ABOUT

Artist, Author, Entrepreneur, Show Host, Speaker

tl;dr
I’m an artist, entrepreneur, speaker, and creative strategist who has spent my career building digital products, leading teams, launching bold ideas, and helping people reconnect with what matters most.

From leading major UX, Design, and Brand work at Zappos to advising companies like Apple, Disney, NASA, and Sony, my work lives at the intersection of design, values, vision, and change.

Today, I help organizations align the soul of their company with the people who build and use their products.

Here’s a general resume (PDF), in case you’re interested. ❤️

Fuller Background Story
After graduating college with an art degree (Drawing and Metal Sculpture/minor in Art History), I spent the first 12 years of my career as a web/digital designer. Along the way, I became a partner in an interactive and animation studio serving agency clients like Chiat Day, Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, and more (before they had in-house web/interactive teams, we were a massive go-to!)

In 2009-2010, as a part of the Zappos.com UX team, I collaborated to lead their first major website redesign (before, after), then built their very first in-house web design team to support the new design system and brand book that happened as a result of the redesign. I then led a 6-person team to develop Zappos' first mobile apps before joining a remote, high-end mobile app team as Director of UX in 2011, collaborating with clients like Apple, Disney, TimeWarner and more. This career momentum was interrupted when the loss of my dad led to a spell of Life Burnout®, which prompted a new direction of walking away from my career (as a single mom) to redesign my life around core values.

I started writing and speaking at conferences around the world with an emphasis on designing digital products for emotional engagement and redesigning your life (as if it were a digital product) after loss, massive change, or burnout. Since 2012, I have been invited to keynote at more than 100 events.

As I rolled out of hands-on digital design work, I rebuilt myself as an executive coach and strategic advisor. One of my retainer “Executive Creative Advisor” roles evolved into a COO position for high-end app development shop, MartianCraft working again with clients like Apple, NASA, Sony, and more.

In parallel with coaching/advising, my partner (in business and life) and I put our skills into practice and launched an idea-baby called “Picture This Clothing.” We got a surprise TechCrunch write-up the same day we announced it, and a video about us went viral with 40m views. This project earned a net $1.2 million in our first 18 months with zero marketing dollars spent (100% word of mouth!) Picture This Clothing now runs beautifully without me, so I get to work with people I love, on projects I am excited about (one of my core values).

I have shifted my focus toward daily learning, experimenting out loud, writing, and other interesting things that pop up.
Organizations hire me to coach/advise/inspire on:

Leading and working through core values: Connecting the soul of the company with the soul of the people who make, and those who use your products.
Offer strategic input/advice on bridging the gap between where you are and where you’re going, from a seasoned design-thinking/devil’s advocate/futurist perspective.

I can Zoom + travel anywhere in the whole wide world, but I live on a big ol’ patch of desert land in Pahrump, NV, with my husband, two daughters, and a big batch of rescue pets.

If you’re Googling, see also: Jaimee Newberry. I got married in 2020 and decided to take my husband’s name, “Finney”– reflective of a whole new life chapter!

A few other things I do/have done

Fractional COO for software company, Amico Apps (WidgetWall has gone viral on TikTok and hit #1 in the Mac App Store, twice!)
Invited to tell my story on stages around the world and interviewed by global media outlets about various life chapters. (see some pics below!)
Contributing writer for tech publications:
(InformIT; Pearson Pub; App Mag; NET Magazine; INFOQ)
NaNoWriMo participant/completionist
Advocate + speaker for WomenWhoTest (Women in tech, Techwell)
Career mentor for underrepresented women in design
Volunteer + advocate for AppCampForGirls (helped girls aged 12-17 learn iOS programming)
Co-creator + catalyst for @wwdcgirls | wwdcgirls.com | women@wwdc
COO, then Board member for a world-class application development company
International motivational speaker + workshop leader in design, tech, and entrepreneur space
Occasional personal challenge + YouTube experimentalist, see here and here and here
Started an experimental self-help project + community at TinyChallenges.com (2014-2024)
Trap-Neuter-Release advocate and rescue-pet mom
Retro video game nerd (Check out our Atari wall! Ask me about our cabinet collection!)
Co-founder of BESTS.com (Failed startup, but still own the domain w/ Ken!)