After graduating from U.C. Berkeley, Portello wanted to make movies. So, she did the logical thing and moved to Portland, Oregon.

A temp gig at Nike led to a ten-year career in Sports Marketing. After Nike, she joined Adidas during the brand's comeback. During her eight-year tenure at Adidas, she contributed to re-building the brand, first as a Promotions Manager handling collegiate basketball endorsement relationships then promoted to Event Manager where she oversaw events across the sport spectrum. Her contributions expanded when she was promoted to Director of Events, where she oversaw the brand's major events including the NCAA Final Four, Women's World Cup, (Men's) World Cup and the Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney as well as annual corporate events and tradeshows. Before leaving Adidas, Portello was a Brand Concept Manager and led the development and execution of a global marketing campaign around Los Angeles Laker, Kobe Bryant.

Relocating to Los Angeles in 2002, Portello was one of the founding partners of Cinema Libre Studio and is currently producing her first film, "Phenom".