Personal user manual

A few things worth knowing about me

How I get energy, what I value, and how I like to work — the personal side of the resume.

What I get energy from

—Positivity: I'm always impressed by people who embody a glass-is-always-full mentality — it encourages me to want to be a better person.
—Coffee: It's the first thing I do in the morning, and I need a couple to be productive. No fancy latte, just brewed coffee and milk.
—Running: OK — really a slow jog/race walk, but I love a few 11 min/mile runs a week. The clarity and ideas I come up with along the way.
—Snapchat: Sending and receiving snaps of the funny and awkward things happening in my family's day makes me smile. Even the simple good-morning snaps.
—MCM: An obsession with Mid Century Modern architecture, design details, furniture, artwork — all of it. I show up at estate sales and FB Marketplace to find the rare pieces, like my enormous flower lamp.

—Productivity: I write lots of lists and check them off one by one. Nothing feels better than a productive day, and I love when my team joins my Figjam or Loop board to share what we're working on.
—Delightful design: Good design is invisible; great product design ensures the delighters don't get cut each release. You know when an experience didn't sacrifice the delighter.
—Collaboration: Sharing my work with the team is a daily habit, even rough ideation. Especially in a remote world, it matters to share progress and gather feedback.

—Negative culture: Keeping a positive, fun, collaborative team environment matters to me as a leader and a peer. You have to love what you do and who you work with.
—Indecision: After working in government and health systems where fear-driven indecisiveness runs wild, I'm always relieved when people go for it and take a chance.
—"It's good enough": Settling for a decision you know could be better because "we'll change it next release" — that next release never comes, and small issues add up to death by a thousand needles.

—Chat: Email me a question or file, and I'll likely respond in Slack or Teams and continue the discussion from there.
—Open calendar: I run my life by my calendar — if there's a free spot, even short notice, grab it and we'll jump on a video call. Camera on, please.
—Pop by my desk: When meeting in person is an option, I always have time to chat face to face about work, or just to catch up.
—Virtual whiteboard: Gone are the days of death-by-slides meetings. I'm always up for cranking out a Figjam template to share ideas and get realtime input from the team.

—Ask a lot of questions: It's healthcare — I don't have an MD or RN license, so I'm not the expert in the room. I ask to learn, find unmet needs, and get to know people along the way.
—Document what I know: When I learn something, I write it down in a format that's easily referenced and reused across the project.
—Ideation: I sketch out just about everything I need to create or brainstorm — that's where the ideas and the mistakes come from.
—Don't reinvent the wheel: If it's been done before and there's a template, I'll use it and make it mine with minor changes. If I copy something you made, take it as a compliment.

—Give me a minute: You'll know if I'm not on the same page with a discussion — give me a minute, a few hours, or the next day, and I'll come back with an open mind and way forward.
—Delegation: Everyone has their strengths — I'm always challenging myself to delegate, because my way of hitting a team goal isn't the only way.
—RBF: If I look serious in a meeting, it's usually because I'm actively listening and trying to absorb as much as I can. Get to know me and you'll see the smile.
—Everyone likes compliments: No matter my seniority, it's always humbling to get positive feedback when the team kills it in a client session.

—User feedback: Understanding end users' motivations and unmet needs always leads to the right product decisions, for the right reasons.
—Set OKRs: Setting quarterly objectives and key results early in discovery makes the hard scoping decisions later a no-brainer.
—Try it and see if it works: When it's the right feature or design, you can feel it. Stick with it and experiment quickly — Learn quickly what didn't move the KR.
—Passionate: I'm opinionated about clean, efficient, memorable product design. When I believe in a feature's impact, I'll sell it without hesitation and stand by the decision.

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Design is knowing which ones to keep."

— Scott Adams

—Photos: Our family loves taking photos, and 99% of them turn out awful — and yet they're my favorites.
—M&M: My dogs are cuter than yours! @Mileyandtucker on Insta.
—Sports I love sports, Chiefs and KU basketball.
—Sarcasm: I'm extremely sarcastic — even friends and family have a hard time telling if I'm kidding.
—Dresses over slacks: A coworker once told me slacks garner more respect in business than a dress. I disagree — I'll keep rocking a classy dress, necklace, and heels.
—Embarrassment: I awkward-laugh when I'm embarrassed, even from a funny joke, because I'm uncomfortable.
—Camping: Love/hate — I love the outdoors, hate the tent, the ground, the bugs, the heat. So the problem-solver in me bought a vintage Airstream. We're glamping now.
—Rental properties: Somehow I got into the rental property business — three rented out full time, and one on VRBO (Mid-Mod Chadwick). Invite your friends for a weekend.