Tom Libertiny is an award-winning composer, author, photographer, and movie director. He creates stories with intention across words, visuals, and music.
I tell stories across multiple mediums, but I don’t just share the finished pieces. I document the real process — how I apply minimalist thinking, systems from my engineering background, and intentional decision-making to create across writing, visuals, and music. Whether you’re here for the work itself or the systems that shape it, you’ll find both.
What’s My Story?
I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, but my passion for writing took off in sixth grade thanks to my mom and my teacher. When I wrote an essay on Leonardo da Vinci, I became fascinated by his many talents across different fields. More importantly, I discovered that writing about something you love is one of the keys to success.
My dad lent me his camera so I could include photographs in the essay, and my mom’s drawing lessons helped me add illustrations. This experience showed me that writing could incorporate images.
In second grade, a teacher with infinite patience taught me to play the piano and to read and write music. Inspired by da Vinci, I wrote one of my first songs. I was also experimenting with stop-motion filmmaking using my dad’s 8mm movie camera. My second five-minute film was about da Vinci, a big step up from my first film, Ollie the Octopus and Space Station Alpha.
Since second grade, I have used my free time as an entrepreneur, selling flowers door-to-door and repairing equipment. One memorable project was fixing my dad’s electric shaver, which I tested by shaving the carpet in the hallway.
Fun Facts
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- Big-time introvert: INTJ.
- Sense of humor is as dry as desert sand.
- Been happily married since the day I met my wife on the first day of undergraduate engineering school.
- First-generation American; my family comes from Europe and Asia.
- Traveled to roughly 75 percent of the countries in the world. My first trip was to Europe when I was seven months old. (I do not remember it.)
- I’m a minimalist. I begin every project by throwing the kitchen sink at it, then I delete everything that does not advance the story.
- Given the choice of seeing, hearing, or reading, my answer is always: “yes.”
- Started my musical life with piano lessons, including reading and writing music, at age seven and took up the ‘cello at nine. I taught myself bass, synth, guitar, and drums. Vocal lessons helped me become proficient enough to work as a backing singer.
- Recorded and released hundreds of songs and soundtracks.
- Been writing stories since the day I learned to play the piano. Writing a story is still how I begin every new song. That habit eventually grew into writing for magazines and books. I still read everything I can get my hands on.
- Self-taught photographer and filmmaker.
- My professional path began in engineering. I’ve worked as a mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, coder, and project manager in transportation (automotive and aerospace), semiconductors, and medical devices. Later, I moved into the financial industry as an advisor and venture capitalist, then into marketing and advertising for small and midsize companies.
- Always have been an entrepreneur. I started selling flowers door-to-door as a kid and later worked as a musician (touring and session), lawn-mower and vacuum-cleaner repairman, toy salesman, and lifeguard. During undergraduate engineering school I founded my first real company, providing engineering services to other engineers. I grew it to a multi-million dollar company before selling. My proudest achievement there was pairing seasoned experts with sharp recent high-school graduates who already knew their way around computers and software. Since then, I’ve founded and sold several more companies and have also worked for Fortune 500 firms across North America, Europe, and Asia.
- Engineering runs in my family. My wife, mother, father, and father-in-law are all engineers.
- Earned my undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and later completed an MBA with concentrations in finance and marketing. I hold one U.S. patent.