I’m a senior creative with an art direction background, a strategic approach and a way with words. During my more than 23 years of experience building brands and making the buy happen, I’ve worked with clients across a variety of categories ranging from home improvement and automotive to retail and CPG.

My creative super power is my curiosity. I am known for asking insightful questions. Digging deep for these answers enable me to distill complex ideas down to their simplest form and results in impactful solutions.

I’ve won some awards, but my proudest professional achievement is co-founding OmniBlack, an African American advocacy initiative dedicated to improving the wholistic experience of Black people at retail marketing agency TPN. I am currently with global advertising agency VML (formerly VMLY&R) as an Associate Design Director on the Creative Services team.

I hold a B.A. in Graphic Design from Drake University and an M.F.A. in Visual Communication from Texas A&M University Commerce. I’ve also completed the McKinsey Black Management Accelerator Program and the VMLY&R Human Centered Design Ways of Working certification programs.

Born and raised in Kansas City, but both of my parents are from Arkansas, which makes me Southern by association and, therefore, also very charming. I enjoy hot tea, dip manicures, and watching reruns of Family Feud with my husband.

In a nutshell, I’m smart, resourceful, curious, and empathetic. But don’t take my word for it.

Here are a some things my colleagues have said about me:

“…so much credit goes to you all, especially you Traci, for the amazing design direction. We shared the refresh with the Board of Directors last night and there was unanimous approval of the direction! A few members who were the most apprehensive about this work and anxious about the outcome shared their worry was unwarranted as this was the best version of a refresh they’ve seen over the years and are VERY, VERY thrilled with the direction. It’s worth noting other proposals weren’t approved.” -Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey Client

“Traci is a creative force that everyone wants to work with. She brings a vast amount of technical and practical knowledge to any project she is assigned too. She is calm, confident and I would trust her with anything.” -Creative Services Group Design Director

“On high‑priority projects for our shared client, Traci has been an incredibly responsive and collaborative creative partner. She delivers clean, intentional design and thinks like a strategist. She asks key questions around the intent of the work, enabling her to design effective content. On Covered California, she brought forward several suggestions to increase brand awareness and consumer engagement, and clients agreed to expand their original deliverables based on her ideas.” -Covered California Account Supervisor

“Traci demonstrates the empathy and creative visions that drives engagement.” -The Hershey Company Shopper Client

“To say that Traci is a force would be an understatement, as she is so much that and then some. Traci is an incredibly thoughtful and thorough creative leader, adept at fielding any client or vendor question with grace and expertise all while bringing fully-formed creative to the table, on time, on budget and on brief. I had the pleasure of working with Traci for several years and she grew with every project, all while encouraging the growth of those around her as well. I entrusted her to take on key parts of our creative team's drug and grocery channel business, which she led with full confidence, earning the trust of her account and planning team, and became a much valued partner to the client. She takes every challenge as an opportunity to learn and to grow her creative talents for design, typography, brand and content creation. Her work ethic and dedication to doing right by the client never waiver because that is who Traci is as a person, and she brings that to everything she does.” -Former Supervisor

“Traci is a talented Art Director with a well-developed sense of design; she is always seeking to expand her horizons and never satisfied with the status quo. Traci has no problem asking the tough questions to get to the core of a creative challenge! Principled and proactive, Traci makes every project her own.” - Former Copy Partner