Hi, I'm Kristin. I used to teach Shakespeare to bored teenagers.

Ten minutes into a lesson, you can tell when it's not landing. Glazed eyes, dead air, the plan you spent all week on just...not clicking. You learn to stop, read the room, and try something else—fast.

That instinct followed me out of the classroom. I spent years as a high school English teacher before moving into product design, and it turns out "pivot when things don't go to plan" is a pretty useful skill in a workshop, a user interview, or a stuck team meeting (more useful than a Shakespearean pool noodle duel, at least).

I ask a lot of questions. I'm not afraid to be silly. And I've learned that the best thing you can do when something isn't clicking is stop, figure out why, and try something different.

These days I’m a Principal Product Designer at DICK’S Sporting Goods, focusing less on making screens and more time making sense of big, ambiguous, cross-functional problems. I lead service design programs, build the kind of organizational infrastructure that other teams build on top of, and spend a meaningful amount of time helping the business and the design org find their shared language.

I’ve also been leaning hard into AI, using tools like Figma Make and Claude to prototype and explore faster than felt possible even a couple years ago.

Outside of work, you’ll find me watercolor painting, playing board games, or planning my next trip (my favorite involves an impromptu climb up the Hverfjall crater in Iceland; seeing Dir en grey play live in Japan with my sister is a close second!) And there’s nothing I love more than an afternoon curled up with a book.

Most days, you’ll find me with my husband and daughter, hiking on the trail or on a playground + coffee shop adventure.