I started my career in advertising at FCB Global. After spending a few years helping some calorie-dense brands like Jack Daniels, Coca-Cola, and KFC redefine their digital footprints, I turned my attention elsewhere—specifically west, to my hometown of San Francisco. There, I was told robot baristas make coffee, cars drive themselves, and my friends live in shoeboxes. In other words, it was the perfect place for a digital damsel to pursue his dreams.

In 2017, I helped build Uber Eats’ brand from the ground up, leading brand system design for their global rebrand. During my stint at Uber, I survived two rebrands, two CEOs, the rise and fall of many marketing leaders, an IPO, and many late nights drawing tacos and hamburgers for the ride-hailing tech company.

From there, I plunged back into the start-up world, drawn to a small company’s mission to unlock financial freedom for everyone. When I started at Plaid in 2019, I had no idea how quickly the industry would explode under a revolution of new digital finance products and an expansive network built by one small but mighty company. Today, we’re not small—but we’re certainly mighty. Over the past 5+ years, I’ve worked closely with the leaders at Plaid to navigate tremendous change, ultimately redefining how the company looks and feels in the new age of fintech.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about branding over the course of my career, it’s that feelings matter. How we interact with the digital world is still, at the end of the day, an emotional journey. When we give a tech product the ability to play, or transform, or tell a story, we give people a reason to use it again and again. In other words, people have feelings… and so do computers.

Believe me. Just ask the robot baristas.