Dakota Shane Nunley.

I grew up in Garrettsville, a small town in rural Ohio. Both my parents are artists. Some of my early childhood was spent on a tour bus, following a musical my dad wrote, directed, and starred in. Wanting to write for a living was never treated as a strange idea in my house, and becoming a writer is what I crafted my identity around.

I attended UC Berkeley for undergrad, planning on law school. Being around the excitement of the startup scene there changed my path. Writing and creative problem solving turned out to be worth something in tech, and that was enough to redirect me. I started freelancing during school, taking on clients and learning the craft one at a time. Out of college my brother and I built a copywriting agency and grew it past six figures.

Learning by doing stuck. It's the way I've approached my work across fintech, media, edtech, and now in consumer technology at Product.ai (formerly Demand.io), where I'm Head of Search Product: I own how the company shows up in search, from SEO to AI answers. Good work should win. My job is making sure it can be seen.

Today, Los Angeles is home.