Beyond
Horizontality

Ross A. McIntyre has a peculiar background, beginning as an actor, producer, and writer in New York City where he produced over 50 short films, one feature film, and multiple theatrical productions. He moved into digital strategy nearly 20 years ago, beginning at Huge.

Most recently, McIntyre served as Vice President of Strategy at Hypergiant, an artificial intelligence services firm. He has worked for such clients as Google, Nestlé, TGI Fridays, and FOX. Ross is finishing rewrites on his first novel, "Here Comes Yesterday." He has a lifelong obsession with collecting comic books and hates mayonnaise.

Tom brings over two decades of expertise to brand and experience design, building high performing teams and fostering a culture of collaboration and creative excellence. At Stellar Elements, he leads teams to imagine new ways to engage with people through physical and digital experiences across many industries. Prior to joining Stellar Elements, Tom sharpened his craft at Cibo, MarchFirst, and Foote, Cone & Belding, leading brand experience teams that made significant impact for clients such as Box, Nike, Tesla, Sephora, Subaru, and Visa. Outside of work, Tom spends time perfecting a mean Old Fashioned and pretends to be 20 years old on his skateboard.

For decades, Taylor worked as a creative strategist, creative team leader, and purpose-driven brand builder as well as a researcher, facilitator, advisor, and board member for corporations and NGOs alike. His focus is on aligning business strategy with cultural realities to build purpose-driven brand programs that out-perform their competition and drive growth. His experience includes leading and managing research and strategic planning teams for Nike, Blue Cross of California, P&G Health and Beauty Care, Bayer, the U.S. Army, Nestlé, General Mills, Apple, GM, Ryder Systems, Lenovo, Union Bank, Kaiser Permanente, and Subaru.

With 25 years of expertise in marketing and brand strategy, Jeannette has played a crucial role in generating over $600M in sales. Leading PackIt to achieve over $100M in sales, her efforts expanded its footprint to 40 countries and secured its presence in over 5000 retail stores. Her focus on innovation and improving customer experiences is deeply outcome-driven, fueling substantial revenue growth. This strategy cemented PackIt as a market leader and earned accolades from Inc. Magazine and Forbes. She is the architect of the CX20, a framework designed to bridge the experience gap, offering organizations deeper insights into customer expectations and CX blind spots.

With fourteen years of industry experience, Jill Starett leads product launches, champions insights-driven innovation, and facilitates cross functional problem-solving teams. She has worked with a diverse array of teams from entrepreneurs to enterprise including Mass General Hospital, ACT, and FedEx.As a Strategy Group Director, she is compelled most when driving new standards for the status quo, energizing creative thinking and outputs, and connecting meaningful user experiences to measurable business value. Outside of workplace innovation, Jill channels her creative energies through the inception, design, and completion of stained glass art pieces.

Bret is the Global Head of Design at Stellar Elements, where he leads clients and teams to define and build cohesive experiences that transform brands and organizations. Prior to joining Stellar Elements, he was the VP of Design at Primer.ai, Executive Design Director at frog, a Senior Manager and Design Director at Accenture Interactive / Fjord, and a Creative Director at Method. The common thread throughout his career has been designing not just the touchpoints (physical and digital), but also defining and delivering the people, process, technology, and organizational shifts that must be addressed to affect real, impactful change.

With more than two decades of experience crafting novel experiences for the web, mobile, and immersive environments, Bishop brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the MATTER team. He's received awards from SIGGRAPH, SXSW, AIGA, Awwwards, and industry certifications from Apple, Google, Adobe, Autodesk and more. In 2016, he won an Audience Choice award at the San Antonio Film Festival for his color grading and title design work on Wallace Witherspoon's "Second Impression." In 2018, he was featured in the Colorado AdClub's "The 50" for his work on Aspen's "Give a Fl*ke" campaign.

With almost a decade of experience in software engineering, Taylor is a seasoned consultant specializing in front-end development. Having worked in React since its early days, Angular, and Ruby on Rails, Taylor has made impactful contributions to diverse industries, including non-profit education, startups, and many consulting projects. Beyond the coding realm, Taylor enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters in their hometown of Atlanta. Committed to creating meaningful digital experiences, Taylor's passion extends to building connections and leaving a lasting impact beyond the lines of code.

Thea Betts is an Experience Director at Stellar Elements who believes in harnessing the power of design thinking to take customer experiences to the next level. She works with clients to ensure they focus on what's truly important— from innovation and new product discovery to pixel-polished solutions that can be shipped and measured. With over a decade of experience crafting design-led solutions across financial services, food & beverage, utilities, telco and more. She also loves to travel and explore new cultures and embark on culinary adventures. She has a Bachelor of Communication with honors from Massey University.

Katie Pagenkopf is a strategy leader at Stellar Elements who helps her clients execute innovations for better reaching and serving their customers. As a leader from banking, Katie's work was acknowledged by Credit Card Monitor in 2019 as a best-in-class experience for payments across USA credit cards; her expertise includes Buy Now Pay Later, instant account verification and pay with points. Katie is an avid scuba diver, having dived in Malaysia, The Philippines, The Maldives, Indonesia, and India. She has a B.F.A. from The New School and a M.B.A. from City University of New York.

Christian Garavito is a Senior Experience Designer, bringing a rich tapestry of expertise to our innovative team at Stellar Elements. Christian's professional journey is distinguished by his adeptness in UX/Product Design with a rich background in fintech, insurance, and retail sectors, and a significant tenure at EL TIEMPO, Colombia's premier newspaper. His contributions earned prestigious awards such as the Premio Nacional de Periodismo Simón Bolívar for "El clima nos cambió" (2017) and "Los rostros de la droga" (2013), as well as the GDA Journalism Awards for "Los últimos seis nevados" (2014), all in recognition of Best Multimedia Production.

Derek is a Principal Designer with many years of UX and Graphic Design consulting experience. He thrives as both a solo designer on projects as well as leading design teams with a user-centric methodology, collaborating with researchers, content strategists, and developers to bring engagements from concept to product. Over the years, he has worked with clients across a diverse range of industries — health, automotive, banking, education, consumer electronics, and more. There is a special place in his heart for the thoughtful and sensible use of rich, detailed typography to design compelling, logical, appropriate, and accessible solutions for all users.

Alf Gunnar Johansen (aka Alfi) is a product designer originally from Norway. He spent nine years exploring the design industry in Auckland, New Zealand, before settling in Singapore. His career journey reflects a diverse skillset, encompassing Motion Graphics, Visual Effects, and currently, end-to-end Product Design. Across industries like finance and telco, Alfi has spearheaded projects from concept to completion, collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams. His background in various visual disciplines ensures a user-centric approach, prioritizing both usability, aesthetics, and storytelling.

Well-versed in a variety of motion-related disciplines, Sean can tap into many areas of the ever-evolving motion design industry. He's worked for advertising agencies, motion studios, and experiential design studios an Art Director specializing in motion design for over a decade. He's worked with clients such as Google, Sony, Seagate, Union Bank, Tesla, Visa, Salesforce, Amgen, Tableau, and SFMOMA. Known as a great collaborator, he works with creatives and developers to explore the usual and the unusual interactive formats— from app designs to large scale ambient visuals and everything in between.

Micah Parker is a Lead Experience Designer who specializes in innovation and bringing new ideas to market. His works spans areas including AI, Edge Computing, and IoT. As a leading voice for design and strategy, Micah has helped create products, services, and the systems that sustain them for the likes of Amazon/AWS, Nordstrom, REI, T-Mobile, and Atlassian. While his current focus is UX/Product Design, Micah also loves the occasional foray back to the more traditional Creative work where it all started.

Nick is the Global Director of Telco Technology and AI Platforms, where he specializes in building simple experiences for complex businesses. With extensive experience in innovation centers and start-ups, at multiple phases, he applies a start-up mentality to large enterprises helping them break through difficult problems and be more innovative by leveraging emerging technology to move forward faster.

Anastasia Novelly, Senior Experience Designer at Stellar Elements, specializes in blending product design with marketing insights. Her portfolio spans the aviation, telecom, tech, and automotive sectors, showcasing her ability to merge business goals with user satisfaction through meticulous problem-solving, adaptability, and strategic thinking. Anastasia is known for her technical proficiency and keen attention to detail, making her a pivotal advocate for both business objectives and user needs. She leverages her expertise to drive innovation and deliver user-centric solutions that surpass industry standards, affirming her role as a key player in shaping the future of experience design.

With a decade of experience in software development, Chris is adept at creating seamless and accessible digital experiences. Specializing in React-based frameworks such as Next.js and Gatsby, Chris has successfully implemented innovative solutions across various projects. As an alum of the Art Institute of Portland, Chris's technical expertise is complemented by a strong foundation in design principles. Committed to advancing web accessibility, Chris is passionate about crafting inclusive digital environments that cater to all users. Outside of coding, Chris enjoys golfing, finding it a great way to challenge your mental toughness.