about me

My Background

I have over 20 years experience counseling clients, leading multidisciplinary teams, and working with everyone from frontline employees to board members and C-level executives to envision, design, and deliver experiences that fuel growth. I have successfully led digital transformation and integrated customer-centricity into the habits and culture of complex, matrixed enterprises, reflecting my human-centered, results-oriented, and highly collaborative approach.

My Approach

I have over 20 years experience counseling clients, leading multidisciplinary teams, and working with everyone from frontline employees to board members and C-level executives to envision, design, and deliver experiences that fuel growth. I have successfully led digital transformation and integrated customer-centricity into the habits and culture of complex, matrixed enterprises, reflecting my human-centered, results-oriented, and highly collaborative approach.

Experience-Led

If you want to improve lives, grow your business, or build your reach and relevance, you must focus on what really matters to people and create valuable human experiences. My formula for success is to be incredibly useful, make it dead simple, and iterate to improve.

Insights-Driven

Innovation requires actionable and differentiated insights — the kind that delights customers and brings new categories and markets to fruition. I seek to leverage both qualitative and quantitative data to methodically and systematically assess three areas: a valuable problem to solve, a technology that enables a solution, and a business model that makes success sustainable. Meaningful innovation occurs at the intersection of these three elements.

Inclusive by Design

I have traversed technology, strategy, design, operations, and marketing throughout my professional career. I believe that breakthrough innovation is possible when these different cultures and lenses are integrated and applied with intention. My superpower is creating environments that bring these crafts to the table and get them working together toward a human-centered and mission-driven goal. I care about team and organizational dynamics as much as the outputs and outcomes; knowing the latter can't excel without the former being healthy.

"Derek is enthusiastic, extremely knowledgeable, and fantastic to work with. Moreover, he'll take any idea or concept and take it to a level you never imagined. He brought about long-lasting change to Orion during his time with us."

jeff piazza // sr. vp, design // orion

"Not only did Derek provide a much needed vision and strategy refresh for our people products and help unify our teams; he also brought a new energy and enthusiasm to the group."

nadine welch / sr. crm dir. / mckinsey

thoughts & ideas

(coming soon)