize help-seeking as a strength rather than a failure.

Today, I work at the intersection of education, media, and design, teaching instructional design, creating learning experiences, and producing stories that invite reflection rather than easy answers. Whether I’m designing a course, mentoring students, or developing a film project, my guiding belief remains the same: learning is not about proving what you know, but about staying curious, asking for help, and making meaning together.