Someone recently asked me what led me into tech, AI, and everything I do now.
I answered… and afterward thought, “You know what? This might actually be worth sharing.”
So here goes.
I caught the graphic design bug while using the ONE computer our school had in the late eighties/early nineties. I just found it fascinating.
A few years later, the home PC was everywhere. On September 12, 1996, I decided to take the plunge and buy the most state-of-the-art PC I could get. That very day I got everything set up and, using Microsoft Paint, designed a logo.
I later showed it to a friend who owned a strip mall business. That same day he showed it to the mall owner, who decided to rebrand using my logo design.
I was thrilled.
Of course, it needed to be professionally redone because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and didn’t yet know that MS Paint probably wasn’t considered “industry standard.” LOL
Fast forward almost 29 years later and I’ve done just about everything imaginable relating to digital creativity:
- Logos
- Posters
- Graphics
- Website design and development
- Video filming and editing
- Audio production
- Music production
- Scriptwriting
- Copywriting
- Character design
- Programming
- Product design
- App development
- Voiceover work
- Brand development
- And probably several other things I’m forgetting right now.
Over the years I’ve worked with real estate agents, builders, therapists, musicians, DJs, psychics, national brands, actors, recording artists, and all kinds of fascinating people in between.
Somewhere along the way, I realized I wasn’t actually chasing “tech.”
I was chasing creativity, connection, communication, and expression.
Technology just kept becoming the tool.
Since my “Love Epiphany” in 2005, my main goal has been to BE love and spread joy however I can.
That has taken some interesting forms over the years.
I started performing as a magician at 5 years old, became a breakdancer as a kid, got heavily into music as a teenager, maintained a hip hop persona for nearly 30 years, wrote books, created comedy content, built apps, produced hundreds of videos, and eventually developed projects like:
- Operation: Joy Drop
- MindMox
- Maxogram
- #dailysipofjoy
Then AI arrived.
And honestly? It immediately felt familiar to me.
Not because I thought it was magic… but because I had already spent decades learning creative tools, adapting to technology shifts, experimenting, troubleshooting, storytelling, building, designing, and figuring things out.
I started using ChatGPT within months of its original release and since then have logged tens of thousands of hours across it and dozens of other AI technologies.
That eventually led to:
- Tech Tuesday with Matthew J on 99.9 Sun FM
- Hosting AI learning events
- Helping businesses understand AI
- Teaching practical uses for everyday people
- And continuing to explore where all of this is headed.
The funny thing is… if you had asked 14-year-old me making beats, 5-year-old me doing magic tricks, or 18-year-old me messing around in Photoshop where all of this would lead, I never could have predicted it.
But looking back now, it all kind of makes sense.
Every weird creative obsession was building on the previous one.
Anyway… that’s the short version.
(Which, if you know me, is still somehow long.)