My career story (so far!):​

(Updated Mar 2025)

 

I specialize in blending design thinking + lean startup methodology to rapidly drive diverse teams towards product-market-fit.

 

As a 2x founder, I'm experienced in navigating ambiguity, running end-to-end design processes, and generating business value from scratch. I thrive at the intersection of product & innovation strategy, and love approaching problems as both a designer and an engineer. ​

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I've spent the past year leading product & business strategy at Focal, a climate tech company designing smart electric heaters (to eliminate propane gas usage) in restaurants & outdoor hospitality. ​

 

Our "spot heating" system uses AI-sensing and personalized heat to warm individual people, rather than entire spaces – resulting in a 95% energy-efficiency improvement from existing solutions.​

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Previously, I co-founded Tangible (acquired by Easel AI), a venture-backed consumer technology company (focused on helping long-distance relationships) that was invited to pitch on Shark Tank!

 

My team spent 4 years inventing & scaling a paradigm-shifting “teleportation pillow” + mobile app that enabled loved ones to feel physically present together over distance, via immersive haptics & mixed-reality. We made it possible to share hugs, feel warmth, and naturally interact over video calls like you're sitting on the same couch. Our product went viral and we launched with over 19,000 long-distance couples on our waitlist. Key learnings from our journey are in this whitepaper.

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Outside of work, I've dedicated much of my free time to researching and accelerating cross-disciplinary solutions to climate change. This has drawn me into a diversity of life experiences, including:

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• Sustainability-focused volunteering with Sunrise Movement, Pacific Beach Coalition, and American Energy Society.

• Studying abroad for a summer in Copenhagen - where I researched electrification, urban permaculture, & ecofeminism.

• Living / working on an organic farm (WWOOF program!)

• Advising a handful of climate startups, as well as building out side projects across genAI storytelling (@Imagine.Climate), food insecurity (Homegrown), and tidal power!​​​​​

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While at Stanford (where I studied Product Design + Psychology), I invented several products (including Stikato, Diya, & Moonwalk) that I was able to successfully scale beyond the classroom. 

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On the personal side – I'm now living in Brooklyn (after having spent the past decade in the Bay Area), but grew up in the Midwest. If I'm not in designer-mode, you'll likely find me sketching blueprints, recording pop violin covers, writing short-story mysteries, hanging rim on the basketball court, or obsessing over my backyard chickens.