Over the last 20+ years, I've worked with creative teams and organisations across the globe on everything from user experience, product, instructional and service design to branding, packaging and TV. Though I've always been craft-focused, I cut my teeth as a hybrid (designer & front-end developer) which helped me understand our ever-changing world from multiple perspectives. Throughout my career, I have worked with a wide variety of clients and brands which has enabled me to adapt and scale quickly. I have been part of and led cross-functional teams that create work that is relevant & useful to a wide range of audiences. Being a problem solver, I'm drawn to experiences that help people improve their lives. Most recently I set out to achieve this with GetSmarter / 2U. The Design Director role allowed me to manage & build high-functioning teams (+/-45 designers) with a focus on instructional, user experience and visual design with pedagogy at the centre of our work. Prior to that, I worked at Quirk (later Mirum). At the time of joining, Quirk was a small start-up of around 15 people. We lived in a world where MySpace was social media, the iPhone didn’t exist & petrol cost R4.17 (Wait. What!?). As rapidly as the digital world evolved, so did Quirk. We became a significant force in the digital marketing space and my extended family for life. Along the way, I was fortunate enough to get my hands dirty in many roles, including 18 months at Quirk London as Creative Director. It really was a great time to be alive. On returning to Quirk Cape Town, I joined a small team to focus on what would become Africa’s first online retailer, Woolworths Online. This is where I got to sink my teeth in and understand the multitude of user behaviours when it comes to navigating and shopping online. This took me on a journey that would see me leading Mirum Africa’s UI and Service Design team where the focus was to deliver meaningful experiences to people. No matter how different everyone's experiences are, I believe there will never be a moment when we are 100% satisfied with ourselves or the world around us. The people and environments that we choose to immerse ourselves in must be true to each of us if we want to succeed together. Therefore, I believe that if we want to effect positive change, we must be cautiously fearless, have courage and the emotional intelligence to welcome failure while expressing our individuality.