So you wanna know about me?

I was born in the 70s, my dad a tweed-jacketed HR professor and my mom a textbook editor, singer/songwriter, PFLAG chapter founder, and later got a Counseling degree, but sadly passed away in 2000 before she could use it.

Farther back, my family includes a renowned Harvard astronomer 🌌, painter 🎨, architect 🏛️, and teachers 🧑‍🏫.

Although we had no designers in the family, my parents had some sweet Danish teak furniture – maybe an early influence on me? 🤔

Growing up in Iowa City, I did lots of drawing, painting, back yard football, gymnastics, skateboarding, and biking.

We'd jump in the huge city leaf pile 🍂 and made snow forts and tunnels in our cul-de-sac where the plows pushed all the snow.☃️

My brother (now a sound engineer for movies – he did Frozen!) was the real computer wiz, but I used MacDraw to draft putt-putt holes ⛳️ and skate ramps 🛹 to build. I'd spec out the parts list and call for lumber prices. We built 2 ramps and no golf holes, but no one ever told me, "Hey Corey, you're a designer!"

We moved to Stillwater, OK in 10th grade, where for fun I did gymnastics, sand volleyball, and poker (I had a Pringles can full of change 💰). Academically, I did well in both creative and STEM, but I wanted to do something art-related.

My art teacher recommended the University of Kansas' Fine Arts program, and after filling out the long paper application, I decided I didn't want to do that again, so I went to KU. 💙❤️

I majored in Industrial Design at KU, where the main design professors' approaches were:

• Richard Branham was very user-focused and process-oriented.
• Ron Kemnitzer was more market-driven: "What are the benefits and why would someone buy this?"
• Lance Rake stressed the coolness and uniqueness of the form and solution.

Overall, the design-thinking user-centered ID process was perfect prep for digital product design and UX work.

After KU, we got married and moved to Iowa City for grad school at the U. of Iowa. 🖤💛

Despite my design professor telling me I should get my master's in Cognitive Science, I got it in Ergonomics / Biomechanics to improve my ability to design physical products. Turns out he was right. He was always right. Oh well — live and learn, I suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After grad school and working a few years in Iowa, we moved back to Kansas to repopulate the earth. 👦

In the evenings, Nami and I also coached KU cheer from 2004-2015. At first, I listened to a bunch of leadership books on my Cerner commute, which I used to create a culture of excellence and systems to motivate the team. Might have lost some hearing from Allen Fieldhouse though. 🏀🙉

My cheer knowledge also inspired most of the 10 apps and services I founded, including the newest one I'm working on now with a dev partner.

That pretty much brings us to today. The kids are in high school and college, and somehow we currently have 4 dogs (technically, two are/were our older two kids' ESA dogs, but you know how that goes 😔).

Meanwhile, I'm still designing full-time, working on side projects, and always learning something new. 💡