About Me

To me, one of the weirdest questions to ask someone is, “When you were younger, could you imagine yourself being in this position 20 years later?” Often times people have professional lives that lead them to distant places far from whatever goal they originally had.

For me, becoming a Futurist was never part of the plan, and the way it happened is through a very disruptive experience that has changed the way I think and see the world forever.

My Early Career

I’m very used to change and uncertainty. Upon graduating from USC in 2008 with degrees in Music and Theater, I thought I would pursue a career as a solo trumpet artist, but I was forced to adapt as the entire world began to fall apart due to the Great Recession. During these uncertain times, however, I was very lucky to find work but I needed to remain open-minded, humble, and flexible.

Adopting this mindset enabled me to land a job at Warner Bros in 3D Film Production, working on the film, Final Destination 4 in 3D. I also worked at the Make-up Effects studio, KNB EFX Group, led by Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger, and Veronica Torres. Later in my career I worked on several other 3D films at Prime Focus World, including Star Wars Ep. 1-3 in 3D, and Men in Black 3 in 3D.

From 2008-2013, I was exposed to the post-production process of making 3D films, and I could see how each movie was becoming more technologically advanced through the innovation of stereoscopic film conversion, and these experiences had a great influence on my career.

Serving at Warner Bros. and Prime Focus World gave me exposure to the technical side of film making and eventually I figured out how to transfer this knowledge by exploring other forms of immersive technology.

Embracing Innovation

In 2016, I continued to my education by pursuing a Master’s of Arts in the Digital Humanities from California State University, Northridge where we explored the Humanities through digital resources and the application of Critical Theory.

In nearly every course, we were asked to consider how technology and the growing access to information is affecting humanity in relation to the subject of each class. These questions challenged us to think about the implications of social change, both locally and globally.

Through the Digital Humanities, we also studied Semiotics, which showed us how computer programming languages represent the digitization of structured information. This peaked my curiosity and I began to invest time into becoming more technical by exploring the world of software development.

In 2018, I employed my knowledge of 3D film production and completed the Virtual Reality Nanodgree at Udacity, and also studied Usability & UX from Dr. David Travis. Later, I would learn iOS and web development through courses taught by Dr. Angela Yu at the London App Brewery. From there, my network in the Tech Industry began to expand, and life would never be the same.

In 2020, I was accepted into the USC Iovine & Young Academy for Innovation, founded by Jimmy Iovine and Andre “Dr. Dre” Young, where I would complete a Master’s of Science in Integrated Design, Business, and Technology.

Futurism & Consulting

USC IYA proved to be a culminating experience in my journey where I got to work with and learn from my classmates who are some of the smartest and most creative people I’ve ever met. Becoming a graduate student at the Academy was a great opportunity for me because it is the place where I was exposed to Strategic Foresight, and the fundamentals of innovation and exponential thinking.

One of my best memories was serving as a product lead on a design team that worked with the Getty Museum to help improve their marketing and outreach strategies to young and diverse audiences through social media and the web. They were my first big client as an innovator, and this is when I got the idea of becoming a consultant.

While studying at USC IYA, we were trained to think exponentially and create products of the future, and by utilizing the qualitative research skills I gained from my Digital Humanities Master’s program, I realized that I could synthesize my knowledge into one specialization through the practice of Foresight.

After surveying current market conditions of the tech industry, I understood that businesses and start-ups would need to change the way they plan, strategize and compete forever as a consequence of Artificial Intelligence and an increasing rate of innovative disruption that we’ve never seen in our history.

A new era has begun. Start-ups and existing ventures need to remain adaptive in order to survive this changing, business landscape. In a Post-2020 World, more important than the replication of traditional business models of the past, is navigation through exponential thinking and strategic foresight.

With this understanding, I have productized my knowledge in order to help businesses and brands transform into exponential organizations. There are many “futurists” out there, but very few of us actually practice foresight, and an even smaller number of us do it in open spaces for the world to see.

As a Futurist, my job is not to make predictions, but to understand the implications of historical events so that my clients can strategize and prepare for the future decisions they will have to make.

If there is one thing my life’s journey has has taught me, it’s this:

“The Future is not certain; it is made.”

– Wyntonio

Additional Links

To learn more about Futurism and conceptual product designs of the future, check out our blog and read up on some of my thoughts & visions for the 21st Century and the World.

Visit our YouTube channel and become a member of our online community where content on Futurism and Exponential Thinking is published every week.

The Future is Forever.

Join our newsletter and level up your strategic foresight skills.