FROM SF BRAND DESIGN STUDIO → TO ACQUIRED BI-COASTAL BRAND-LED GROWTH PARTNER

I met Character, the studio that grew to become the brand-centered growth partner for startups, when they were a small team of designers in SF. Bringing my experience as a strategy leader in brand and design, I partnered with Ben, the creative Founder, and Ollie, the Managing Director, to design Character’s first-ever strategy capability.

Over several months, I placed the first Head of Strategy and worked with Myra to build and hire her team. With this new capability successfully established, the team prioritized growth in revenue and geographic expansion. We partnered to shape and hire their first growth leaders and establish a NYC presence.

Character was ultimately acquired by Dentsu, and many team members have gone on to establish new ventures together.

Placements:
Head of Strategy
Head of Growth & Managing Director (NYC)
Head of growth (SF)
Associate Strategy Director
Strategy Lead
Strategist
Design Director

FROM SMALL DESIGN STUDIO → TO TWITTER ACQUISITION

Initially a collaboration with my dear colleague Mikael Kuhn, we supported Halli, the creative Founder, to hire Gillian as the Managing Director and Pen as the General Manager, operationalizing the growth and management of the product design studio, Ueno. In the second chapter, I partnered with the Executive Design Director to co-create Ueno’s first strategy capability. We initially hired Carrie as the Executive Strategy Director and later co-created and placed Carrie’s multi-disciplinary team of strategists.

Over the years, I also worked closely with Pen to source and place specialized freelance talent. Ultimately, this small design studio grew to be acquired by Twitter, serving as its in-house 0-1 innovation team.

Placements:
Managing Director
General Manager
Executive Strategy Director
Strategy Lead x 3
Senior Freelance Talent

FROM BRAND CONSULTANCY→ TO PURPOSE-LED TRANSFORMATION & DESIGN CONSULTANCY

Building on my experience as a brand and design strategy leader, I initially partnered with Ty, the Founder/Chairman, in an advisory capacity to model various strategies for expanding from their consulting roots and establishing a design practice. Following our early plans, two of those initial connections were eventually hired as Chief Creative Officer and Chief Operations Officer.

During this period, I also collaborated closely with Kit, the Managing Director and Head of Organizational & Culture Design, providing hands-on leadership and strategy for several significant client culture transformation projects. I continue to work closely with KP, the Head of Talent, focusing on sourcing specialized freelance talent to support needs beyond their core team.

Placements:
Chief Design Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Senior Freelance Talent

FROM TRADITIONAL CONSULTANCY → TO THE INNOVATION CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING COMPANY FOR AUTONOMOUS INNOVATION

Partnering with Phil, the Founder/CEO, and Geoff, the US Partner/Managing Director, I collaborated with the consultancy previously known as Board of Innovation to facilitate their shift from traditional innovation consulting towards autonomous innovation. After an extensive search, I joined the team to redefine their vision, clarify strategic needs, and successfully place Amir as their new engineering- and product-focused Managing Director. Our collaboration continues as they evolve in real-time.

Placements:
Managing Director, Head of Product

FROM ACQUISITION → TO BUY-BACK

My initial collaboration with the prestigious design studio owned by Yves Behar was to co-create and place fuseproject’s first executive, pre-acquisition Growth hire, Ben. Post-acquisition, I worked with Yves, Founder/CEO, and holding company leadership to shape and place Sunil, the studio’s first President, to support increasing management and holding company collaboration needs. Most recently, Yves and the leadership team made the decision to move forward with a buy-back. Leading up to this inflection point, we partnered to hire Emilie as Head of Strategy & Brand.

Placements:
VP, Growth
President
Head of Strategy & Brand

FROM LOCAL STUDIO → TO D&AD'S 20204 DESIGN AGENCY OF THE YEAR

A connection made by my trusted colleague Mikael Kuhn, the Austin product studio formerly known as handsome had an ambitious vision to capitalize on their clients’ continued suggestions they work beyond their product design roots. I partnered with Jennifer, COO/President to shape and hire a team of leaders who help them evolve to be known as “The Unusual Design Company” and rebrand as Raw Materials.

Placements:
Chief Creative Officer
Chief Strategy Officer 
Head of People and Talent

FOUNDER, FICTIVE KIN

"Before working with Lizzie, I had spent years trying to find the perfect CEO for my agency. Within two months of working with her, that person is in the role and it has completely changed the course of my business. The caliber of the candidates she brings, the extent to which she truly understands, and the high-touch way in which she helps guide the process are just unbelievable."

EXECUTIVE STRATEGY DIRECTOR, UENO

“Occasionally, someone crosses your path and becomes a significant and outsized influence in your life. Lizzie is that someone for me. She gets to know the depth of you beyond your words. She sees the core and essence of someone and works with that person – even when you don’t see it yourself. And then you become that person. After connecting me with one of the best jobs I've ever had, she became my #1 partner in building my team. Meeting Lizzie changed the trajectory of my career and our studio. Lizzie has unbelievable intuition, an incredible sense for talent and rare in-depth knowledge. Equally, she is incredibly generous with her time, as a partner to fully understand the needs of the team, and with candidates, giving guidance to everyone involved. She’s really lived in the depth of similar experiences, so you get something different – it goes beyond words.”

PARTNER & MANAGING DIRECTOR, BOI

“I am very glad to be ‘working with Lizzie’. Right after we met, she really understood our business and the moment we were in – and used her diverse experience to find us the very best executive candidates, shepherd us through the hiring process and refine our vision along the way. She delicately but candidly coached me on where I needed to change my view – leading us to an outcome that was far better than if we’d followed my instincts alone.”

HEAD OF GROWTH, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CHARACTER

“Lizzie has been an exceptional extension of our team, having sought out and helped us secure our top strategic, business and creative leaders. We're not an easy client (to say the least!), with an unwavering commitment to finding our 'unicorn' and Lizzie gets that, choosing to spend time getting to know us and the candidates and making a trusted recommendation, rather than a sell. I couldn't recommend a better hiring partner for agencies!”

MANAGING DIRECTOR & PARTNER, WOODSIDE CAPITAL PARTNERS

”Lizzie is a true catalyst with insightful guidance and deep understanding. Lizzie's empathetic approach to coaching, recruiting, and mentorship provided me with the support and confidence I needed to make a significant career transition. I wholeheartedly recommend working with Lizzie to anyone seeking to unlock their full potential and discover their next adventure.”

MANAGING DIRECTOR, UENO

”I've learned that recruiting and keeping top talent is paramount to leading an agency from Lizzie. Ueno partnered with Lizzie during periods of accelerated growth when we needed key players. Working with Lizzie we found she's far more than a recruiter, she's a trusted partner. She was instrumental to our talent and growth strategy by curating our needs into precise recommendations. Her clear communication from start to finish made life easy for us. Highly recommended!”

GLOBAL MANAGING DIRECTOR, FUSEPROJECT

“As I have grown as a leader, I have been surprised by the loneliness and isolation that can come with making tough calls with no clear answers. When the stakes are high and the fog rolls in, we all need trusted partners to help us reground in our instincts to recast our visions and teams. Lizzie is that partner. More than hiring for any single role or function, Lizzie helps leaders find the insights and spur action to move forward. Leveraging her breadth of experience as a strategist, coach and recruiter, Lizzie sees the whole picture and so often, the things we cannot. Over the past 5 years and through many seasons of change in my business, Lizzie has delivered three key leadership team hires and has been a trusted advisor to me and the executive team. Lizzie brings a bold, positive and no-nonsense energy to listen deeply and cut through the noise. She gets it, and you’ll know it. With her, anything is possible!”

FOUNDER, SUPER KEEN

“Lizzie's an exceptional connector of people. She introduced me, advocated for me and ultimately was a critical advisor in my decision to join the leadership team at a branding and design studio. She has a stellar knack for listening to people's emotional centers, then matching them with the opportunities and people that help them flourish. So thrilled that many more folks get the chance to work closely with her brilliant mind!”

PARTNER, IA COLLABORATIVE

“Working with Lizzie is invigorating and effortless at the same time. Lizzie has a broad skill set that doesn't feel possible to find all in one person - but that's exactly the power of Lizzie, she does it all seamlessly. Lizzie has built an impressive network and she leverages it to everyone's advantage. Working with her professionally she used that network to find the right leader for a particularly difficult role for a discipline still new to us, and personally Lizzie has made introductions that have profoundly impacted my life. To work with Lizzie in any capacity is a gift to your current and future business and self.”

FOUNDER, KODO

“Lizzie has a gift for creating incredibly thoughtful and surprising matches between companies and talent. Her work as a connector led me to the most surprising and fulfilling introduction of my career: an ambitious studio, a fantastic team, exciting projects, and a worthwhile challenge. She is deeply familiar with what is functionally needed to build design and innovation practices, but combines this with a keen, and very human read on personality, personal goals, and culture fit. She digs into your experiences and what your ambitions are to surface great potential growth opportunities for your trajectory, uncovering 'aha' moments where you wouldn't expect.”

CEO, BORN GROUP

“Lizzie quickly felt part of our team. Lizzie immediately understood the finest details, the business context and success factors, helping us refine our vision in the process. With her, it’s not just about filling key roles. She cares about the team and the trajectory of the business. I love the fact that she looks out for the best interest of the candidates, while finding the top most talent for us, magically! She was able to quickly connect us with the very best senior candidates across several disciplines – design, technology, strategy, marketing and business operations – with ease and incredible success.”