My story

Give me a problem to chew on.

An overview – I’ve led design teams at startups, non-profits and embedded product teams, leading brand, research, product design and cross-functional teams. I enjoy building teams, coaching and mentoring both ICs and managers, establishing and advocating for design (and customer) culture, and leading teams with kindness. I’m particularly passionate about mission-driven initiatives, whether that is enabling creative culture, driving environmental advocacy, or designing humane digital products. My background running my own design studio gives me a tremendous respect for building a business from the ground up, and my desire for impact has  given me a hunger for solving problems at scale. Give me a delicious problem to chew on, alongside a compassionate and talented team, and I’m SO excited to dig in.

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More of my personal story – I’m the third child and only girl raised by our single mom in Central Florida. I spent my childhood wandering around outside, immersed in art, writing, playing water polo, and living closely to my extended family. Growing up I had always wanted to be a painter or a writer, but at university discovered I could combine my knack for both visuals and words into a powerful method of communication and storytelling. I graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida with a degree in Graphic Design, then jumped aboard a plane to London to teach myself about the world.

Living in the UK gave me access to Europe, and I learned so much that I didn’t have  available to me as a child: diverse cultures, politics, world-class design, all from a non-American point of view. After living in England I moved sight unseen to Toronto, and then rural Paris, Ontario, ultimately living away for twelve years (and becoming Canadian!) before moving back “home” to Orlando and my wider family. I’m glad to be back in Florida, helping to build a closer community here, raising my food forest and my own two girls. In Orlando I help lead our Orlando Designers Slack group, started a local Plants & Gardening Group, became a Master Gardener, and continue to mentor designers just beginning their careers, much as I did here in Florida.

An five, an enthusiastic idealist

At eight, a cautious optimist

Roots in digital

Interactive design has always led me down interesting paths. Some of my first projects included designing flash sites in 13 languages for European ad campaigns, putting in the hours on big ad agency projects for fancy shoe companies and the deep-pocketed fast food industry. As I gained experience I moved closer to work that was aligned with my own values, especially arts and technology organizations, more than happy to be working alongside other excellent human beings (or “human beans”, as I once called us).

Design in healthcare

My first significant departure from traditional design work was stepping into the world of healthcare in 2011, where I was the first visual designer embedded in the Human Factors team, a part of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at Toronto General Hospital. We designed and tested interfaces for medical devices and I got into the world of mobile app design, specifically for self-care of chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma and heart disease. One of our projects, Bant app, won several awards including the People’s Choice at the mHealth World Congress. Other work is still in clinical trials.

I became a design lead in the Centre and grew an in-house studio with both staff and physical space. I helped bring Hacking Health to Toronto to connect designers with medical professionals. I blogged regularly to attract designers to the industry and spoke across Canada and in the U.S. at Harvard, HXD Conference, Medicine 2.0 and others.

It was during this period that I was on the founding team of Creative Mornings Toronto. I also started the Women && Tech project to highlight the stories of women in our industry, one of the first projects to do so.

Technology non-profit

In healthcare, progress was painfully slow-moving and I felt I could do greater good in a faster-paced environment. I decided to move back into technology where there was also more room for me to grow.

I started at the Mozilla Foundation as a UX/UI designer working on the Webmaker suite of tools: Thimble, X-Ray Goggles, Popcorn maker and the Webmaker mobile app. I advocated for design within this developer-centric organization and forged a role for myself as Design Director. I now oversaw a team doing the product design work I previously did single-handedly, including brand design, web literacy and advocacy work around Net Neutrality, event branding and wayfinding for the annual Mozfest, and Mozilla’s large scale fundraising campaigns.

My colleagues were talented and ambitious and I learned so much about leading a team, my craft, and the serious issues threatening the openness of the web today.

Mozillians remain one of my favorite groups of alums. The work I did and the people I met at this intense, mission-driven organization have become foundational to my belief that my skills are flexible and infinitely applicable to helping lift up the things that I believe in.

Running a studio

After Mozilla I started a small design studio with my husband. We built a sought-after design business in the small town of Paris, Ontario (1.5 hours from Toronto). We ran campaigns,  published books, built and refined websites and apps, and created short films and animations. We were deeply embedded in our local community and frequently volunteered whether to combat a local gravel pit, to slow urban sprawl, or to raise money for a new school playground. We ran the frequently sold-out Paris Lectures event series & workshops featuring local artisans, 20 events that grew from 13 people to 150+ with waiting lists. Not bad for a town of 10,000.

Our business grew steadily until my mother's Parkinson's diagnosis drew us back to Florida. You only get one mom!

Advocate for design & humans

Over the years I have learned what doing work I love feels like. I have led projects, teams, and functional departments across a range of industries, remote and otherwise. I have started side hustles, seen them grow, and absorbed how different people, organizations and business models operate, and what is important to me at work often boils down to people and mission.

Those closest to me know I am authentic, compassionate, and an excellent detangler of complex challenges. I act like an owner and care a lot about inclusion. Anyone who’s been in design review with me knows I have a penchant for the big picture and an obsession with what story the details are telling.

Most recently, I was Product Design Director at Lattice. Previously, I led all design functions at Glitch and some of Webflow’s more complex initiatives including Logic Flows and Canvas. I  welcome opportunities to meet other people  doing interesting things! Be sure to say hello.

Skills
Design Leadership
Product Design (UX/UI)
Graphic Design + Branding
Content Strategy
User Research & Testing
Writing & Communication
Remote Work
Open Source

Sectors
Technology (web & mobile)
Startups & small businesses
Arts & culture
Community & non-profits
Healthcare

Volunteering
Mentor, ADPList (since ‘24)
Seminole County Master Gardener (since ‘23)
PTA Reflections arts program chair (since ‘23)
Founder Lake Mary Plants & Gardening (since ‘22)
Admin for Orlando Designers (since ‘19)