I don’t just bring ideas to life.
I build the systems, wrangle the chaos,
and make sure it actually gets done.
I don’t just bring ideas to life. I build the systems, wrangle the chaos, and make sure it actually gets done.
AboUT
Hi, I’m Heather, Director of Production at AKQA North America, where I oversee all things production across the continent. I’m also a film director, painter, and former medicinal plant nerd who somehow ended up running commercial shoots instead of field experiments.
I have a high tolerance for chaos and a low tolerance for bullshit. For over 15 years, I’ve pulled off the impossible in advertising- leading ambitious campaigns, managing egos, and translating abstract briefs into concrete beauty for brands that expect everything yesterday.
Before all that, I earned a Master’s in Botany and Conservation Biology, which I’ve used exactly zero times on set, unless you count identifying which agency exec is most likely to go feral by lunch. I’ve extracted alkaloids from invasive plants in Hawai’i, worked in medicinal plant labs in Jackson Hole, and filmed a documentary on Tibetan medicine while living in Northern India. Turns out, navigating fragile ecosystems was the perfect training for leading creative teams in high-stakes environments. Different species, same survival skills.
These days, I split my time between running large-scale commercial productions, directing films, and creating large-scale paintings that have been shown in galleries. I move between disciplines, but the through-line is the same: I organize wildness, protect the integrity of ideas, and build beautiful things under pressure.
Portland is home. Nature is church. My garden is wilder than my résumé.
