/about

I turn barriers into launchpads—
and brands into legends.

A starry field with vibrant nebula clouds.
A starry field with vibrant nebula clouds.

One-Minute Bio

It all started in the 1980s

Born Deaf the year Nintendo invaded living rooms, I learned storytelling from 8-bit cartridges, LEGO bricks, and comic books. By high school, when reality TV ruled every channel, I hijacked the AV cart to film my own unscripted chaos. That DIY impulse never left. Amazon entrusted me to build an in-house interpreting agency and bake accessibility into products. Today I still prototype in LEGO, storyboard like comics, and treat every brief like reality TV: keep the camera rolling, something good is about to happen.

My MANifesto

I torch “minimum viable access” and build tech that moonwalks past compliance into can-everyone-use-this-blindfolded delight. Apple says tech only matters when it “empowers everyone.” Microsoft vows to “empower every person on the planet.” Google's goal? Universal access. Adobe calls accessibility the engine of creativity.

Cool. I’m the rebel who wires those manifestos into the project brief at day zero, then shoves the brief onto every desk until the product sings in captions, haptics, high-contrast, and plain language.

I lead teams like a punk-rock stage dive: leap first, pull everyone in, leave no one. Because when access leads, innovation isn’t a department, it’s the air we breathe.

Recognition and Impact

Hot Off the Presses

I don’t it for fame, I do it so no one's left out. Any spotlight on me is a barrier cracked open for someone else.


I don’t design for awards—I design so no one’s left out. Any spotlight on me is a barrier cracked open for someone else.

Press
Date
Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies
2025

International Association of Accessibility Professionals

40 Under 40 Honoree
2021

Puget Sound Business Journal—Seattle, WA

Amazon's Michael Nesmith on Being a Deaf Art Director
2019

Day One Blog, Amazon's Public Newsletter—Seattle, WA

Amazon's Michael Nesmith on Being a Deaf Art Director
2019

Day One Blog, Amazon's Newsletter—Seattle, WA

First In-House Interpreting Agency for a Corporate
2019

Forbes

On Being A Deaf Creative Director
2019

CampaignUS

Mapping New Terrain
2017

The Artists' Magazine

Atlas of Design, Volume 3
2016

North American Cartographic Information Society

Adobe Design Achievement Awards
2015

Print Communications Category

A smiling woman wearing yellow safety vest surrounded by Amazon delivery boxes in a warehouse.

Biggest Impact to Date

Biggest Impact to Date

First In-House ASL Interpreting Agency
for a Corporate
First In-House ASL Interpreting
Agency for a Corporate
First In-House ASL Interpreting Agency
for a Corporate

Overnight, Deaf talent stopped renting voices and started owning the conversation. Accommodations started the day of the interview. Biggest mic-drop of my career so far, and the echo’s still hiring.

Overnight, Deaf talent stopped renting voices and started owning the conversation. Accommodations started the day of the interview. Biggest mic-drop of my career so far, and the echo’s still hiring.

Full-Time Interpreters Globally
Full-Time Interpreters Globally

Including China, India, EU, and Mexico.

Including China, India, EU, and Mexico.

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Number of Deaf Employees
Number of Deaf Employees

In corporate offices and fulfillment centers.

In corporate offices and fulfillment centers.

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Disability Equality Index
Disability Equality Index

Set a new bar for how companies hire talent.

Set a new bar for how companies hire talent.

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Accessibility is the
innovation engine.

Accessibility is the
innovation engine.

Build for edge cases first; the mainstream will follow.

Build for edge cases first;
the mainstream will follow.

Let's Collaborate
Let's collaborate
Let's Collaborate
Meet my partners who are part of making the future inclusive.
Meet my partners who are part of making the future inclusive.
A bird's eye view of two tattooed arms holding and drawing on a piece of paper with a grid cutting mat underneath.
A bird's eye view of two tattooed arms holding and drawing on a piece of paper with a grid cutting mat underneath.
A bird's eye view of two tattooed arms holding and drawing on a piece of paper with a grid cutting mat underneath.