Have you ever had something so pure in logic leave you frustratingly dumbfounded? My dad said this to me all the time as a kid to become more resourceful. Defiant as I was, I never had a retort.
This started my endlessly inquisitive nature, which lead to perfectionism. It's one of those things I demand of myself and patiently coach others for which to strive. I take great responsibility in my role of a mentor, teacher, and leader. Understanding from where one comes is necessary to see what they can become. That goes for people and businesses alike.
Brand isn't just who you say you are. It's how you make people feel. It's your entire journey and others' perception of it. The best brands are vulnerable and open with their audiences.
I'd love to help shape your narrative.Through brand voice, visuality, and strategic marketing from research and insight, you can be whomever you wish. Let's get there together.
It's okay to not know what to do next. But caring enough to find out is always the next step.
Born, raised, and educated in Dayton, Ohio for 22 years. 4 years in Columbus. Then, San Francisco, California to modern day.
Design, writing, and strategy scratch the itch of all of my hobbies and interests. It never feels like "work" to me. And I love working with others and learning from them.
Traveling, fitness, music, guitar, concerts, dogs, motorcycles, off-roading, cooking, comic books, cartoons, technology, problem-solving.
Do you like personality tests? I do. Is that lame? Probably.
ENTJ: The Commander
Body Type: Eight (98%) / One (97%)
Head Type: Five (86% / Six (80%) / Seven (67%)
Heart Type: Two (76%) / Three (76%) / Four (92%)
Chaotic Good
A Tabaxi Beastmaster Ranger, to boot.
Iron Man
I believe in letting the best person do the job. I strive to empower you to do what you need to do and stay out of your way.
I’d like to think that I’m a simple person, I loathe corporate politicking and am always looking to take the most efficient and productive path.
I never shout at people but will drive and push my team to succeed. My intent always comes from a place of care.
I see myself more as team captain than a team owner. Think of me as a co-worker/team member, not a manager. I enjoy executing as much as ideating.
You will see me ask questions about purpose, impact, and end goals. My intent is always to improve focus. Design choices should always be founded in research and rationale.
I also aim for an attitude of “doing the right thing for our recipient/user.” Leadership will always support this. Hence you should never let bad processes get in the way of good work. “That’s the way we’ve always done it” will never fly with me. Complacency is a killer. If the way we do something is no longer the right process, let’s improve and implement it ASAP.
I will never take credit for work you do, and I will do my best to defend you and take blows for the team as needed.
As I believe feedback plays a significant role in assessing my performance, your performance, as well as our team’s overall performance, I frequently solicit feedback from others. I want the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s the only way I’ll improve myself for my own and your benefit.
I believe in hiring only the best. If any of us has any doubt about a candidate, we would rather pass. People who care about their craft are easily identifiable.
I will be as transparent as I can, but sometimes that will mean you will hear how “I cannot tell you some things”. In these circumstances, it is not a strike against you, rather I would prefer not to burden you with knowledge unnecessarily.
I am extremely passionate about the work we do as a team, so you sometimes will see me disagree with decisions and challenge them for improvement. My intent is to get the best out of you and deliver the best experience for whomever is intended to receive our content.
I do not fear confrontation if it means improvement is the end result. Respect everyone and their expertises, always. Admit to what you don’t know. Indecision is one of the most toxic characteristics leadership can have. It’s better to make a decision and fail-forward than sit still.
I know that I have blind-spots. I am anything but perfect. To err is human. However, I am always trying to improve. For the betterment of myself, my career, and who I partner with.
I am outspoken and have anxiety, but I use those pitfalls as strengths to play out and see any possible scenario to be prepared, and then speak up early and often to solve a problem when they actually do occur to mitigate damage to projects, morale, personnel, or processes.
I have seen many people burn-out, as well as sacrifice their lives by working too much. I was one of those people most of my life. Since then, I no longer believe in the “always-on” work schedule, so you will rarely hear me ask anyone in the group to work weekends, nor will I expect you to be on email/Slack at night. You have likely seen me try to kick you offline once the clock strikes 5. I do this in jest, but want to remind you to live your life.
You will sometimes see me on email/Slack at the end of the day or on the weekend. However, I do not have expectations of you to respond or deal with Action Items during non-business hours unless absolutely critical. “Do as I say, not as I do,” I guess. For me? Work brings me self-worth. Don’t be like me. 🙂
We will work hard and drive to solve enormous challenges, but I encourage all project managers and employees in the group to think ahead and ensure workloads are manageable on a regular basis. We should be scheduling to a 40 hour week, not a 60 hour week.
Use your Vacation days. They’re there for a reason. The only thing I ever ask about PTO/vacation is that you give me/your manager enough notice so that we can plan for your absence.
It is all about getting the right things done. It does not mean doing less for the sake of doing less either. I am a big proponent of Pareto’s Principle (80/20 rule… learned from a workout program, of all places. Work smarter, not harder, through the “vital few”) With a clear purpose and direction, we can focus on meaningful work. I ask questions to force you to think about the purpose. And sometimes, an immediate idea/solution isn’t possible. I go on walks to come up with my best ideas. Find your “walk” when you’re stumped. Use it as often as needed.
We have a lot of passion, and we have some hard challenges. Communication is fundamental to get the things done. I encourage open and constructive dialogues. You should feel comfortable pushing back if you disagree with something. You should feel comfortable coming and talking to me about anything. I am your ally, your mentor, and even your therapist… if you want me to be. But you get to choose my level of involvement.
Decision-making is not a single individual’s activity. Get involved, speak up. We are driving the business together and making the best decision with all the available data.
There may be times that I will disagree with my boss and you will disagree with me. This is natural. When this happens, I will always fight the good fight and commit. We may win, we may lose. Whatever shakes out, we all must agree to commit to the decision made. Then move forward as the team. It would be great to see you do the same.
Mistakes happen. Learn from them. Repeated mistakes are the ones to avoid. Try, fail fast, fail forward and learn from the experience to improve. Always strive to improve.
Due to the nature of our work, successful cross-group collaboration is essential. For every project that requires cross-group collaboration with an internal group or another team, you will be measured not only on the outcome of the project, but also in the way you communicated, negotiated, and interacted with dependent teams. This seems to be both my strongest and weakest suit. For those that know and understand me and my intent, collaboration and communication is seamless. My intent is always to make the best work possible founded in strategy and research/rationale. That may involve a lot questions on my part so that I can better understand all sides of said rationale. For many, that is a cause to rally behind for better results. For those unassociated with my drive, this can be seen as off-putting and combative. I must definitively state this is never the case. And I must do this because this is a common misconception in my early professional interactions with a new collaborator. This is a flaw and blind-spot that I am continually working on. Perhaps my greatest flaw. I am always seeking to win newcomers over earlier for the sake of less friction in the future.
Part of my job satisfaction comes from seeing my team members grow their career. Career development is a partnership between you and me. I need you to help me focus on things that are important to you so we can create an individualized plan. Here is a list to help you think through career growth:
• Levels and promotions
• Visibility, personal brand, influence (inside and outside the company)
• Building a portfolio of work
• Design skills, copywriting skills, research methods, presentation skills, storytelling, creativity
• Leadership, communication, confidence, thought-leadership
• Building deep expertise in a specific area
• If you prefer (don’t prefer) a particular type of recognition, let me know. I am here to help you get where you want to go but expect you to be the driver.
I believe in recognizing everyone for a job well done (this includes peers and reports). I might be seen as too mushy or complimentary, giving recognition early and often. If this is something you prefer more/less of, I am happy to comply as needed. Just know that I take notice of all accomplishments and I’m proud to be a part of a team with you in it.
I also believe that all managers should give consistent and on-going feedback throughout the review period. This feedback should have a good balance between positive and constructive feedback. We can schedule 1:1s where we talk about status as you see fit. I want all meetings to be a valuable expenditure of time, so the frequency of these meetings are up to you. This is also time to give me feedback. Again, if you have a preference on the type of feedback, please discuss this with me.