Hey! I’m Nate, the Director of Design Education at BP. I’m also a writer, speaker, and author of Building UX: a handbook for UX Development and Career Growth. I am passionate about the field of Design and love teaching, coaching, and leading designers. I am most satisfied when I can help elevate UX in a person, organization, and/or community.

I came from a family made up of craftsmen, engineers, and artists. I grew up around oil canvases, drafting tables, wooden sculptures, soldering irons, and scrap material—material that on its own was next to worthless, but in the hands of a designer, became something else entirely. That shaped my understanding of Design. It emphasized purpose and discipline and highlighted balance. It showed that design starts from nothing, and is molded into something good, all the while aiming to strike a balance between aesthetics and usefullness. Design fills a void and has a purpose.

My own personal journey as a designer started in 2005 with a Photoshop class, I took my senior year of High School. Within a year of that class, a local business owner saw some of my work and offered me a job as an entry-level graphic designer. At that company, I worked under an incredible designer who began to show me the ropes by teaching me the fundamentals of design.

I did not come up through traditional means. I studied under people rather than in a school. I have had incredible mentors that have poured into me over the years. Ryan Murphy, Jason Hamrock, and Davin Granroth are the 3 people who have had the biggest impact on my growth and career.

Ryan taught me principles and set the foundation in which I built my career upon. Jason showed me that design skills are universally applicable and can translate to multiple areas. He pushed me—sometimes in ways that were uncomfortable. He had me overseeing graphic design, video production, creative direction, photography, web design, branding and trusted me to help him start a design firm. Davin then took the foundation I had along with the wide breadth of experience and molded something tangible and good out of it. He challenged me to understand the meaning behind design, how to truly find balance in it and how to help others grow in it. More than that, Davin turned me into a leader. He showed me how to care for others, to teach and guide others and to care about the discipline of Design as a whole.

Over the years I have worn many different hats at a hand full of places: Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Product Designer, Founder, Creative Director, Design Manager, UX Practitioner, Strategist, UX Strategy Manager and UX Manager just to name a few. Today my passion is helping designers grow in their careers and maturing their skills.