I was born in Peru and immigrated to the United States as a teenager. I attended Brigham Young University (BYU) where I graduated with a B.A. in Visual Arts with an emphasis in Illustration. During my last year at BYU, the illustration department made a trip to Los Angeles where we visited different animation and gaming studios and that was my first exposure to the animation industry. I took my first character design class right before graduating and really enjoyed pushing shapes and expressions on characters. I chose to attend graduate school at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta to earn an M.F.A in Animation. During those years, I learned many different areas of the animation industry. I took classes from 2D, 3D modeling, rigging, storyboarding, and character design. I was able to collaborate in many films with small group of students. I also directed my own short film for my thesis film called “Izzy.” I learned so much from creating my own film and wearing many hats to bring to life a beautiful story. After graduating, I decided to start doing freelance work and illustrated a children’s book and later illustrations for kid’s magazines.