Experience

04 / 2024 – Present — Digital Product Manager, USAA;

Responsible for the digital storefront and content experience for filing an insurance claim with USAA, including applying UX methodologies to develop strategies and roadmaps to improve digital capabilities and enhance empathy in digital communications.

Built a Service Blueprint to identify the current state of communications around insurance claims and identify gaps and weaknesses, enabling a multi-year roadmap to transform digital communication capabilities for insurance claims.
Managed the migration of claims storefront web pages into a new publishing platform (Adobe Experience Manager), which included the development of a migration roadmap, risk mitigation, and business routine establishment, as well as overseeing the improvement of each page by applying UX methodology.

02 / 2024 – Present — Realtor®, Epique Realty;

Transitioned my real estate business to a new brokerage to leverage the AI driven tools. The transition enabled a re-brand as Living San Antonio, Texas that aligned with social media focused marketing campaigns and has resulted in lower cost customer aquisition.

Earned AI Pro designation as a licensed real estate agent.
Enabled AI tools to automate real estate activites including automated social media, lead generation and customer follow-up tasks.
Launched YouTube channel called Living in San Antonio, Texas as the pillar in a video-driven marketing campaign to drive brand awareness, lead generation and establish a stronger SEO footprint.

01 / 2023 – Present — Partner, Primo Ventures;

Responsible for directing real estate investment strategies and overseeing all aspects of real estate renovation, including project timelines, budgets, and daily troubleshooting.

Developed several investment strategies to diversify the initial capital investment, including renovation and renting undervalued real estate.
Developed and executed project timelines to renovate and sell properties in coordination with sub-contractors, neighbors, and local government agencies.

03 / 2023 – 02 / 2024 — Realtor®, KW Heritage;

Acquired a Texas real estate license and established a real estate business, encompassing lead generation, client management, contract negotiation, and ensuring clear communication with all parties in each transaction.

Negotiated several real estate offers in a highly competitive real estate market with an acceptance rate of over 80%.
Developed and executed marketing campaigns for several properties and real estate services leveraging social media, paid ads, and local events. Optimized digital campaigns resulted in over 58K impressions per home.
Earned Military Relocation Professional (MRP) designation as a licensed real estate agent.

03 / 2023 – 03 / 2017 — Design Director, USAA;

Responsible for growing and mentoring designers, resulting in promotions and retention of top talent. Collaborated with business, technical, and legal partners to ensure delivery of critical initiatives driven by compliance requirements and customer expectations.

Transitioned a team of over 30 designers to a new team model within the newly established Chief Design Office organization by assessing their skill sets, evaluating their performance, and transitioning key team members to critical projects to ensure the organizational change did not disrupt ongoing initiatives supporting USAA Bank activities.
Supported complex experiences like Disputes and Military Benefits by solving compliance and UX problems and integrating several key partners into a generative design process, resulting in updated product roadmaps that informed priorities in SAFe Agile software development, making digital experiences compliant with banking regulations, reducing cost, and increasing operational efficiency by reducing call volume to the call center.
Created additional operational efficiency for the entire design team and key partners by establishing Office Hours, eliminating unnecessary meetings, and using built-in Zoom capabilities to have several conversations simultaneously via designated rooms.

12 / 2021 – 07 / 2020 — Instructor, UX/UI Bootcamp UTSA;

Created a nurturing virtual classroom environment to ensure each cohort emerged from the boot camp ready for new UX/UI Design careers, equipped with knowledge and confidence in their abilities.

Graduated several cohorts of Bootcamp participants hired into conversational, AI, UX, product, and content design roles.
Supported students’ learning journey by offering additional support during Office Hours before and after class.
Integrated experience in the design industry by offering timely feedback to students during design exercises and guiding students during their group and individual projects.

03 / 2021 – 06 / 2016 — Chief Digital Officer, Boxes and Arrows;

oined as a publisher to continue operating the online publication founded by Christina Wodtke in 2001, aimed at enhancing and advocating for the IA community by disseminating exemplary techniques, innovations, and informed opinions.

Reorganized Boxes and Arrows into a business entity by converting it into an LLC to ensure organizational longevity.
Reduced operational costs by transitioning to a new web hosting platform that properly supported WordPress and all additional technical requirements.
Updated the platform to a responsive version of WordPress and increased reliability by identifying and removing obsolete plug-ins.

03 / 2017 – 12 / 2015 — Experience Owner, USAA;

Responsibilities encompassed overseeing the process, performance, risk, and execution of services for Credit Card like Address Change and Cash Advances. Led the pilot of the Right Card initiative, designed to help customers select credit card products that best suit their evolving needs while being compliant with federal regulations.

Updated KPI / KRIs assigned to Credit Card Address Change and Cash Advance services through process map, RCSA documentation, and dissemination.
Established and maintained product management routines to identify and remediate any compliance or performance issues.
Integrated Design Sprint and SAFe agile methods to produce a well-defined backlog and successful Right Card functionality pilot release.

12 / 2015 – 08 / 2015 — Lead Experience Strategist, USAA;

Facilitated design sprints to validate product concepts employing various human-centered design methods. This approach consistently engaged executive business partners, offering more valuable outcomes than traditional strategy-building activities.

Increased operational efficiency and lowered the cost of learning by using Design Sprints to validate product ideas and better define their value, enabling more informed leadership decisions.
Integrated executive leadership into Design Sprints to prioritize the ideas produced with an assigned budget.

08 / 2015 – 12 / 2011 — Sr. Creative Designer, USAA;

Led design projects in the MSR Lab while building relationships with business partners to inform the strategy for a new employee tool set, the MSR Portal. Facilitated user feedback and Lean UX techniques to develop enduring design principles.

Established design principles for employee experiences, which have been leveraged for digital tools long after time in MSR Lab.
Effectively synthesized real-time user feedback, which enabled Lean UX methods to inform agile software development priorities.
Created several digital tools through collaboration with business and engineering partners, resulting in 7 U.S. Patents being issued.

12 / 2011 – 08 / 2010 — Contract Designer, USAA;

Focused on designing and developing web pages for USAA products using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for integration into the enterprise CMS, ensuring cross-device visibility.

08 / 2010 – 12 / 2006 — Sr. Creative Developer, T3;

T3, an advertising agency, utilized animation, interaction, and visual design expertise to develop rich media web experiences for clients including Universal, Dell, Taco Bell, UPS, and The Wall Street Journal.

12 / 2006 – 10 / 2005 — Manager of Web Development, MEA Digital;

The role of Manager of Web Development demanded programming and web scripting expertise to develop campaigns for clients such as Callaway Golf, Centurion Boats, and Kyocera.