Alexei Beltrone is not a woman, although he was once mistaken for one. It resulted in him being accidentally briefed on a diet sparkling pink malt liquor.

Alexei, who usually goes by “Lex,” is an Associate Creative Director at Pereira & O’Dell’s rapidly expanding New York office. There, he works on every account he can get his greedy creative hands on, like FOX Sports 1, realtor.com, Blue Apron and Memorial Sloan Kettering. His best idea to date was to install a hanging kick bag in the office.

Before Pereira & O’Dell, Alexei set foot in many agencies, large and small. He’s been a part of creating campaigns for everything from Legal Sea Foods and Scope to Smirnoff and Drugfree.org.

Alexei’s path into advertising was an unusual one. At 16 years old, he dropped out of high school and took a job as a 3D animator at a medical imaging company. There, he worked with cross-sections of convicted murderer’s organs (via The Visible Human project) and performed virtual heart surgery on Arnold Schwarzenegger. Unfulfilled with (and slightly grossed out by) his line of work, he ended up in the advertising program at the School of Visual Arts, where he now teaches.

When he’s not working or teaching, he can be found scouring the city for new animals to eat.