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Born and raised in a globe-trotting military family, and a fourth generation military veteran himself, Michael’s interest in art and design came to life as a teenager while living in Germany. During his time in Europe, he was immersed in the fine arts, studied music, and was absorbed by a cultural pride of balancing art and engineering to produce high-quality products and experiences. After higher education at a music school in Los Angeles, he eventually settled in the Bay Area and earned his Bachelors degree in Industrial Design at San Francisco State University.
His design career started as an award winning visual designer, and his explorative professional background ranges from serving as a medic in the U.S. Army, restaurant service, team rider for (and later building snowboards at) NeverSummer snowboards, a music technician on the '99 Lilith Fair tour, automotive sales, small business owner, brand strategist, copywriter, designing architectural signage systems, to leading user experience, product design and management at two technology startups.
To this day, Michael continues to chase his insatiable need for knowledge and kaizen through reading, online learning, workshops, and seminars. Lovingly married to his wildly talented wife Ann, he shares his aloha in the local surf line ups regularly and is currently learning to play the drums.
Highlights
Launched outwear brand Swellas with wife using up-cycled materials saving landfill and providing warm jackets to those in need.
Re-imagined academic journal model and designed a free self-service publication system for doctors and scientists.
Lead all aspects of UX research, design, launch and management for two SaaS products.