Aaron O’Neal
Co-founder · In Memory · 2024
Magician, educator, author
and a beloved friend.
Two friends. One vision.
Mind in Magic began with a shared belief that magic can be
a meaningful form of self-expression.
Diego Schmunis
Co-founder
Magician, product builder and
lifelong student of magic.
CO-FOUNDER · IN MEMORY · 2024
Aaron O’Neal
Aaron has been performing magic for some of the Pacific Northwest's largest corporations (Nike, Intel and others) for the last ten years. He is a published magic author and served two years as president of the Portland Society of Magicians (opens in a new tab).
After a career in education (he holds a Masters in Education and taught elementary school in Flagstaff Arizona), he moved into financial services as a banker and lender, which gave him extensive hands-on experience running business operations and capital management. He has managed large commercial and private real estate venture deals with many successful exits.
He has two boys and enjoys the outdoors. You will most likely find him on a kayak in the summer. He is an avid baseball fan and has played organized baseball since he was five years old. In his limited spare time he plays guitar and enjoys writing.
Favorite magician: David Williamson
Favorite magic book: Designing Miracles by Darwin Ortiz (opens in a new tab)
CO-FOUNDER
Diego Schmunis
Diego’s passion for magic began at a Doc Eason lecture in 2001. After reading Card College, Volume 1 from cover to cover, he returned to his local magic shop, bought The Books of Wonder, and fell in love with magic’s theory and philosophy. He is a past president of the Portland Society of Magicians (opens in a new tab).
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Diego has led product, design, engineering, and quality assurance teams at Silicon Valley startups. His work has spanned video production platforms, user-generated video players, and a fully virtualized animation studio. Following his company’s acquisition by Amazon in 2019, he and his family moved to Portland, Oregon.
Through Mind in Magic, Diego continues the vision he and Aaron established: a place for magicians to explore the why of their craft, learn from one another, and develop their own creative expression.
Away from product development, he enjoys reading from his magic library with a good dram of Scotch, listening to ’80s music, and fly fishing.
Favorite magician: René Lavand
Favorite magic book: Magic in Mind by Joshua Jay (opens in a new tab)