Dreaming and the imagination, business and creativity have driven me since my earliest memories.
At three years old I began living my life as a dreamer. By first grade I had made my first $100 outselling the entire Dalhart Elementary in popcorn. By age eight I had written my first book, “How to Be Happy”, and in High School I co-created and ran my own businesses buying, selling and showing sheep winning many awards and paying for my college tuition with the proceeds. Ever since I’ve been working with dreams and the imagination to hone my business and creativity skills, or to help others to hone theirs. From then until now my passion is for unlocking the power of the individual using the imagination.
Today I teach people, executives and organizations techniques for expanding perception, creativity and achieving their greatest potentials. I have honed my entrepreneurial expertise through the years and experienced first-hand the role of images and dreams in leading us to our greatest selves. I have further developed this understanding through my PhD research in cognitive and neuro-psychology. At the core of my work is my belief in each of our ability to create powerful, positive change in our own lives, our communities, and in the world.
The foundation of my work is an ancient Kabbalistic lineage of dreaming and imagery. I believe the lineage I teach holds important value for the modern world regardless of one’s background, and I am dedicated to ensuring its continuity by bringing it forward to help people, and the businesses and organizations they create, to fulfill their greatest visions of themselves. It is an ancient art of successful living that allows us to integrate spirit into our work efforts, carve a True path for our unique talents and ultimately achieve the freedom of Selfhood.
I work one on one with individuals and consult with businesses and organizations in person or via Skype video conference with clients around the world. I lead classes and workshops (publicly and with custom-topics by request), write, and teach at two universities.
Lineage
I trained in the Kabbalistic lineage I teach, and its dreaming and imagery techniques, for more than eight years with Dr. Catherine Shainberg, through her School of Images in New York. I currently serve as a member on the advisory board of the School of Images, where I am also a group workshop facilitator and a recommended practitioner. I enjoy a continued collaboration with Catherine. To her, and the brilliant light she shines into the darkness, I am grateful.
Business
I am the former co-founder and CEO of MicroFocus Media, a political media market research firm. In this capacity I worked with U.S. Presidential and other prominent national political campaigns, committees and large, advocacy-based foundations. Working in the inner circles of both parties in DC gave me insight into how to successfully launch advocacy projects, the media efforts required to move public opinion and the players who are most helpful in moving projects forward.
As former co-founder and partner of BC, a building restoration and urban renewal venture, I co-organized community grass-roots neighborhood improvement efforts in conjunction with city boards and non-profit organizations. I served as a founding board member for the Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council, and on the Grantee Award Committee for the City of Los Angeles Community Beautification Grant. These efforts resulted in the planting of over 375 trees in the most densely populated part of Los Angeles, business improvements, installation of bus shelters, stop signs and public trash cans, greening of previously blighted public spaces and neighborhood clean-up projects with community kids working side by side with kids serving in juvenile hall.
I have written editorial and political columns for LATribe.com, and co-authored several articles on the topic of Transmedia Storytelling for various marketing and branding publications. I have written copy for national entertainment, and product and positioning, advertising campaigns. I produced a reality series broadcast on cable TV, a feature-documentary, and for many years headed a film production company where much of my time was spent working directly with writers in fostering their creative process, and developing and shepherding projects to fruition. Through this I understand both how to facilitate the internal creative process as well as the process of bringing projects out and into realization.
I hold a PhD in psychology, emphasis in Media, from Fielding Graduate University.
As an academic my research focuses on imagery. I study the cognitive and neuro-psychology behind imagery, and research its application to a variety of topics including advocacy and social change psychology, narrative, identity, national identity and conflict resolution. My dissertation topic was The Comparative Identity of Nations: Image of Nations as an Assessment Tool for National Identity. This has informed my general work with imagery, as well as my expertise in understanding advocacy, policy and work aimed at changing public opinion.
I currently teach Media and Political Psychology, and Cognitive Psychology and the Visual Display of Information for the Media Psychology and Social Change graduate program that is a partnership between Fielding Graduate University and UCLA. I also teach Transmedia Marketing Through Storytelling for UC Irvine Extension. I co-founded A Think Lab, a consulting firm created to teach Transmedia Storytelling to companies and advocacy organizations.
I have spoken across the country on topics as diverse as Using Immersive Media for Social Impact, Cognitive Psychology and Design for the Small Screen, Architecting Solutions through Whole Brain Processes, Transmedia Storytelling: The Psychological Power of Storytelling for Marketing and Advocacy, and Micro-Targeting for Political Campaigns. “The Power of Transmedia Storytelling: Persuasive Communications Across Emerging Technologies,” won the best webinar content by the Internet Marketing Association, 2011. Co-created with Dr. Pamela Rutledge for the course we teach on Transmedia Storytelling and Marketing for UCI Extension’s Internet Marketing Certificate Program. See the full press release here.
I am currently involved in a collaboration called Visualize Conversation with the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College and Bridget Hollenback, MFA. It is a social media/media psychology experiment to bring social and political discourse to the public sphere via image.
Contacting Me
If you would like to learn how to understand your dreams, contact me for an individual session, or schedule me for your executive training or for organizational workshops, please click here. Also, to receive updates on new classes and workshops, please sign up for my e-newsletter here.