About
Me
Artist. Designer. Coach.
& lover of all things vintage and analog.
I work at the intersection of culture, change, behavior, & design and future of work. Transformational changes are all around us these days ~ the saturation is real! ~ and yet despite leader's best intentions, digital technology is rolled out over and over with little thought to the people. All that money invested and all that fancy new technology and it doesn't matter if the culture doesn't value resiliency, agility, and its stakeholder's experiences, if the people aren't ready and adopting it, and leaders struggle to lead from a place of being.
My clients witness me walk the walk when it comes to people experience and outcomes. They have called me the "Ship's Deana Troi" (Star Trek TNG) because I empathize with the people and I care about how the changes show up and impact them. I take the time to listen to them, hear their pain points, support them, advocate for them, and I coach their leaders on how to show up for them. I'm committed to holding space for and amplifying the voices and stories of women and underrepresented people.
I've worked in a slew of industries over the years and yet my favorites remain retail, arts and entertainment, and hospitality. I blame it on years of hustling at The Gap, The Limited, and Deck the Walls while in high school and college, and then 15 years in the arts. It's wild to me how technology has disrupted all industries, especially the aforementioned ones that were at the center of my analog youth. Project and portfolio work includes change and adoption, ways of working, Project to Product, agile, application and hardware upgrades, customer experience, omni-channel content design, culture and communications design, and capability building.
Previously I worked in the nonprofit arts sector, including several years at Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. I founded and ran an agency to serve creative businesses, artists and nonprofits, and spent a decade plus guiding careers, booking and routing regional and national tours, and producing thoughtful value-based communications campaigns. I spoke frequently on strategic communications and design at various arts conferences.
"Alexa, Play Disco Inferno."
I'm not sure The Trammps classic is so much a theme song as it is a way of being, a way of life. I always say I was born when Blondie, Stevie Nicks and Disco all converged and it explains everything about me. My first records were Diana Ross' Upside Down and Olivia Newton John's Xanadu on little 45s. A child of the 80s, I strive to live life in as much color as a disco dance floor, Care Bear book, Rainbow Brite doll, charm necklace, or a neon sign, sometimes all at once, while disco, Lionel Ritchie, Madonna, Hall & Oates, Stevie Nicks and Blondie play on Spotify - or my turntable - as I'm cooking or making a craft or painting. A little Ol' Blue Eyes for the moments when I need to slow things down.
I'm as comfortable in my Doc Martens as I am in those slouchy 80s vintage boots I scored on Etsy and scouring markets for MCM home furnishings. I will always sing The Jefferson's theme song to anyone who's promoted, binge Who's the Boss? and Star Trek TNG, and relate just about any situation to an episode of 90210. I enjoy an occasional 5K although strength and yoga workouts are my jam now. I love exploring and traveling and my favorite trip was to Syros, Greece to pit fire clay pots and immerse myself in the culture.
I'm a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University and hold a B.S. in Business and Fine Art. I'm also currently enrolled in a coach-in-training program through the International Federation of Coaches. I live outside Philadelphia with my husband and two dogs.
Talk to me about being a small business owner, performing arts, nonprofit arts, career changes, life coaching, transformational change, organizational change and culture, communications, future ways of working, adoption strategies.
Me and The Boss
Pop-Up Tony Danza, as he's lovingly called here, has been a presence in the home office and on Teams/Zoom calls since 2020.
I found him (or did he find me?) at an estate sale in Overbrook Park during the pandemic when things were just barely reopening here in Philadelphia. Who has a life-size cardboard cutout of TD in their home? Turns out, a colleague's then boyfriend had been a sound engineer on Tony's AMC program Teach, that took place at Northeast High back in 2009/2010. Because you're the Boss, you have fun promotional swag -- like a cute cutout of yourself in 1989 Tony Micelli glory -- and it goes home with your crew.
My friend informed me of Tony's whereabouts and I set out at 8:00AM one Friday morning in September 2020 to find my favorite TV dad.
"You got the Danza?!" The estate sale rep gleefully asked me as I checked out with T, some vinyl and a handful of other vintage goodies.
"I sure did!"
The cost of the pandemic has been high -- financially, economically, emotionally, psychologically, culturally.
But Tony? Priceless.
Artwork
I received a failure warning in art during my sophomore year of high school - my only failure warning ever - because I rebelled against value and color studies. My parents could not believe their teenage artist daughter could be on the brink of failing advanced watercolor class, especially when she could create gorgeous paintings. The warning and follow up meetings with faculty were infuriating at the time and yet foretold much more than my love and need to create abstract art. It was a glimpse into a girl who already leaned into and embraced the nonlinear.
What do I want to say with my art? That we are layered and textured beings. There is richness and sparkle especially in the mess and grit. We can create our own processes and ways of working that suit us best. And we can still slay and take our rightful place among the best. Below is a selection of my more recent digital work.
English