Communication has always been at the heart of my work. I found my career focus in writing, presenting and listening strategically so I could articulate stories in a creative and persuasive way.This helped me land a job for a boutique brand strategy firm, which was focused on creating marketing strategies based on research of real-world consumers. I learned that any piece of brand marketing or campaign needs a “why” behind it, driven from a real consumer insight that could be shaped into a business opportunity for a brand or consumer segment.Bringing this all to life meant working for a company that focused on digital marketing, but also understanding the tactical ways how marketing actually reached consumers and users. At my second job, I worked directly with clients and leveraged my communications skills and consumer insights into developing high-performing websites. It taught me the value of working quickly to drive meaningful results, while I grew my own skillsets and learned how to build trust quickly with clients and colleagues.After I landed my baseline knowledge and experience in digital and web design, I wanted to scale that experience for a global brand that needed to focus their efforts on digital storytelling. At Nike I have had the opportunity to: ► Develop strong relationships with people who saw my big picture thinking and strength in going outside my remit and role to do this. ► Work on a larger scaled enterprise offense to explore how a category business operated. ► Gain understanding of a marketing matrix and how to leverage it to build channel-right content.► Research, test and learn how to shape user experiences to drive more engagement and business. I earn trust with stakeholders early on, which makes decision-making more productive and fun. I build common ground between stakeholders to facilitate buy-in for project goals and deliverables, which creates a dynamic operating rhythm for cross functional teams.I am driven by relationships and the human interaction I get while working on apps. Working in product design can be gruesome from a process perspective, but it’s worth it because designing as a collaborative team allows me to do what I value most: building connections.Bringing this all together requires me objectively aligning complex ideas, strategies and conversations into actionable and simple next steps to outcomes; personally, I thrive on this kind of leadership. And as that team head, I always work to champion the value offered by my team via clear communications and compelling business cases.