Stage & screen
Theatre
Before I was a product consultant, I was an actor. The training stuck.
I hold a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Virginia Tech with a performance concentration. Now I'm stepping back in – performing, designing, and directing in the Bay Area and beyond.
How I got here
I didn't come up through computer science. I majored in Theatre Arts, memorizing Shakespearean sonnets, dreaming up costume and makeup designs, and collaborating with a cast to turn big ideas into shows. My version of “Hello, World” was out loud, gesturing wildly onstage to a live audience.
Theatre threw me head-first into empathy: understanding the deepest nuances of intricate humans, characters and castmates nothing like me. That's the same skill I coach clients on now: building products with and for other people.
Credits
Musical Theatre
Drama
Shakespeare
Experimental / Film
Backstage & Crew
Community & Youth Theatre
Makeup & costume design
Character, aging, and SFX makeup from my design training – most shown side by side with the reference I built them from. Tap any piece to enlarge.
Training
B.A. Theatre Arts, Performance Focus – Virginia Tech, 2008–2012. Minor in Psychology. 61 credit hours of theatre coursework.
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Virginia Tech Theatre Arts, 2008–2012
Acting & Performance
Voice & Movement
Directing & Script
Design & Technical
History & Theory
This training directly informs my facilitation approach, stakeholder presence, coaching methodology, persona development, and narrative instincts. Character analysis became persona work. Directing became product vision. Stage presence became stakeholder management.
What theatre taught me about work
Reading the room
Every meeting has an audience. Knowing who’s engaged, who’s resistant, and who’s about to push back changes how you facilitate. This isn’t soft skill – it’s stagecraft.
Holding the vision
A director’s job is to communicate a clear enough vision that every department can make independent decisions that serve the whole. That’s also a product manager’s job.
Telling stories that land
Three-act structure works for pitches, demos, and case studies the same way it works for plays. Setup, tension, resolution. If there’s no tension, there’s no reason to listen.
Starting with "Yes AND"
The best facilitation sessions don’t evaluate ideas before exploring them. Improv taught me to separate generation from evaluation – and to treat every contribution as something to build on.
Designing the space
How a room is arranged changes what happens in it. Chairs in a circle means equals. Conference table means sides. Theatre taught me that the environment is part of the message.
Curtain call
Want to bring this kind of thinking to your team?