I’ve managed creatives across disciplines:

• Brand and Visual design

• Product, UI, and Experience design

• UX research

• Copywriting

• Content creation

• Multimedia (Video, Animation, Podcast)

• Creative Production and Project Management

I’ve also managed agencies including Pentagram, Gold Front, Zurb, Belief, and a number of freelancers.

“When faced with the need for a back fill after a designer left the team, Stephanie conducted a workshop with her team to identify design skill gaps and future skill needs to craft a job posting that would target the missing skill sets. She didn't just go the easy route to fill a general role but put a ton of thought into maximizing the hire she'd been entrusted with by Keap. This is an innovative practice that has the potential to scale across the whole company with massive benefit."

– Excerpt from nomination for Monthly Leadership Award

💬 1:1s

I meet with each of my Creatives once a week. It’s a place to:

• Talk about their successes or concerns

• Provide quick and (usually) painless course corrections on work

• Explore career growth options

• Align on company- or org-wide strategies

• Encourage proactive impact by pointing out great project or campaign ideas to submit for leadership review or sprint planning

• Have real conversations when behaviors don’t align with core values or when work suffers—I look for reasons behind missteps and try not to jump to conclusions

My goal is to always do what’s best for the creative, the team, the company, and the end customer.

Management

Some people call it ‘the boring stuff’, but I enjoy management because it’s the ‘long-game’ of shaping a team and the projects we take on. My work includes:

• Setting a vision for the future of the team, Org, and company

• Delegating, coaching, and tracking progress toward creative & brand goals

• Performance reviews & growth planning

• Conflict resolution and teaching reports how resolve conflicts effectively

• Improving systems for brand, design, copy, video, research, and creative projects

• Partnering with leaders from Marketing, Product, Sales, Customer Success, Internal, etc. to build feedback loops and collaborate on new initiatives

• Vetting and hiring ICs or Vendors

👀 Critiques & Direction

When I arrived at Keap, the design team didn’t review work together. In my current role at Versapay, it was a similar story. Each case led to disparate creative, stilted growth in skills, and a lack of camaraderie. I formalized critiques at both companies as a method to improve skills, output, and dynamics. Then, I iterated on it every 6 months or so based on team composition and survey feedback.

• At Versapay, I built an ad hoc, asynchronous feedback culture, as we span timezones from Toronto to Portland. We’re able to review all projects over Slack and with Loom videos., and use a visual key to designate urgency.

• Eventually, at Keap, I delegated formal critiques to the Team Lead to train him up in leadership and communication.

📆 Planning

I build close, reciprocal relationships with C-level, VP-level, and Director-level colleagues as well as fellow managers. I often Slack and have as-needed chats to rank work. I seek a balance between delivering on 'the next 2 weeks' and making incremental gains toward quarterly and multi-year initiatives.

I right-size messages to the size of the team or Org. Then, I equip others or partner on plans to achieve shared goals.

By defining quarterly goals like conversion metrics and campaign KPIs, I help teams understanding when we’re winning.

🚀 Launches

I build teams of high performers who ship quality work every week. I help guide brand application in messaging, visuals, and experience throughout sprints. I also creative direct and delegate on large projects including:

• PR campaigns

• Feature-focused campaigns

• Awareness campaigns

• Or even a midnight company rebrand