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Hello, I’m Steph.

I build brands, products, and unstoppable teams.

With 20 years in the design field and 13+ in leadership, I’ve built brands, products, UX, and creative teams at $100M+ companies and scrappy startups.

Open to work: Email me or connect on LinkedIn.

 

Who I help most

 
 

Startups

I can help you build a compelling brand and customer funnel from the ground up, ensuring you make a strong impression that leads to sales.

Growing Businesses

Let’s fine-tune your user experience, improve your product, and create marketing assets and brand stories that convert with your target market.

Established Teams

Up-level your teams and output. I offer design audits, process optimization, leadership support, and direction to take your teams to the next level.

User Experience

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Brand

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Product

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Design Consultation

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Workshops

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Research

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Design Sprints

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Audits

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Journey Mapping

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User Interfaces

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Design Thinking

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Campaigns

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User Experience 〰️ Brand 〰️ Product 〰️ Design Consultation 〰️ Workshops 〰️ Research 〰️ Design Sprints 〰️ Audits 〰️ Journey Mapping 〰️ User Interfaces 〰️ Design Thinking 〰️ Campaigns 〰️

Recent work

My work covers end-to-end customer experiences across brand, marketing, and product.

 

Services

 

You deserve design that does more than look good—it should tell your story, engage your audience, and solve real problems. That’s where I come in. With a unique blend of design, UX, and branding expertise, I bring a holistic approach to help you create products and experiences that truly resonate.

On top of all that? I turn creatives into unstoppable teams through workshops, design thinking, and transformational leadership.

    • Interim Design Leadership: Serving as a fractional or interim design leader for companies in transition.

    • Project & Freelancer management: Overseeing projects with external freelancers, ensuring quality and consistency.

    • Team Mentoring & Training: Coaching junior designers and helping teams enhance their skills in design thinking, critique, and process improvement.

    • Process Optimization: Implementing efficient design workflows, processes, and best practices.

    • Portfolio Reviews: Offering feedback and guidance to emerging designers looking to elevate their portfolios.

    • User Experience Research: Conducting user interviews, usability testing, and surveys to gather insights.

    • Product Design & Prototyping: Creating wireframes, user flows, and high-fidelity prototypes.

    • User Interface Design: Designing cohesive and user-friendly interfaces for websites, apps, and digital platforms.

    • Design Audits: Evaluating existing products to identify UX pain points and provide actionable recommendations.

    • Brand Strategy Workshops: Helping clients clarify their mission, vision, and core values to establish a cohesive brand foundation.

    • Category Creation: Identify your unique value proposition and carve out your niche in the market.

    • Visual Identity Design: Logos, color palettes, typography, and brand guidelines.

    • Brand Messaging: Crafting taglines, positioning statements, and core messaging that resonate with target audiences.

    • Scalable Template Systems: Democratize the design process at your company with scalable systems that non-designers can actually use.

    • Campaign Design: Conceptualizing and executing marketing campaigns for brand awareness or paid media impact.

    • Events and IRL Experiences: Developing experiential campaigns, signage, and collateral for conferences, retail locations, or events.

    • Lifecycle Marketing: Compelling design that turns prospects into opportunities into buyers.

    • Executive Buy-in: Creating assets like pitch decks, executive presentations, and storytelling for brands to garner partnerships, funding, confidence, or other resources.

  • Available remotely and in-person

    Stop brainstorming and start workshopping. It takes clear and deliberate planning to run a kickass workshop. Done right, these hands-on sessions can deliver valuable insights and get buy-in from key decision-makers. Workshops can include:

    • Journey Mapping: Boost conversions and fix poor user experiences.

    • User Flows: Identify impactful behaviors and key user paths.

    • Empathy Mapping: Enhance positive moments, improve pain points.

    • Service Design: Craft seamless end-to-end customer journeys.

    • Ideation & Sketching: Generate innovative ideas through hands-on sessions.

    • Brand Strategy: Clarify mission, vision, and values for a strong foundation.

    • Retrospectives: Improve projects with actionable insights and positive morale.

  • For businesses seeking quick, impactful design support without long-term commitment, I can create custom packages, such as

    • One-Day Design Sprint: A focused session to tackle specific design challenges or create a prototype.

    • Brand Refresh Package: A quick turnaround service to update visual identities and brand assets.

    • UX Audit & Roadmap: A comprehensive review of a product's user experience with a detailed improvement plan.

 

I make creatives their best—in what they make and how they work.

I turn talented creatives into unstoppable teams.

After designing for agencies, non-profits, and freelance clients, I leapt into full-time Creative Leadership. Today, I see the team as my greatest project.

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Get in touch

Let’s start talking about your project or a potential partnership.

 

People say the nicest things…

 

I’ve worked with some amazing people over the years. Here’s what some of them have said about working with me.

 

Strategy

“I have had the pleasure of working with Stephanie in a cross-functional team pulled together by our COO. I have continually been impressed with her professionalism, attention to detail, and action-orientation. I am grateful for her thoughtful questions and her persistence when it comes to highlighting just not any insights but key insights. It is because of Stephanie that I feel our team is able to put their best foot forward when it comes to meeting with our executives.”

– Yanira Sesniak, Sr. Program Manager at Microsoft (Sr. Mgr of Customer Onboarding at Keap)

Steph also runs the best design thinking workshops I've ever participated in. She has a gift that she can turn any workshop into a fun, engaging, and useful exercise to make decisions and drive change. Whether it's a smaller workshop for the designers figuring out operating principles or a large-scale redesign with 60+ voices, Steph skillfully thrives in those environments. I have since tried to use her workshop templates, summon my inner Steph, and always get kudos afterward!”

– Andy Phillips, Senior Product Designer, Versapay

“Not only is Stephanie's work creative and beautifully designed, but it's driven by user experience and works toward ROI. She does what it takes to make the end result perfect. And let's be honest, she's incredibly loyal and cares very deeply about the people on her team. You want her working with you, trust me.”

– Kayla Izard, Marketing Specialist at Resound

Branding & design

“Stephanie has been spearheading our branding documentation and digital assets that allow our employees and partners to know how and when to use our brand, as well as get access to all they need. They have created a cohesive environment that definitely puts us as a top-tier company in this area.”

– Steven Meyer, Chief Product Officer at PartsTech (former Head of Product Design at Keap)

“Working with Stephanie on the Big Grit campaign has been amazing. Her dedication to telling the story juuuuust perfectly has been no easy feat, taking long hours and consistent analysis... but she kills it anyway! Her creative genius is unmatched. Thank you, Steph, for paving the creative direction of the campaign! 🙏”

– Rahal Tuoti, Owner of Lucena Creative (former Associate Product Marketer at Keap)

“Stephanie has a unique ability to see visual identities and brand systems from start to finish. She clearly understands the big picture while still focusing on the little details that makes the client shine. She’s über talented and adds value to any team she's on.”

– Mark Miller, Founder of Historic Agency (former Marketing Director at Frontiers)

“Stephanie is the epitome of a detail-oriented, strategic designer. For Resound, she has not only executed fantastic work for our clients, but elevated our own brand… I would highly recommend her to anyone who wants to bring cohesiveness and strategic effectiveness to their brand communications.”

– Mike Jones, Founder and Managing Partner, Resound

Creative leadership

“Steph was integral to both our team’s success and my own professional growth. She possesses the rare ability to lead by example while also allowing her team the space to stretch their abilities. When I needed autonomy to figure something out on my own, she provided it. When I hit a wall and needed help, she was there. She helped me find not just my abilities, but also the confidence to believe in them. Our organization went through plenty of change. Steph was always there to paint a clear path forward and provide much needed stability. I’ve never had a Manager like her.”

– Joe Crawford, Senior Copywriter and Creative Strategist, Versapay

“Stephanie is exactly what every creative hopes for in a leadership figure. She has infectious positivity combined with laser focus on production and delivery. Stephanie puts her team first, constantly checking in, listening and setting us up for success. She is easily one of the most effective and motivating management figures I have ever had in my corner.”

– Derek Harju, former Copywriter at Keap

“Have you ever met someone who genuinely cares about you and wants you to succeed at work and in life? That's Steph. Every time we met, the conversation focused on my goals or how she could help me. That's the best example of leadership you could ever ask for.”

– Andy Phillips, Senior Product Designer, Versapay

“So glad to have Stephanie as my manager! Thank you for always supporting and helping me to get UX projects going! As a UX designer in creative team, I've always felt empowered to go for better experience. It's been a great journey to work on the resource hub redesign, journey mapping, live demo sign up redesign, and etc. Excited to keep improving our customer experience together!”

– Chen Hu, Staff UX Designer/Sr. UX Analyst at Visa (former Sr. Experience Designer at Keap)

Improving work life

“Stephanie has done some awesome work around diversity. She joined the D&I team, designed Slack icons for Pride month, and gave valuable feedback and insights to Marketing Leadership on our response to the tragic death of George Floyd and the resulting protests. She has done all these things by getting the feedback of those in the communities they impact, and has also helped spearhead the development of a brand and marketing diversity panel of Keapers who speak for the underrepresented to improve our reactive marketing and long-term strategies. This is awesome work, done with a ton of heart, to make Keap an awesome place to work for everyone and to stand for justice in our world. Thanks for living out our value of We Genuinely Care, Steph!”

– Jake Johnson, Director of Creative at Keap

“I really value having Stephanie on the Diversity & Inclusion committee because she brings so much to the table with her positive energy and ideas. Further, I can always count on her to provide solid and thoughtful critiques. Even when we are all busy with our normal roles, she consistently carves out time to help. She shows the type of care for the person, the group and the company that moves us forward. Thank you, Stephanie!”

– Tim Snyder, Senior Financial Analyst at Keap

“Shoutout to Stephanie for being a great peer. She's always eager to find better ways of working together across departments and is always a good listener when chatting about all kinds of stuff. Keep up with the good work Stephanie! 👍”

– Steven Meyer, Chief of Product at PartsTech (former Head of Product Design at Keap)

How can I help you?

Let’s start talking about your project or a potential partnership.