About Me
a creative direction
Bil Hood in so many words
It all got off to a flying start. My dad was stationed at Bergstrom Airforce Base in Austin when I was born. I didn't end up spending much time in Texas, but I figure being a natural born Texan is worth something. We moved around pretty quick those first years, ending up in Seattle by the time I was in preschool. It just happened that the preschool was located at the church my Grandpa was pastor. He was, and always will be, my pastor.
I attended public school through second grade and ended up landing at our local Lutheran grade school. No one knew at the time how instrumental that place would be. Hope Lutheran Church and School ended up becoming the place that educated me through 8th grade, the church I was married in, the school my wife taught in for 24 years, the school both my kids went to from preK-8th grade, and the church they were both baptized and confirmed in.
Yep, my wife (Kim) and I went to the same grade school and the same high school, Seattle Lutheran High. We were a couple years apart, we really didn't connect until after college when we went back to our High School to perform in an alumni play where I played her dad. Through the years we have both been in a semi-pro choir the English Singers (yes, it is as cool as it sounds). We played in a band that toured around the Pacific Northwest, recorded an album, and won some kind of Christian music award in the process. We still play together at least once a month at church, and whenever we can with our family. It is awesome that we all have music in common.
After High School, I went to the University of Washington where I was the Friday night anchor and producer of the UW weekly TV news program. We aired on public access to an audience of people who must have fallen asleep on their remote to land on our show.
Out of college I was picked up by Watts/Silverstein and Associates, a communications firm that specialized in corporate product launch events. It was run by Charlie Watts (always loved walking in to a restaurant with him and George Harrison from Nintendo, we seemed to always get great tables) and Bruce Sliverstein (a gastroenterologist by night and media mogul by day). There I had a chance to work with the biggest and boldest corporations of the time. Helping clients like Microsoft, Intel, Disney, Nintendo, Kenworth, and many others. It consisted of many overnight stints blowing lint off of thousands of slides, finding boxes to hide the Mac computers that were running Bill Gates speaker support, and learning how to best manage the business elite who run the country.
When Watts was sold off to a giant corporate group out of NY I was able to take what I learned there and join my dad and brother in the family business, Genesis One Design. It was a great mix, adding my event and video skills to their design, photography, and tech strengths. We were able to maintain many of the clients I had grown to know at Watts and add them to the stable of Seattle area businesses, Christian ministries, and pro athlete connections that Genesis One was already serving.
One of those clients was Seattle Lutheran High School. Yep, the same school that Kim and I went to. After spending some time on retainer as their Marketing Director, I came onboard to be their Campus Pastor and Theology Department Chair. When Concordia University Irvine heard about a "Marketing Pastor" they moved my family, and our very deep roots, from the Pacific Northwest to they very dry climate of Orange County.
During our first year in SoCal, my Disneyland pass said I scanned into the park 56 times. We may have been a little too into Disney those early years. In addition to getting to know all things Mickey Mouse, I also spent that first year visiting more than 300 Lutheran churches in the Pacific Southwest and 90 churches in Orange County to get to better understand the new context I was in.
My time at Concordia has allowed me some great opportunities to build, grow, and explore creative initiatives. The Reformation 500 event at Segerstrom Concert Hall, CONOCORDIAserves day of service, and PBS Christmas Specials are just a few. I have also been able to preach very regularly at churches all over the west.
The big move seems to have been pretty good for the rest of the family too. Kim continues to mold young minds, teaching third grade at St. Paul's Lutheran School just blocks from our house. Our oldest is now a Lutheran teacher, teaching AP World History at Crean Lutheran High School, not far from our house. He is married to a great nurse and they have the best daughter a grandpa could hope for. Our youngest is being the best aunt she can be, while also nannying three kids who seem to keep her running ragged.
Forrest Gump
There are times that my life looks a little like Forrest Gump. You remember how he always seemed to show up next to famous people? That is a little of what I have been privileged to experience.
It all started when I was young. My dad was the team photographer for the Seattle Super Sonics. This would get me chances to sit on his lap courtside at games while he would shoot. It brought their starting center, Jack Sikma, to our house for Christmas Eve one time.
My dad's sports connections paired him up with Pro Athletes Outreach, a sports ministry that focused on NFL and MLB players and their wives. We met a lot of pro athletes working with PAO through the years.
Many of my clients were themselves the famous people you read about. Bill Gates, Steve Balmer, and Andy Grove were a few of the Fortune 500 leaders who I would hang out with.
Additionally, I would just stumble upon someone else new and famous. Sneaking backstage at the Grammys into a room with Aerosmith, Sting, and Sting's wife Trudy Styler. Finding Paul McCartney in the basement of the Seattle Art Museum. Spending time with Desmond Tutu. Having lunch with John Wooden. Playing music with members of the Doobie Brothers, the Offspring, and War. Sharing the airport floor with the members of DC Talk the day after they won their first Grammy.
It has been odd, but it has been fun.