I am a builder of brands and loyal communities.
MY STORYI have had an extraordinary career path.
I am known for being the first openly transgender man to release an LP (2003) and for being the founding editor of Original Plumbing Magazine, the world's first trans male quarterly print magazine. I am also the co-editor of "Original Plumbing: The Best of Ten Years of Trans Male Culture" and the writer and editor of the "Mindful Masculinity Workbook," a guide to healthier masculinity. In addition, I am the co-founder and director of Camp Lost Boys, the first sleep-away summer camp exclusively for adult men of trans experience.
I am a skilled integrated marketer with experience in new media, startups, and underrepresented audiences. My approach combines both scientific and artistic elements. I have worked at some of the biggest tech companies and have successfully built and maintained multiple brands from the ground up. I am a passionate changemaker and storyteller who has dedicated my career to creating visibility and community for the voices and experiences of those outside the mainstream. I am skilled at creating an empathetic and intimate connection with an audience and at breaking down barriers to understanding.
Over the last decade, I made a transition into working for companies and new media, leading content and marketing teams. I led and created the video education department at BuzzFeed, where I trained all the interns and fellows in BuzzFeed’s signature style of viral video. In my time there, I hired and trained over 200 content creators, and helped launch hugely successful education programs and content verticals. I created and led the video department at Grindr and went on to become CMO at FOLX Health, leading their integrated marketing efforts. I am an executive producer of MarCom, Streamy, Shorty, Webby, and GLAAD Media Award-winning web content.
Before all of that, my career began at the age of 17 in the San Francisco performance poetry scene, where I won the second annual Youth Speaks Poetry Slam. I then became the first youth employee at Youth Speaks, where I facilitated workshops and after-school writing programs, and performed in over 80 Bay Area schools. By the age of 19, I had been featured on four compilation CDs and in the documentary film "Poetic License." I was also invited to join the 1999 Sister Spit Rambling Road Show, a six-week nationwide tour.
After Sister Spit, I continued touring and traveling, combining my love of music with my love of words. I began making beats, writing, and recording hip hop music, weaving stories about the lives of those outside the mainstream of gender, class, education, and culture. In 2004, I released my first full-length record, "Let's F#*K, Then Talk About My Problems," under the name Katastrophe, making me the first openly trans man to release an album. I received the Producer of the Year award for "Let's F#*K..." from the Out Music Awards and toured extensively in the US and Europe. I have also been featured in almost a dozen documentaries, including "Pick Up The Mic," a film about openly LGBTQI hip-hop artists.
In addition to my artistic career, I have been an educator and spent over a decade touring colleges, offering performances and workshops that focus on gender inequities and making campuses more inclusive for women, transgender, and gender-variant students. I have performed, spoken, and presented at hundreds of college campuses and have produced thousands of cultural events, including a 3 day music festival and a summer camp experience for adults. I have also been a guest lecturer and facilitator at dozens of corporate organizations including Headspace, Digital Ocean, and Meta.