ABOUT ME

I thrive on learning new technology and helping startups succeed. Prior to my start as a UX Designer, I worked in finance (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Fidelity), and also completed my MBA in entrepreneurship at Westminster College. I love talking business, strategy + design!

I have a strong background in operations, managing people and finance, as a result, my process tends to be detail-oriented and collaborative. I also work hard to make sure I'm not only dedicating time on the day to day, but I'm also getting into future, long range and strategic goals. Something I often say is I'm "not attached" to my work. I take great pride in my work, but in the Zen Buddhist tradition, I remove ego and attachment from my end work so that we can focus on getting to the right solution. I love any and all open and honest feedback.

I've been told my superpowers are empathy, operational expertise and building relationships. You'll get to know me and feel that I'm embedded within your team, even if I'm only a part-time contributor. I want to understand both the technical and the design elements to come up with a user-friendly and holistic solution.

I love taking on new projects and when I do I immerse myself fully. I've taken on web, app and software design projects and love what I do. I've designed for iOS and Android, and built websites in Squarespace and Webflow.

If you're interested in branding, I also take this on at my studio website, Alafoss Studio.

A few cool things I've done lately:
- Co-creating the first month-long design festival in Portland.
- Currently in year two of my Masters in Graphic Design at Arts University Bournemouth (branding studio launching soon!)
- Spoke about UX for Self Sovereign Identity Products at IIW.
- Driving from San Jose to Los Angeles to see LCD Soundsystem (worth the trip!)