I have been a professional within the neon industry for about five years. My first introduction to neon was at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I attended the foundational neon class taught by Greg Mowry. I bent and processed my first tube in 2014, and fell in love. After pursuing neon and glassblowing simultaneously via classes, apprenticeship and TA/assistant opportunities, I started working for Charlie Evanson at Neon Design in 2018. My position entailed installation, assembly, design and customer service roles, with some opportunities to practice bending outside shop hours. I pursued other forms of glassblowing on the side. After almost four years at Neon Design, I moved back to RI and got a job at a commercial sign and awning factory as their in-house bender. I worked here for a little over a year, independently running the shop and servicing all of the equipment. I am currently working towards setting up a small neon operation in my apartment in Lincoln RI.