I've been in the industry since 2007 and taught myself design and front end development back before code camps and Google Chrome were a thing — back when we all had the title “web designer”. Nowadays, I spend my time leading and mentoring designers of all ages and abilities.

As a design leader I work directly with product leadership at every level: product managers, development managers, and c-suite executives. I build and manage those relationships and work with leadership to strategize and drive the product roadmap. I work with my design teams to deliver excellent user experiences for our users and to advocate for the user at ever stage of the process.

Being in design leadership puts me right where I want to be. I'm at the intersection of product design, product strategy, and product management, and I get the opportunity to mentor folks along the way.

When I'm not leading my product team, I'm planning and facilitating design thinking workshops either through IBM or my local AIGA chapter. I've led workshops of all types and sizes, from Intro to Design Thinking to remote product team sessions with folks spread all around the world.