The After-Life.

I always wanted to be an animator.

From the time that I picked up that huge Disney Animation book that my parents bought "The Art of Walt Disney", all I wanted to do was draw characters and bring them to life.

I idolized Glen Keane and the Nine Old Men, and even wrote a letter to him in 7th grade asking career advice (never got an answer - I'm sure the address I looked up in the junior high library wasn't right.). I knew what I wanted to be, and there was nothing getting in my way.

I also loved video games and graphics. I played endless hours of Descent and every other "3D" game I could get my hands on. The tech was mesmerizing.

Then it was 1995 and I was graduating high school, and my world shifted forever. Toy Story was released. My trajectory would never be the same. That was now my north star, my life goal. I had to work at this place and with these people.

Fast forward 15 years. I had been at Disney Interactive doing amazing things in games as a Character Lead (too many games to name), but I felt like I wasn't there yet. I still had my Everest to climb. It took years of trying, and in 2010, it finally happened. I took a job as a run-of-show character TD to work on Brave, and moved my growing family from Utah to a tiny house in Danville, CA. It was my dream come true.

Pixar Animation Studios was magical. It was unlike anything I could imagine. I would walk the halls, just pinching myself, amazed that I had "made it". The people were amazing, the atmosphere was amazing, and the creative environment was Incredible (pun intended). I was home.

A few years and movies later when I realized that I needed to make a change for my family, I decided I had to leave. I couldn't imagine life outside of those amazing, beautiful, hallowed brick and steel walls. The thought of it was terrible, but I knew it was for the best (even if I didn't know how that could be true). When I decided to take a job at Nike, I remember walking around the buildings and the grounds, breathing deeply, stopping and staring at the brand new Brooklyn building, and the new "Steve Jobs Building" sign, and wondering, "What in the world are you thinking??" I had reached my goal. I had planned on retiring there if I was lucky. I just wanted to soak it all in, and I didn't want it to end. And now it was.

Choosing to end it was insanely hard. But ending it opened up another massive door that I had no idea even existed. I went to Nike and learned an insane amount in the time I was there, and then took the leap and started Trapdoor Creative, Inc.

What I realized was that the memories, the people, and the time I had at Pixar will always stay with me. Leaving was so very hard. I wouldn't give up my time at Pixar for anything. It made me who I am today. The people, the environment, and the principles shaped my work and my thoughts about story, 3D, technology, detail, and more. It was SO worth it.

But there was so much more to create and explore, so much more to learn, so many more great people to meet, so much more 3D technology to discover, and an incredible journey ahead of me. I wouldn't trade that for anything either.

To all of you who were impacted by the layoffs this week, my deepest apologies. It hurts. But keep going. Keep creating. Keep telling. Take everything you learned, and turn it into your next great adventure, because "adventure is out there!!"

Just know that there is life, a lot of great life, after Pixar.