Hello.
My teams get tired of me asking, “are we building the right product, for the right person, at the right time?” But hey, it's the job.
I'm a learner at heart. One of my favorite questions comes from Marketplace's "Make Me Smart" podcast: "What's something you thought you knew, but later found out you were wrong about?"
This question isn't just personal reflection—it's the mindset I bring to every product we create. What assumptions are we making about our users? About the problems we're solving? If we're not constantly learning and adjusting our understanding, we're just building on assumptions. And we all know how that usually turns out.
Understanding users isn't just a step in my process—it's the foundation of everything I do. It's how we create tools that are genuinely meaningful, useful, and yes, even delightful. This understanding fuels empathy, which leads to better products and stronger teams. As a design leader, I'm passionate about empowering teams to ask these fundamental questions early and make decisions driven by real research.
Let's be honest—today's digital landscape often feels less human than ever. That doesn't mean we should abandon modern tools, but it does mean we need to work harder to ensure what we build actually solves human needs. In a world competing for attention, this human-centered approach makes all the difference.
Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of bringing this perspective to diverse challenges: establishing Kroger's first-ever curbside pickup, helping an EdTech company transform learning through data, bringing Ford into the e-commerce space, reimagining US Navy recruitment experiences, and even partnering with Disney to create a potty training app for Pull-Ups.
As a CX leader, my mission is simple but vital: bringing people back to the heart of product design.
My journey to human-centered design began with a love for cities. I started in urban planning, fascinated by how our environments shape our experiences. But looking around, I noticed something troubling—our spaces prioritize movement over people. The data confirms what we intuitively feel: communities built solely for getting from A to B as quickly as possible aren't places where we truly thrive.
There's a profound beauty in slowing down, in creating spaces that celebrate the process of being human together. While urban planning captured my imagination, it didn't offer the career path I was seeking. My time at DAAP at the University of Cincinnati led me to what was then the emerging field of UX design—new by name, perhaps, but timeless in its focus on human needs.
In UX, I found my perfect intersection: problem-solving, creativity, and people. It's where technical challenges meet human experiences, where data meets empathy.
Outside of work, I'm all about embracing what makes us human. You'll find me caught up in the electric atmosphere of a soccer match, unwinding at the lakehouse with family, carving down ski slopes, or simply enjoying quiet moments at home. And I'm still fascinated by cities—not just as collections of buildings and streets, but as living, breathing communities where our shared humanity is on full display, so I take any opportunity I can to explore them, anywhere in the world.