As design has moved beyond the bounds of an industry, and toward being a differentiating force for brands, I’ve been right at the center of that movement. For four decades, I’ve guided everything from Fortune 500 companies to category leaders across industries and high-profile brands in their efforts to reach consumers where they are — to transcend the transactional and tap into the emotional — building true brand love in the process.I’m fortunate to have worked at a firm that has actively shaped the business of design, but my role within Gensler was to chart a course for the design of business. I established the Brand studio within the firm to deliver multidisciplinary strategy and design solutions. It is a model that cuts diagonally across service lines — the first of its kind in the business and one that has influenced the holistic approach that sets Gensler apart.I’m hard to put in a box because I take a polymathic approach rooted in understanding how humans live, work, and play. Over the course of a project, I can play all of the roles of a brand strategist, designer, futurist, architect, marketer, and technologist. But at the end of the day, I believe that organizations built for the future put design at the center, creatively solving problems by staying true to the consumer. My colleagues and clients would describe me as an active listener, intuitive in how I approach unique challenges, and how I guide clients through a process that often feels daunting and foreign — to a conclusion that is empowering, brand-focused, and singularly consumer-centric. I’m curious, led by a desire to always be learning. My deep experience in client service has shaped my emotional intelligence to read a room, admit when I don’t know something, and seek out the right experts who do know. I believe that I offer an expansive perspective — one reaching across categories and industries, centered around the notion of design as the practice of thinking and solving from the consumer point of view and the idea that ROE (return on emotion) is as important as ROI in today’s business environment.