Chief Values Officer

I grew up in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, the first in my family born a US citizen. My family emigrated from the UK, so I spent my childhood with one foot on either side of the Atlantic, and I quote Monty Python with the best (or worst) of them.

Earlier chapters of my life included seasonal work in wild places like Glacier National Park, and one summer I lived out of my car and camped my way across the country and back, long before nomad life was a thing. There were bear encounters. I survived. I have always been an explorer, and the travel bug has never let go: Pacific Northwest water escapades, Mexico, Colombia, Egypt, South Africa, and a growing list of places I am curious about next. Travel changes your brain and how you relate to people and the world, and it keeps me open to new perspectives.

My working life began in 1997, and I stepped into leadership in the early 2000s. At Devon Health, and later as a consultant to staffing agencies placing people in hospitals, I built programs around one belief: people perform at their best when their basic life needs are met. Many started with my own needs as a new mom. They included flexibility for family and health demands, onboarding built around skills, culture and belonging, and mentoring and feedback that continued well past the first 90 days. Many of my Devon Health team members came straight out of college, so I focused on career paths and internal promotion, and my teams grew into leadership roles. For 13 years I have led Wild Blackberry Studio, my own graphic, web, and marketing firm, backing changemakers who are making the world better for humans and other beings. A commitment to human thriving runs through all of it.

Design school came mid-career, after a layoff during the Great Recession. I had spent years spinning up new brands for an entrepreneurial founder, and I wanted to be the one designing them. Design taught me to listen closely, find the story, and tune into the essential signals inside an organization, then give them a form people recognize. Culture building calls on the same muscles, and I use them to hear and express what is essential in a culture. Facet Life Sciences was my first client out of design school, and I have watched its values system at close quarters for 13 years. It is the best example I have encountered of an organization that supports people by addressing needs beyond the basics, with the belief that human thriving supports the best outcomes deeply embedded in its culture. Supporting others to be successful is the passion behind every chapter.

I also host the Vulture Chronicles, a purely creative and playful endeavor. I talk with creatives and changemakers about the joyful mess of creation, how it works them, and why it is worth it. Each conversation inspires its own collage, built from scraps of the talk.

When I am not working, you will find me hiking, biking, road tripping with excellent playlists, wandering small towns, digging through antiques, or heading out with my camera. I have a thing for birds. Name your favorite raptor.