Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way first — I’m a writer creative director, now in my 13th year in advertising (the juniors are calling me “Unc” these days). I’ve made small, gritty things and big, glitzy ones — but through it all, I always make friends with the crafty folks first.

I’ve worked at small shops and big shops, but when I was 16, I worked at a deli in Long Island. You won’t find that on my LinkedIn, but you will find it in my soul — because, as I will mention many times unprovoked, I was born and raised in NYC, baby. The borough of Brooklyn, to be exact. Act like you know.

As you can see from my work, I’m a sports person — Yanks, Knicks, Giants, Rangers obviously. I’m a proud Nuyorican who spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico growing up, which explains my last name, Mendez-Torres and I was born on Christmas Day, which explains my first.