Leadership Philosophy

People → Process → Practice → Impact

This is how I build design organizations that deliver:

People First

Teams can’t do great work without psychological safety, clear growth paths, and distributed ownership. At Alaska Airlines, I lead a 9-person design team within a 23-person organization during a $1.9B merger—establishing transparent decision-making, weekly leadership updates, and peer-led reviews that eliminated single points of failure. I reduced onboarding from 3 months to 6 weeks through structured knowledge hubs and mentorship programs. At Walmart, I mentored 4 direct reports into senior designers through regular 1:1s, growth frameworks, and stretch projects that built confidence and capability.

Process That Scales

I build lightweight systems that reduce friction instead of adding bureaucracy. Examples:

Enterprise design system governance at Alaska: Whitelabel design tokens with flexible component architecture and distributed ownership—enabling multiple business units to ship brand-differentiated experiences while maintaining platform consistency
Research operations framework at Alaska: Dual-path engagement model (self-guided with coaching, or researcher-led for strategic work) with office hours that moved discovery earlier and reduced late-stage rework
Design review quality gates across all roles: Pre-merge checks, accessibility audits (WCAG 2.1 AA), and definition-of-done standards that improved handoff quality while maintaining velocity

Practice Excellence

Design quality comes from repeatable craft standards, not heroics. I establish:

Design systems standards that teams can adopt without dedicated systems designers—through clear documentation, adoption metrics, and governance frameworks
Cross-functional training like the Figma workshops I ran at Walmart for 200+ designers, engineers, researchers, and copywriters—building shared language and elevating craft across disciplines
Peer-led critiques and reviews that distribute expertise and eliminate bottlenecks—ensuring quality doesn’t depend on a single person’s availability

Measurable Impact

I tie design work to business outcomes: adoption rates, operational efficiency, error reduction, and revenue impact.

Walmart: $864M GMV opportunity unlocked through authenticated user conversion improvements; 38% reduction in sign-in errors; verified users grew from 11M to 52M; account takeover rates maintained below 0.26%
Alaska Airlines: 35% workflow efficiency improvement through process optimization; 70% documentation completion replacing word-of-mouth knowledge transfer; 9-person team stability maintained during high-stakes merger integration
American Airlines: 66.5% screen reduction (579 → 119 screens); 8x faster release velocity (30 → 260 releases per year); 47% prepaid bag adoption increase; 400% faster reservation retrieval

Core Values

People-First Systems Thinking

I build systems that support people, not just process—like reducing Alaska’s onboarding from 3 months to 6 weeks through structured knowledge transfer instead of heroic individual effort.

Strategic Partnership Over Hierarchy

I influence by aligning goals and building trust across functions—at Walmart, I turned Security and Fraud skeptics into identity platform advocates through evidence-based design and shared ownership of outcomes.

Transformation Through Clarity

Ambiguity is part of the job; confusion doesn’t have to be—I delivered Alaska’s 2026 Baggage vision with governance checkpoints and OKR alignment so every stakeholder understood the path forward.

Mentorship as Design Leadership

I lead by helping others rise—mentoring designers at Walmart from mid-level to senior through feedback loops, stretch opportunities, and belief in their capability before they believed in themselves.

Repairing Culture Through Design Practice

Culture shows up in the work—at Alaska, I used design reviews, peer-led critiques, and transparent decision-making to restore trust and re-center teams around shared purpose during organizational chaos.

Impact-Driven Execution

Design isn’t done until it delivers—at American Airlines, I measured success not by shipped screens but by 47% increase in prepaid bags, 16% faster check-ins, and preserved revenue during a pandemic.

In Practice

My day-to-day leadership includes:

Weekly design critiques that raise craft while distributing expertise across the team
OKR-driven roadmaps with measurable outcomes tied to adoption, efficiency, and error reduction
1:1 coaching focused on growth paths, skill development, and removing blockers
Cross-functional alignment through workshops, design reviews, and visible decision-making
Quality gates that maintain standards without sacrificing velocity

I’m not here for the spotlight. I’m here for the momentum.