My Professional Journey
Growing up, I enjoyed building and fixing things with my hands. Which led me to pursue a degree in Industrial Design with a focus on product design. I graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP college. My career began in healthcare at Ethicon and Hillrom. Here I was able to design surgical products for surgeons and hospital beds for patients and caregivers.
To gain a diversity of experience, I decided to work in product development consulting firms in Minneapolis and Cincinnati. I managed global projects helping clients integrate services and transition to product to manufacturing operations. This time helped me see the steps products take from concept to manufacturing, but I became curious to what makes a great product.
During a partnership with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to shadow surgeons and understand unmet needs, I began to understand how much research is foundational to design. I saw opportunities to move earlier in the product development process rather than just working on developing new products. I pitched to the CEO of my consulting firm to move earlier in the process and create a team focused on early-stage insights and clarity on defining opportunities, but this idea fell on deaf ears. That’s when my entrepreneur spirit led to starting a business.
For the next eight years, I acted as managing director of my own boutique consulting firm working on front-end innovation projects with middle market manufacturers, hospital systems and medical manufacturers, and large corporations. My passion for understanding unmet needs, connecting dots for clients, and clearly mapping out opportunities helped give my clients the direction they needed.
Throughout those years, I had the privilege of working alongside some of the top product managers in the industry. It became clear to me that middle-market manufacturers often struggled with building a robust product-market strategy and needed guidance to bridge that gap.
My Professional Journey
Growing up, I enjoyed building and fixing things with my hands. Which led me to pursue a degree in Industrial Design with a focus on product design. I graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP college. My career began in healthcare at Ethicon and Hillrom. Here I was able to design surgical products for surgeons and hospital beds for patients and caregivers.
To gain a diversity of experience, I decided to work in product development consulting firms in Minneapolis and Cincinnati. I managed global projects helping clients integrate services and transition to product to manufacturing operations. This time helped me see the steps products take from concept to manufacturing, but I became curious to what makes a great product.
During a partnership with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to shadow surgeons and understand unmet needs, I began to understand how much research is foundational to design. I saw opportunities to move earlier in the product development process rather than just working on developing new products. I pitched to the CEO of my consulting firm to move earlier in the process and create a team focused on early-stage insights and clarity on defining opportunities, but this idea fell on deaf ears. That’s when my entrepreneur spirit led to starting a business.
For the next eight years, I acted as managing director of my own boutique consulting firm working on front-end innovation projects with middle market manufacturers, hospital systems and medical manufacturers, and large corporations. My passion for understanding unmet needs, connecting dots for clients, and clearly mapping out opportunities helped give my clients the direction they needed.
Throughout those years, I had the privilege of working alongside some of the top product managers in the industry. It became clear to me that middle-market manufacturers often struggled with building a robust product-market strategy and needed guidance to bridge that gap.
