Let's face it, most resume are boring to write and to read. Even worse, a resume rarely tells the reader "what you learned" and "what you contributed." Instead, they tend to focus on timeframes, titles, and include tired and tedious say-nothing phrases like "participated in," "worked closely with," and "developed a new..." Since this is my website and not a traditional resume where I'm required to follow a prescribed format, I can say whatevert I want about the work I've done.

I realize that much of this work, like "pizza delivery," is not a very important credential. However, as any successful person will tell you, they learn from some of their most humble jobs. So, in the spirit of documenting my work journey thus far, I've included it and explained why.

The jobs are listed with most-recent first.

Havas...Summer '25

Just getting into the competitive Havas summer intership profgram was an accomplishment, but it was worth it. I loved working there and interact with clients, the creative teams, the financial folks, the promo people..., basically anyone who had anything to do with their core competence -- marketing. 

But it wasn't just the raw content of the work that was exciting. I also learned that marketing is not banking. Not to put banking down, but it takes a different kind of empathy and outlook to be good at communicating with, and persuading clients to accept your advice. The sure knowledge that I had the basic skills to do this well, and that the knowledgeable people at Havas agreed with this assessment, was worth the effort.

Sure, I accomplished some stuff, mostly related to helping my team guide a new client through an advertising campaign, but it would be foolish of me to say that I was "an essential part of the team's success." The real goals was that I learned what I needed to know about Havas and their work, and they learned enough about me to know that I could make a contribution.

BC Bookstore...Part-time School Year 23/24

As the social media creator for the Boston College bookstore, I learned that making things look easy was hard. This isn't just me being cute, the work it took to make short social media promos was enormous, not just the technical stuff -- content, actors, lighting, setting, etc. -- but also achieving the goal of making a particulat impression on the viewer.

It might seem obvious, but learning that promo success was all about what the viewer thought (and not what you thought) was an important lesson.  Here's a sampling of my stuff...

AllBirds...Summer '23

Working at Allbirds was a hoot! It was a brand new company offering an exciting product line. Everyone who worked there was enthusiastic -- which is exactly what you want from any effective team -- and this was contageous.

You don't think about having fun in a shoe store, but that's what it was like for our customers. They enjoyed themselves, whether they bought our shoes or not. Most importantly, there was nothing forced, clumsy, or awkward about it.

For me, this was an epipheny. The best stores are really "an experience," where the customer has fun and walks out with something they love rather than something they've been convinced to buy ... and later regret buying.

Vuori...Summer '24

I loved the time I spent working at Vuori! As a Retail Sales Associate and Visual Merchandiser, I got to dive into the visual heartbeat of the brand—flipping the floor every week, unboxing new products like it was Christmas, and ensuring the back-of-house ran like a tight ship.

But it wasn’t just the day-to-day tasks that stuck with me. I learned that retail, when done well, is about telling a story. It’s about understanding how people move through a space, how they respond to color, texture, light—and most importantly, how they feel. I got to work directly with the visual merchandising manager and even had a hand in helping open the East Coast’s third Vuori store, which felt like being part of something way bigger than just folding joggers and ringing people up.

Sure, I hit some numbers (averaging $4,500 in daily sales wasn’t bad), but that wasn’t the heart of it. The real win was feeling like I had a pulse on what made people connect with a brand in a physical space—and seeing that I had a place in that world.