I've always been drawn to beauty
I was the one in my family that spent hours decorating the Christmas tree each year. I was that kid who would invite friends over to play, only to give them paper and pencil for extended drawing sessions. It was the aesthetics of the world in all its forms that became for me a prayer; in its creation and its appreciation.This natural affinity for art and design kept me connected to opportunities that would cultivate its growth and development. I took every art class I could in high school, made many interesting fashion choices, and eventually graduated from the Art Institutes with a degree in Media Arts and Animation.
An Unsettling Observation
Having learned of my love for art, the youth minister at the church I was attending approached me with a request to design the group t-shirt for a conference she was taking the students to called Steubenville West. During this process, I noticed an unsettling trend: Most of the t-shirts that groups were wearing were bad, like... straight to the pajama drawer, "let's keep clip-art in business" bad.
The Church's long standing tradition of being a leader in the arts was failing in the most practical of ways; in the evangelization efforts of the next generation.
Pajama Drawer No More
Having fallen in love with the beauty and brilliance of the faith, I became obsessed with helping to make sure that the beauty of the faith was reflected in its visual presentation. I wanted to wear a Catholic t-shirt that wasn't so in-your-face that it would actually prevent the conversion of hearts, nor something I would only wear when I was with my "church friends" for a "church event". I knew there were people like me, who wanted to wear apparel that incorporated great design, with Gospel truth, and look good while doing it! That first conference t-shirt design, led to many others, and in the Fall of 2008, I left my full-time position at the animation studio to pursue PAL Campaign with all my energy and passion.
Highs and Lows
The journey of running PAL Campaign wasn't always rosy. While there were many initial signs of success, the company wasn't financially viable for many years. The lack of online sales, and the inability to devote the time and money necessary to build the brand properly led to many painful "heart-to-hearts" with myself and friends about its future. After five years of passionate creative output, incredible experiences, lessons learned, and relationships built, I decided to shut down the company.
The Comeback
Life moved on, and the time away from the responsibilities of running the company allowed for growth and movement in other areas of my life. Years later, I pursued a Master of Arts in Theology from Loyola Marymount University, and was re-introduced to the Catholic church's rich history of using the fullness of the material world and its beauty to reveal truth. Saturated with excitement from reading countless books on aesthetic theology, combined with the advent of technologies that would solve many of the issues I faced when first starting the company, I decided to re-launch PAL Campaign as part of my final thesis and synthesis project on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2016
Bearing Fruit
Since re-starting PAL Campaign, there have been so many incredible fruits:
+ I've gotten to work with some amazing Catholic organizations and artists, such as FOCUS, Spirit Juice Studios, Blessed is She, Live Action, Every Sacred Sunday, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and the Archdiocese of Detroit, just to name a few.
+ PAL Campaign has been featured on Cory Heimann of Likable Art's "The Created Book", Sr. Noble Theresa Aletheia's "Memento Mori An Advent Companion On The Last Things" book, Catholic Creatives "Creation of the Week", Lifeteen.com, Printful's video blog series for "Building a Successful Niche Business", and nominated for The Fisher's Net Awards for Best Catholic Media and Communications.
+ Online orders have shipped to over 41 countries around the world!
A Little About Me
I live in Pasadena, CA with my lovely wife Joanne. We just moved to this city and have loved exploring the neighborhood and finding good places to eat. Email me if you’re ever in town… seriously, let’s break bread together.
Here is just a little more about me:
+ We just adopted an Australian Cattle Dog mix named Ruby. She’s been teaching us a lot about discipline, consistency, unconditional love, and the need to show up every day.
+ Have an identical twin brother who is super good looking.
+ Total Lord of the Rings nerd. Dressed as Aragorn for "The Return of the King" movie premiere.
+ My wife and I are praying for a child together. Could you offer up a prayer for us?
+ Always reading a book. It's one of my favorite ways to stay nourished :)