Dave chose me to refresh its brand after going public—my charge: at scale, develop and launch a brand and visual design system that felt warm, welcoming, and productive.  

As the Director of Design Platforms reporting directly to the VP of Design, I was tasked with developing and applying a singular design language that met the needs of the entire Dave organization. The fulfilling work of evolving our brand and key points-of-contact was grounded in my commitment to work cross-functionally with leadership so I could properly envision and construct a brand direction for Dave—one that provided an elevated experience, ensured ease of adoption, and embodied the elasticity necessary to thrive in an ever-changing fintech landscape.

From the start, it was imperative that I understood what worked and what didn’t work for Dave’s members and potential members. Toward that end, I helmed the development of several brand dashboards and research resources to illuminate the data points that needed to factor into the future of Dave’s brand.

Through collaboration with passionate colleagues, I was also able to distill the breakpoints of our brand system and set a new standard for how to ship internal resources related to our brand efforts. These processes not only enabled other departments to move quickly but also allowed me to impact OKRs outside of my direct area of influence.

Notably, Dave uniquely captures the hearts and minds of its members through the welcoming and helpful voice of Dave the Bear. As a brand avatar, I refined Dave the Bear to stand apart from competitors, giving Dave a wonderful foundation upon which to build.