I've always been drawn to the creative economy, long before I knew what that meant.

From stage to set to studio, I've spent most of my life chasing the line where story meets medium. At seventeen, I started Jay Towns Photography as a way to turn curiosity into cash. But I learned fast that creativity is easy to love and hard to sell, and that business, at its best, is just storytelling with receipts.

College cracked things open. I signed with Stewart Talent and brought those same instincts to acting and music. Built an audience on YouTube. Released tracks on Spotify that've reached 50,000+ listeners. Even performed with Coldplay at Soldier Field once, which was surreal. But the real high from these ventures came from realizing how they're all connected. Acting, music, photography — they weren't separate pursuits. They were different dialects of the same language: creative storytelling.

Advertising taught me to speak that language fluently. First at DDB, now at FCB Chicago, I help brands turn business objectives into cultural stories. I've written national campaigns for AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson, pitched and won new business, and learned how to sell creativity at scale. The work sharpened both sides of my brain: the creative and the strategist. Turns out, they need each other more than you'd think.

Outside the agency, I consult with startups and founders, helping them find the story that makes their brand feel inevitable. It's the same instinct that's always guided me, just in different clothes. Lately, my work with Outlier has shown me how AI can amplify creativity instead of replacing it, making the process faster, sharper, more human. I write about some of this on my Substack, where I explore the art of being human in a world that's constantly shifting.

Looking back, the pattern's clear. Every chapter — from performing to pitching — has been a study in how stories move people, and how meaning turns into momentum. I've been nominated for Best Actor at the Chicago Indie Film Awards, featured on NBC and NPR, and published everywhere from the Chicago Tribune to Modern Luxury. But honestly? The work that matters most is the connective tissue — the part where you realize it's all one story, just told in different rooms.

What's next? I'm still figuring that out. But I'm as curious as ever. And now I've got a playbook.