I am a consultant, writer and entrepreneur living in Toronto.

From 2013 until 2020, I was a partner of the design studio, Whitman Emorson. It was a fun, deeply edifying, profoundly rewarding experience. At WE, I developed the studio’s sensible, unorthodox and intuitive approach to brand strategy. I oversaw client services and business development, working with organizations like H&M, Allied Properties, Holt Renfrew, the University of Toronto and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. In the summer of 2020, after growing the team to 12, I stepped down from my role and exited the company.

Prior to joining WE, I lived in London, England, where I worked at Winkreative, a global design agency, which is a sister company to Monocle magazine. There, I worked on large-scale branding and editorial projects with clients like Hermès, BMW, Porter Airlines and the Government of Thailand. Also in London, I did a brief spell at Vice UK; I consulted on projects for Google; and I completed a master’s degree in political communication at the London School of Economics, where I won the Best Dissertation Prize for my narrative analysis of the killing of bin Laden.

All this was preceded by the most fun and least lucrative chapter of my career, during which I worked as a magazine editor (at Saturday Night, Toro and enRoute) and freelance journalist. This work enabled me to do so all sorts of memorable things: reviewing runway shows at London fashion week; ice-diving in the Alps; interviewing emerging artists in Shanghai’s dystopian suburbs; floatplane-flying in the Yukon; eating at 30 Amsterdam restaurants in a week; and more. During this time, I had a personal finance column in the Globe & Mail; a men’s style column in Canadian Business; and contributed to a range of other publications, including Monocle, Bon Appétit and Conde Nast Traveler. I also wrote several book reviews for the Globe & Mail and National Post. And an essay I wrote in 2019, “The Life-Changing Magic of Making Do,” was included in the anthology, Best Canadian Essays 2020.

I am presently consulting with a prominent professional services firm; a tech unicorn; and a new luxury wellness retreat, set to launch in late 2021. I continue to do some writing, and am cooking up a couple ideas for my next big move.

Photo by the wonderful Kristina Ruddick.