take me to your leader__

Mark Micheli, Founder

Mark Micheli is a researcher, designer, marketer, business executive, teacher, and journalist. But, more importantly, in an era where you can’t be “just” one thing – he aspires to be a bridge between disciplines, helping teams rapidly move forward through human insights that clarify the designing, building, and launching of world class products and experiences.

@ Accenture Song (Fjord) ‘23
@ Material+ (Kelton) ‘17
@ Samsung ‘16
@ Bloomberg LP ‘14
@ The Atlantic ‘12
@ U.S. Treasury Department ‘11
@ Coro Fellow ‘10
@ The Des Moines Register ‘08
@ ABC News ‘07

With a career spanning media, marketing, product, and human-centered design, Mark created say__do to bridge two common disconnects: (1) The behavioral disconnects between what customers say and actually do – and (2) the philosophical disconnects between how business-motivated and creative-motivated leaders solve very similar customer challenges from dramatically different starting points.

say__do’s mission is to free business, design, marketing, and technology teams from the power politics and risk aversion of their org charts – uniting them around a problem-clarifying and decision-accelerating language rooted in how their customers actually feel, think, and decide.

As the Head of Human Insights & Design Research for Fjord (Accenture Song) and the Vice President of Experience Innovation at Material+, Mark has had the privilege to lead alongside some of the world’s best research, design, and product talent – creating game changing experiences for brands like Google, Warner Bros., The LEGO Group, Target, Best Buy, Fortune Magazine, Allstate, Bloomberg and more.

Early in his career he worked at the U.S. Treasury Department, but soon transitioned from serving alongside public servants to covering them as a journalist. He was an editor at The Atlantic’s government and defense division, where he helped launch new digital media brands and covered innovation, technology, and management during the Obama administration. Later, he led digital marketing strategy at Bloomberg LP, where he launched the company’s first content marketing team and oversaw brand, product marketing, and UX design strategy at Bloomberg Government.

His work as a journalist has appeared in The Atlantic, Bloomberg Government, Bloomberg Philanthropies, National Journal, Government Executive, Nextgov, Defense One, The Des Moines Register…and the now defunct Scrapbooks Etc.

Outside industry, Mark is a Professor at the Institute of Design in Chicago, IL as well as the Business & Economics Department at Hope College in Holland, MI, where he teaches students how to use business and design strategy to drive organizational transformation and experience innovation.

Mark earned his Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science. There, he studied product management and service design – with a focus on human-robot interaction and wearable medical technology. While at Carnegie Mellon, he led a product design team working with Samsung Electronics to reimagine the future of connected ecosystems and in-home robotics – prototyping Samsung’s JetBot AI+ series of products.

He is a graduate of the prestigious Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs and attended Drake University, where he studied journalism, political science, and history – cutting his teeth as a journalist covering the Iowa Caucuses and as an overseas correspondent at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mark lives in Holland, Michigan with his wife, son, and geriatric kitty cat. He’s got a lot of feelings about century-old craftsman-style homes and their upkeep – as well as a deep love for history and old things (like houses…and cats). He’s a yo-yo runner and swimmer – but isn’t above admitting his deep affection for sedentary activities like all things Nintendo and Fortnite.

Word salad: researcher, service designer, marketer, human snowball, business leader, cat person, teacher, mentor, (recovering) journalist, UX strategist, human dad + husband, Nintendo fanboy, cross-team translator, broken down marathoner...