// The “ Button Pusher ” Journey //
Every career has a starting point. Mine started with a camera.
My passion for photography started in high school and continued through junior college, where I took every photography course I could—photography, photojournalism, labs, yearbook, you name it. I spent my free time shooting friends, surf and skate events, baseball games, and anything else that gave me an opportunity to learn. Action photography quickly became my passion. I loved anticipating the moment, following the action through the viewfinder, and capturing that split second when everything came together.
Fresh out of school, I headed to Mammoth Mountain with some friends for a season and landed a job as an on-mountain photographer. I photographed guests coming off the chairlift and spent my days off shooting friends skiing and snowboarding. What started as a seasonal adventure quickly became something more.
Snowboarding was exploding, and I decided to chase the dream of becoming a professional photographer. I moved to Summit County, Colorado, where the snowboarding scene was taking shape. I worked two jobs to support myself and my film and processing habit while shooting athletes whenever I could.
That summer, I met producer Putter Brown, who was putting together a snowboard film called POW. I split my time between still photography and second-camera work, traveling throughout the West on film missions. When the film was finished, I submitted my images to sponsors and magazines. My first photographs were published, and that season launched my career.
The following year brought bigger productions, more athletes, and more travel. Working with photographer Justin Hostynek, we produced Anthem, traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada. The success of the film and the images I produced opened the door to more editorial and advertising work, allowing me to transition into photography full time.
I began contributing photography to Snowboarder and Blunt magazines while working with advertising clients throughout the snowboard industry. Ken Block, who was running Blunt, offered me a photo editor role and encouraged me to expand my skill set into desktop publishing. I bought my first Mac, taught myself Photoshop and graphic design, and began discovering how photography could evolve into something much bigger.
Lamar Snowboards, one of my early photography clients, brought me on to manage their team and photograph their advertising. As my design skills grew, I moved into an internal creative role, producing advertising and catalogs while continuing to shoot athletes and travel on photo missions.
It was during this period that Jason Rasmus—J2—gave me the nickname “Button Pusher.” Other athletes called me “Kus” or “Photo Kus”—Kus being a shortened version of Markus—which eventually evolved into Phokused, my URL and potential company name. “Button Pusher” was a playful reference to my career evolving from photography into design, web, and creative direction.
From Lamar, I moved to Circus Distribution, working with DC and Dub. I managed snow teams while designing advertising, catalogs, retail graphics, and eventually DC’s first website. Photography remained central, but I was becoming a creative problem solver who could take an idea from concept to final production.
As action sports moved into the mainstream, my friend Steve Astephan had the vision to launch The Familie, an athlete management and creative agency. I helped brand the agency and was brought on to build and lead the creative division. I started as a one-person operation and grew the team as the agency expanded, shooting commercial campaigns and events, developing creative concepts, designing advertising and websites, and working with brands including ESPN, X Games, Target, T-Mobile, Mountain Dew, Samsung, Campbell’s, Nestlé, Wrigley, Disney, Acclaim, AT&T, and others.
Looking back, photography was always the thread connecting everything. The camera opened the door, but curiosity and a desire to keep creating pushed me into design, advertising, technology, and creative direction. What started with photographing friends and chasing the perfect action shot eventually became a career built around visual storytelling.
And apparently, a lot of button pushing.
