I do SEO for ojolabs.com and a bunch of cool websites.
My first site was Bacorn Custom Guitars built in '97 using Adobe GoLive 4.0. Learning HTML from GoLive is where my career in web optimization started.
SEO, which really should stand for search experience optimization, became my passion right at the end of earning my undergrad from RIT. While living in Ithaca I worked for a local internet marketing startup. There I learned enough about working freelance to start doing it on my own. Living in Ithaca during the housing market crashed helped me realize that my original goal of moving to NYC was not the best option. So I decided to take what money I earned from several 80 hour weeks and drive to LA.
Moving to SoCal was the best choice for my SEO career. Starting out at a Taiwanese credit card processing reseller, the culture shock hit me hard. But my strong work ethic I owe to living in NY helped me launch into great projects. Networking and business culture takes a more laid-back approach here, probably because it's actually gorges gorgeous year round. It fits perfectly with my aspirations: do great work so you can enjoy life!
At R·I·T I earned a B.S. undergrad in advertising & public relations[1]
I once made Trent Reznor[2] smile at SJC.