Walk with Me

People often talk about the different hats they wear or have worn in their careers. For me, it’s more about the shoes. First of all, I’m a shoe fanatic. I have more shoes than most people have pants; I have an entire closet dedicated to shoes.

Second, I like to think that, in business, I get things done by walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. Whether it be clients, customers, end users, stakeholders, vendors, etc., I find my way by putting myself in their place and understanding the ask from their perspective. I take the research, the metrics, the discovery and anything other input I’m able to collect, and I find the story or journey that leads to the solution. I relate to those people through an empathetic lens, give them a face and a name, and walk their path. And I use what I find to make their experience better.

This is how the disparate parts of my background come together – through the shoes into which I’ve stepped and the various roads I’ve walked. Over the course of my career, I’ve donned a number of different styles:

• The marketer– both traditional and digital – in boots, for standing knee-deep in positioning, messaging, or content strategy, and laying out the tactical plan to disseminate the vision;

• The copywriter sporting Doc Martens, filtering out the noise to boil it all down from concept to missive;

• A change manager, modeling the black oxfords of a traffic cop, directing users to the transition tools I’ve created for them;

• The account executive, professional in heels, helping the client find the Ruby Slippers and Yellow Brick Road to their goal destination;

• An IT business analyst in Vans, crafting or improving the process flow and documenting user stories, requirements, and specifications to provide the proper tools to the Dev team;

• The project manager in running shoes, clearing hurdles and leading the way, making sure everything is on track and and hand-offs are handled appropriately;

• The QA analyst in comfortable clogs, testing to make sure everything works as it should and addressing issues;

• A manager, supervisor, and mentor, wearing quarterback’s cleats, looking to build up my direct reports and help them to learn, grow, and lead.

Regardless of the role, the approach is always the same – to view the problem through the lens of the end user, and get them to their destination in the best way possible.

Download my resume for details on my work experience. Contact me to talk about the shoes that need filled at your organization.

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