Use one of the links or read some recommendations below to learn more about me and my work.
Recommendations
(from people who i've hired, led, and made stuff with)
Roy Brubaker
I spent much of my time at Zume picking Brendan's brain about his vision for the design organization there. He is an extremely well-articulated and thought-out individual. As the Design Program Manager, I knew immediately that I would not have a hard time convincing him of the benefits of adding structure to the design team. In fact, he had several presentations and confluence pages he had put together before I joined that closely reflected my own philosophy around how a design organization should be represented in a large or growing company. He's supportive of his team, and product owners and engineering leads can also trust his design leadership will be both cognizant of their processes in product development and, ultimately, the best direction for the user experience within the end product.
Roxanne Tomco
Content designER AT NETFLIX
I have had the pleasure of knowing and partnering with Brendan for over a decade now. Throughout various companies we both worked for, I’ve watched him grow as a designer, climb the ranks into managing and directing, and expand his design leadership expertise from visual and brand folks into product and industrial teams. To say he is equipped to lead and grow further is beyond an understatement — he could be your next CDO or founder.
I’m still using coaching advice Brendan gave me to help build bridges with stakeholders and upskill myself, which has paid off in the form of improved, sustained working relationships. His ethical foundation provided me and the rest of his teams the space to expand our impact, while showing the org by example that this was the right thing to do. He invested first in us and went to bat for our needs, and he always ends up with fiercely loyal teams and networks as a result.
Alex Fallas
Brendan is one of the most thoughtful, talented, and open leaders I had the pleasure to work with. When he hired me on, he made it clear that he wanted me to be able to grow into a design leader and made every effort to give me the tools I needed to be successful. Brendan has a serious talent for hiring a team that is impactful and high performing, while building a culture that is fun, inclusive, and highly positive. I always knew Brendan had my back on tough and high-profile decisions, having full trust in my expertise, while I trusted him as an industry veteran with a great vision for the team. Any company should be clamoring to have Brendan as a leader on their payroll and his impact will pay off in exponential amounts.
Erika von Kelsch
It’s rare to encounter someone as brilliant and supportive as Brendan. I worked with him for over 2 years at Zume, where he expertly guided my teammates and I through many diverse projects. Time after time I saw Brendan advocate for our team and our user’s experiences, always backed by thoughtful strategy. He’s an excellent communicator and leader, who delivers great outcomes in the face of uncertainty.
I attribute much of my development as a designer to Brendan. He continued to be a great mentor to me even as we ended up working in different locations with a growing team to manage. No matter how tense a critique or situation, Brendan always made sure we went forward with a smile and unified plan thanks to his calm disposition and humor. Anyone would be lucky to have Brendan as their manager or team leader!
Matt Fisher
senior manager - content design at thoughtspot
Brendan is a talented people manager with a great temperament and perspective for managing a creative team. He has an eye for identifying and hiring skilled people who work well with others, who contribute positively to the team dynamic, who are self-motivated and don't need a lot of hand holding. He does this quickly and under pressure and handles it with grace and without losing focus on his standards or his vision. The result is a happy team that comes to work ready for the day, every day. As a senior level team member, Brendan set me up for success clearing the path for me to develop the skills and explore the areas of work that interested me without burdening me with tangential projects and fire drills that could have derailed and demoralized me. Brendan is a strong leader and would be an asset to any organization that needs, talented design team to execute daily on a high level.
Kai Takahashi
Brendan was my manager for almost 3 years at Zume Pizza / Zume. Brendan did a great job of building a team of talented and passionate designers who made me happy to show up to work every day. At first, our design team was just us 2 running around designing software for food trucks and shooting special pizzas in a makeshift conference room studio. Within 2.5 years we were an organized team of about 25 across brand, product, and industrial design supporting a company of 600+ employees. As our team grew, Brendan dove into many different books on structure & process to figure out how best to support a rapidly growing company (spoiler alert, he's a big double diamond guy!).
Instead of being a domineering leader, Brendan would ask us what we needed from him and make sure to support us however he could. Through multiple rebrands with tight turnarounds, Brendan worked hard to make sure our team had as many resources (time, attention, space) as possible to do our best work. Most importantly, everyone on our team knew Brendan had our backs and would go to bat for us whenever it was needed. I always looked forward to our 1:1s, as I knew Brendan could always give me candid advice on whatever situation I was facing.
