I’m passionate about mental health storytelling and creating digital tools that support access to care.
I’m passionate about mental health storytelling and creating digital tools that support access to care.
It’s the little things, right? During a psychiatric hospitalization in college, a nurse handed me a box of crayons. That small gesture changed everything. Drawing became a central part of my healing – and eventually, a larger metaphor for my talks and my approach to filmmaking. It reminded me that expression and identity look different for everyone, that our paths aren’t linear, and that the little things really do matter. I chose to share my story openly – partly as a personal challenge to myself, and partly to invite others to reflect on their own. After I was discharged, I began sharing my story publicly and auctioning my crayon drawings to raise money for suicide prevention programs. That instinct to create, connect, and pay it forward still shapes my work today. As I got back track, I went on to earn my B.S. in Human Development at UC Davis.
I began speaking publicly about mental health in college at 18 — sometimes prioritizing opportunities to speak over being in class. I never set out to “become a speaker”; it grew naturally from lived experience, curiosity, and a desire to contribute to real change. Early on, I became interested in mental health policy and civic leadership. I volunteered at suicide prevention fundraisers and spoke at local high schools, which led to appointments to the boards of NAMI California and later NAMI National. These experiences shaped my understanding of how to represent an issue that is both deeply personal and a critical public health concern. Since then, I’ve delivered over 150 keynotes and workshops across healthcare, education, and corporate settings. My work focuses on the intersection of individual well-being and workplace culture — emphasizing that mental health is not separate from how we lead and build systems.
My filmmaking career began in 2012 with a study abroad program in Documentary Film at Trinity University in Dublin, Ireland. During that time, I traveled to England to visit Bedlam, the oldest psychiatric hospital in the world — an experience that sparked a deeper interest in the history of mental health care and cultural differences in treatment. This trip became my first short film, A Global Mental Health Perspective.
I went on to found Lipp Studios, producing documentary and narrative films focused on mental and behavioral health. My first big project was a documentary series about youth psychosis with Columbia Psychiatry’s OnTrackNY program (pictured here) — a formative experience that shaped my approach to trauma-informed storytelling. That film series evolved into a stigma reduction research study and digital campaign in NYC.
Being out as gay and open about my mental health shapes how I lead and create. I know firsthand how visibility, collaboration, and representation matter – especially in systems that haven’t always made space for them. I hope I can inspire others to be authentically themselves, while also holding that sometimes being our full selves is its own privilege depending on one’s culture and safety.
I built a van in 2023 that I have been living and work out of full time. We all did something a little unconventional during COVID, right? It’s since become my little work studio and home on wheels.
I love thinking big in my career, but keeping my personal life simple: less overhead, less cognitive load. As an introvert who often does very extroverted things for work (speaking, client collaboration), van life has given me a sense of stillness and adventure, while staying connected to the work I care about.
#Vanlife has become a metaphor for thinking differently, and a personal challenge to lean into an alternative way of living. When I’m not working, you’ll find me rock climbing, mountain biking, or backcountry snowboarding.
