Deckers Brands

My Role

• Innovation Partner
• Product Prototyping 
• New Development Project Management
• New Development Commercialization 
• 3D Printing and Design 
• Budget and Financial Planning
• External Idea Submissions
• Technology Integration and Communication 
• Innovation Workshops 

As an Innovation Partner I worked directly with the VP of Innovation on various projects and initiatives relating to product, process and business model innovation.

Concept to Prototype to Commercialization

 Product improvements, in terms of technology, comfort, and manufacturing efficiency, was a major focus for us. I worked with the brand presidents and leadership to develop innovation portfolios that would help prioritize our innovation efforts. From there, I worked with the team to generate solutions that then went to be developed and commercialized.

External Innovation  

At Deckers, we had an open innovation policy, meaning we would evaluate ideas that came from within the organization as well as outside of the organization. I helped create the external innovation funnel and reviewed hundreds of submissions by outside inventors. This included assessing patents with the legal team and vetting the value of the proposed intellectual property. 

3D Printing & 3D Design  

With the improved technology and reduced costs of 3D printing, the innovation team recognized an opportunity to integrate this technology into our prototyping phase of the design process and sought to explore the limits of this emerging technology. On one such project, I lead a team to develop a functional midsole cushioning system that was fully printed using soft materials. 

As part of our effort to integrate a 3D workflow in the design process, I worked with the team on 3D design and sampling using our in-house printer to visualize and verify design concepts. We also used these concepts to develop an augmented reality experience to visualize a product for UGG. 

Innovation Practices

One of our initiatives was to inspire innovation throughout the organization. I managed workshops that taught internal innovation practices, including design thinking, business model validation, and lean startup methodologies. 

Product Innovation Conference

I served as a Keynote Speaker for the 2013 Product Innovation Conference in San Diego with the top Fortune 500 Companies in attendance. I spoke about my experience building our internal innovation process, how to inspire creativity, and how to utilize lean startup principles to validate early innovation ideas.