As a leader, I value…
Autonomy & Accountability
Building trust and accountability leads to better forms of autonomy in teams. Designing ways of working that create self-worth in your team can grow their confidence to deliver impact .
Humanity & Perspective
Public spaces provide opportunities for research and building cultural awareness about the people we intend to serve. What we build should always focus on improving their lives for the better.
Hi! I’m Alex.
I’m all about getting teams and people out of their comfort zone.
We all have our own beliefs, habits, and assumptions about the world around us, and that is especially true in the workplace. Every team member is unique. They come from diverse backgrounds, have varying levels of experience, and distinctive ways of absorbing and disseminating information.
These characteristics are some of the defining components of a ecclectic working group. As such, I look for ways that these unique identities can be leveraged to build healthy working relationships that grow cross-functional teams to develop an interdisciplinary set of skills.
These lead to outcomes for both the individual and teams in an organization such as an appetite to innovate, a clear perspective on professional growth opportunities and sense of community.
To help those individuals and teams align with business goals I leverage design thinking and organizational development frameworks that create opportunities to embrace ideas, beliefs, and practices that are new or different.
Regardless of a team member’s specific role or skill sets, this approach can be applied agnostically to practically any function of an organization that has the appetite to change in a meaningful way.
Curiosity & Play
Teams should look for inspiration in analogous places; even if they seem like unlikely sources. Spending time experimenting and exploring new concepts promotes joy and fuels the imagination.
Community & Empathy
There should always be a safe space to speak up and challenge ideas and the status quo. Understanding others beliefs and views can make discussions more fruitful.
Design is part of who I am, not just a profession.
For over 15 years I have worked in the creative field across various design practices. I have been involved in the co-founding of a digital marketing firm, a record label, and an iOS development startup. I've lead design teams for various institutions and companies including, the top rated public university in the US, a Fortune 10 telecom company, and now for the world's leading consulting firm.
In addition, I have pursued passion projects such as; a boutique creative house, launching an apparel line, producing music events, and curating a digital lifestyle magazine. My exploration into various design practices and mediums has allowed me to develop a robust understanding of what it means to be a creator.
The ever-changing landscape of design provides me with the exciting opportunity to constantly challenge the status quo and push the boundaries of what a creative platform can offer. As such, I have been able to balance the drive for visual excellence with the needs of my users and clients, while also continuing to support internal business development.
More recently I have embarked on a long and fruitful journey in how to develop my emotional intelligence and use it as a critical tool in my ability to be an effective leader, mentor, coach and parent 🙂
Objectivity & Courage
Making bolder, riskier assumptions can get teams to better outcomes more quickly. The probability of failure in the future is greater if we only look to prove ourselves right in the present.
Ingenuity & Focus
When working in ambiguous spaces it’s important for teams to design a ‘box’ so that they can inevitably step outside of it to push the boundaries of what is possible.
I bring a broad and deep set of skills and expertise to the table.
Design
UX/UI Design, Interaction Design, User Research, Design Engineering, Branding & Identity, Art Direction
Product
Product Strategy, Product Management, Product Adoption, Marketing & Communications
Enablement
Design Systems, Analytics, AI & Machine Learning, Agile + Digital Transformation
Leadership
Stakeholder + Client Relationships, Mentorship, Coaching, Team Building + Health
I have several tool belts that I can leverage.
Design
Figma, Sketch, Principle, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Nucleo
Workflow
ChatGPT, Midjourney, Jira, Confluence, Miro, Notion, Abstract, Zeplin, Tableau, Heap, Qualtrics
Sound
Ableton Live & Note, DM1, Synth One + lots of analog gear (too many to list :P)
Code
GitHub, React, Atom, Visual Studio, Sublime Text, Notepad ++, Terminal (Mac OS)
I like to balance my work with play.
My musical sandbox
I believe that everyone should have their own sandbox. A place free of judgement, rules and financial pressures where we can experiment and play. This is especially powerful for folks with a creative sensibility, and something I often instill in my design teams and folks that I mentor.
For me, that sandbox comes in the form of a boundless auditory landscape where I can unleash my love for creating musical narratives that can exist on the dancefloor or emanate from your favorite pair of headphones.
The life of my sandbox spans nearly a decade in the music industry. In this space I focused on curating a record label (PUZL Records) and running an artist collective and event brand (LAMP) producing a wide range of music focused events in California.
Take the sonic plunge: