A story is what gives life to design, illuminates a person, and is the essence of value and meaning for a brand. I love stories. Telling them, hearing them… Here's mine.
A big story can be my life, or a big story can be a brand promise. A little story is how my daughter got a free ice cream at Mario’s, or the little user flow across a product feature. The ice cream taught us about empathy, and so did the user flow. One was about a store manager reacting to a little girl who’d fallen off her bike, the other a designer who cares that an anonymous user finds delight in the little moments of their job.
Me
What are you going to do with that? People would ask about my English degree. We’ll see, I’d say. But I loved reading Shakespeare and Plato, and quietly thought, we know what we are, but know not what we may be.
I’ve always seen life as a series of surprises. I believe in having a North Star, and mine has stayed pretty steady; but the journey has been anything but predictable.
What guides me are a few principles, talents, and passions:
People are the point of all it. In leadership and in life, treasure those around you, give them what they need, and they will be their best selves. Challenge them to explore and be creative, and you’ll see them grow and find new ways of being and doing. And if we’re lucky they’ll challenge us as well.
I’m a communicator at heart. That’s what drives me. I thrive with collaboration; creativity is just a way to get ideas across in the way with the most clarity and the most sense. As a result, I think out loud — part of my process is conversation. If an idea can be understood as a story, it is real and has value. I get there by talking it through.
Stories are the way humans understand the world. We all hope to be rational, careful, logical, infallible, but the truth is, we use those tools to tell stories and that’s how we connect with eachother.
All of the above requires good-faith. That’s my baseline. Sell a product because we believe it to have value to people, share a story because we want to connect, listen because we want to hear, be open and curious, hold strong opinions loosely.
Creative leadership
I took a High School career and aptitude test in grade 12 and it declared my category to be ‘adventurer’. No joke. So, why not. I traveled the middle east, Tibet, China, Asia, Europe, Egypt... I tried to do it all without air travel as much as I could.
I tell this because it sheds light on how I approach challenges and leadership. As an adventurer. Each problem has its own solution and it may not be obvious. Adventure into the possibilities a little and see what we find. Stay on the ground because that's where the people are.
As an adventurer, it can often be solo, but for a creative leader, it’s always ‘we’: that's the team and the brand. We adventure together. A brand may be our vehicle and our framework for telling stories, and we can ride that thing where we like. Don’t let the framework feel like a restriction; it is the foundation that provides meaning. We all know, but often need it repeated: design is artful, but it is not art. It is a process of storytelling through a framework with a purpose to provide meaning, action, or value.
That’s the set-up for an adventure, and we may not know where it leads us exacty, but we have started the process.
Luck and Opportunity
My path has been varied and at times uncertain, but as we say: trust the process. I lived in Japan for four years and when I moved to Vancouver, I didn’t have much of a CV, but I had my North Star. So I hit the streets, talked to people, made calls and connections, volunteered, made friends, acquaintances, a network. Eventually I walked through the door of the Geist magazine offices with little more than an interest in publishing. From there I met the first in a string of mentors, Stephen Osborne, publisher. He taught me typography, and set me up with an internship and training to design magazines. That took me to Echo Storytelling Agency where I learned the art of book design, production, printing and managing clients. Another mentor there, maybe two of them: Cathy Smith, and Samantha Reynolds taught me to design boldly and that the work is only part of what we do.
Skip ahead and I find myself hired at Hootsuite. Eight great years there and a number of mentors guided me along the way, notably Dianne Semark. She saw in me what I wasn’t clear on, and she brought it out, promoting me twice, eventually to Senior designer. And after her tenure, I was made Manager of the brand design team.
The adventure of my career has been thrilling, surprising, and always in the direction of my North Star. What is that, you might be wondering?
Are you and I, dear reader, going to work together next? Is that our next step? I hope so. Reach out and let’s chat, and I'll tell you about my North Star.
