Get to Know Us.
We’re a seasoned team, lean by choice, expansive on purpose — scaling up as needed through a network of collaborators to bring depth, agility, and the kind of perspective that shifts the conversation.
Together by Design.
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• Co-founder TOKONEXT
• Founder of TALENTSTAR with Frank O. Gehry as first client and HOK as second
• Consultant + Recruiter with The Coxe Group (with mentor Weld Coxe)
• Scaled A/ID startup from 15 to 85 as partner + governance lead — RMW architecture + interiors, San Francisco
• Entry into design firm management at Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), San Francisco
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• Curating connections
• Talent strategy + next-gen development
• Leadership readiness + ownership succession
• Practice design + organizational evolution
• Strategic positioning for design-first firms
• Growth strategy, including mergers + acquisitions
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• Focuses on what’s next
• Connects talent, leadership, and vision into strategy + activation
• Cuts through noise to get unstuck + flip the switch for forward momentum
• Guides ambition from hopes + dreams to clear, aligned, strategic direction
• Anticipates leadership challenges before they emerge
• Loves learning, especially from younger people
• Entranced by language — from syntax to communication
• Tech-savvy perennial who champions plug+play operability (aka energy grid)
• Design Advocate — now and forever
• Ask Minerva, dea ex machina
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• Chair of Exec Board + fractional CEO for BLINK Design Group — a luxury hospitality design firm in Asia
• Taught professional practice for 15 years in the Harvard GSD Executive Education Program
• Guest lecturer in professional practice at Harvard GSD, Kansas State APDesign, Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), AIA AAH C2, AIA/NY Future of Practice
• Presenter at KA Connect 2011 and Monograph (videos)
• Contributor for The Architecture of Vision (book) by Craig Park + Barbara Shuck
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Co-founder TOKONEXT
Former Principal, Gaines International — Retained Search
Talent strategist + leadership advisor for creative + innovation-driven firms
Two decades across recruitment, career coaching, and workforce development
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Translating business vision into actionable people strategies
Executive search + leadership alignment rooted in purpose
Defining roles and rethinking structures for scalable growth
Succession planning + preparing next-gen leaders
Building clarity across teams, systems, and culture
Guiding leaders and organizations through transition and transformation
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Steadiness + insight — listens deeply, finds what’s missing, and charts the way forward
Balances empathy and precision to empower confident decisions
Aligns roles, expectations, and collaboration for high-performing teams
Leads with calm candor and clear direction, enabling progress amid complexity
Turns ambiguity into systems, structure, and purposeful action
Believes every hire and change is a chance to shape the future—with people at the center
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• Founder, Plotlines LLC (aka Elevate Your Story)
• Strategic communications advisor with PR, content, and social expertise
• Former corporate comms leader turned go-to ghostwriter and brand voice partner
• Trusted by firms to shape narrative and elevate presence -
• Turning complexity into clarity
• Crafting messages that connect across platforms
• Coaching leaders to own and share their story
• Building visibility with authenticity and precision -
• Distills positioning into compelling language
• Brings structure to scattered ideas
• Fuses empathy with editorial muscle
• Helps firms and founders find their voice
• Makes your message stick — and matter• Pioneer in social media strategy, creating the Life at HOK blog that became the standard for the AEC industry.
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• Co-founder TOKONEXT
• Founder of TOKOCreative —
15+ years of brand + strategy• Strategic partner at TALENTSTAR
• Co-founder cleverSPIN and WEETU — agile studios blending space + brand + web
• Director Corporate Interiors at Eva Maddox Branded Environments, Chicago
• Associate Principal at STUDIOS Architecture, DC
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• Purpose-to-presence alignment
• Culture + communications strategy
• Rebrands + market shifts
• Business development through a design lens
• Coaching for leadership + next-gen teams
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• Threads strategy through brand, culture, and operations
• Makes complexity feel simple and actionable
• Turns vision into positioning — and positioning into traction
• Balances empathy and structure to guide high-stakes change
• Realigns teams to refocus momentum
• Brings joy to everything she does
• Known as the Creativity Ninja
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Guest lecturer in professional practice at Kansas State APDesign
Presenter Monograph (videos)
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• Licensed architect + educator redefining modern practice
• Co-founder of CLOG and guest editor of Harvard Design Magazine
• Former Senior Director at WeWork + Design Strategy Lead at Saltmine
• Assistant Professor at Harvard GSD | Leadership roles in AIA New York -
• Blending architecture, education, and research
• Navigating the future of design practice
• Rethinking how firms scale, build, and communicate
• Connecting systems thinking with creative exploration -
• Sees design as ecosystem, not output
• Makes big ideas accessible and actionable
• Bridges tradition with transformation
• Guides next-gen architects with empathy and insight
• Architect of both space and strategy
Values that ground us and expand our thinking.
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Curiosity.
We question and challenge the assumptions that hold firms back. Curiosity fuels our insight, sharpens our thinking, and helps us uncover what others might miss.
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People.
We focus on relationships and nurture growth — believing that leadership, culture, and clarity all begin with how people show up — for themselves and each other
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Future Focus.
We think ahead. Change is constant, but the ability to anticipate, adapt, and stay relevant is what sets firms apart
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Partnerships.
We dive in, embed, collaborate, and co-create — translating strategy into action and possibility into progress.
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Purposeful.
Purpose gives our work direction, aligns people, sharpens decisions, and keeps everyone moving with intention
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Reinvention.
Staying static isn’t an option. We believe in progress over perfection and create space for learning, reinvention, and bold momentum.
Where We Work.
We work across all time zones.
Our clients are based throughout the Americas from Canada to Panama — and internationally from Asia to Europe.
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