During my many years at Chaco, I contributed greatly to the brand’s growth and evolution from a small local brand to a craveable favorite with an international following. My contributions included user-centered product design, seasonal trend research, graphic design, and sustainability initiatives, where I helped define Chaco’s product direction and growth. I led high-impact projects, designed thousands of custom footwear products, and played a key role in shaping Chaco’s trend and color strategy. My work spanned from creating consumer-driven designs to spearheading sustainability innovations and cross-functional collaboration with global teams.I was instrumental in executing strategic decisions that aligned consumer insights with innovative product designs, ensuring the brand stayed relevant in the competitive outdoor market.

Special Projects & Collaborations

One major way I helped move the brand forward was initiating and executing collaborative collections with brands including Topo Designs, United by Blue, Snow Peak, Outdoor Voices, and REI designing sandals, backpacks, coolers, accessories, bags, clothing and hats that married Chaco’s outdoor performance with the brands ethos, expanding the brand’s product reach into adjacent categories beyond footwear.

I have worked directly with many well known brands, creating curated and custom products expanding the Chaco consumer base and increased brand recognition including Free People, Urban Outfitters, Madewell, J.Crew, BAPES, Yeti and National Parks Service to name a handful.

Seasonal Trend Research & Brand Direction

A major focus of my role was conducting seasonal trend research and forecasting that informed Chaco’s overall design and product strategy. I worked with resources such as Peclers Paris, WGSN, and fashion snoops while also conducting extensive research across a variety of sectors, including global trends in technology, lifestyle, politics, and business as well as cultural movements that informed color direction, material preferences, and consumer behavior predictions.

We synthesized this research into an internal document known as the Chaconac, which became the foundation for seasonal product direction. The Chaconac encapsulated the overarching themes, color palettes, and graphic trends that were specifically tailored to Chaco’s consumer base. This rigorous process ensured that our products were not only on-trend but also deeply aligned with our audience’s values and lifestyle needs.

I led the team through a systematic ideation process, using sticky note categorization to identify key themes and break down complex research into actionable insights. These insights directly informed our Color palettes for each season’s collection, Graphic directions that guided the creation of custom webbing patterns and other visual elements across the product line and our Product design and development process, helping to steer the design language for specific footwear silhouettes.

Custom Webbing & Color Curation

My deep involvement in webbing design was a core part of my contribution to Chaco’s seasonal collections. Each season, I designed hundreds of custom jacquard webbing graphics for Chaco’s iconic sandals, meticulously crafted stitch by stitch. I explored various design techniques to create intricate patterns and bold designs that reflected the season’s trend direction.

Some of my key responsibilities included designing, building and recoloring hundreds of webbing patterns across various seasonal palettes to ensure visual coherence across multiple sandal silhouettes. Also, curating webbing collections collaborating with the design team to assign specific patterns to sandal silhouettes based on their intended audience and market positioning. I worked with the PLM to ensure that the visual story was consistent across the product line while also providing options that appealed to a broad consumer base.

Footwear Design & Development

In my role wearing many hats on a small design team, I had the opportunity to design and develop entire footwear projects, from initial concept to market launch. My process was rooted in user-centered design, ensuring that each product balanced aesthetic appeal with practical, functional performance.

Some key aspects of my design process included Sketching and Ideation, starting with hand-drawn concepts that evolved through multiple iterations based on feedback from both internal stakeholders and market insights.

Prototyping and 3D modeling, I pioneered the use of 3D design software such as Romans CAD, Rhino 3D and KeyShot to streamline the development process. By integrating 3D technology, I was able to provide detailed models of our footwear designs, reducing the time needed for iterations and improving communication with our production teams in China.

I also mastered Cross-functional collaboration in this role, I worked closely with development teams, marketing, and sales to ensure product designs aligned with business goals and met consumer needs. From material selection to color application, I provided detailed CADs and tech packs that facilitated efficient, accurate production.

I also played a significant role in the material selection for the entire footwear line. Each material application was chosen with careful consideration of its durability, aesthetic quality, price point, and function within the overall shoe construction. I ensured that materials were recolored to fit the season’s palette, and I worked closely with the product line manager and brand president to finalize seasonal collections.

Skills & Tools

Some skills integral to my design expertise at Chaco include User-Centered Design, UX/UI Design, Footwear Design, Trend Forecasting, Color & Material Curation, Concepting & Strategy, Hand Sketching, Wireframing, Prototyping, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Digital Rendering, Responsive Design, and Design Systems.

Some tools I am proficient in include Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, XD), Figma, Sketch, InVision, Rhino 3D, KeyShot 3D, Romans CAD. I am always looking to add new useful tools to my arsenal and learn new programs easily.

Some of my leadership experience at Chaco includes leading cross-functional teams, managing interns, creating new processes, becoming the brand super-user to teach 3D tech to brand teams, creating seasonal product calendar for entire brand and presenting seasonal collections and design concepts to senior leadership of both Chaco and parent company Wolverine Worldwide.

More Footwear Designs

I've created thousands of webbing designs, product CADs and shoe designs throughout my career with Chaco. While it's not possible to showcase them all in this portfolio, here is a curated selection that represents my work and style.

Sustainability & Cross-Functional Collaboration

I was a leading voice in sustainability initiatives that increased Chaco’s Higg Index score by 74%, integrating sustainable materials and processes into product development. I worked closely with product managers, marketing, and development teams to ensure our products not only met design goals but also aligned with Chaco’s commitment to environmental responsibility, balancing it with durability and performance. By spearheading these initiatives, I ensured that Chaco’s commitment to sustainability wasn’t just a marketing message, but a core aspect of our design and development process.

My role also required significant cross-functional collaboration with marketing and direct-to-consumer teams to ensure our product designs aligned with business objectives and brand messaging.

My Chacos Program Overhaul

One of my earliest projects was a complete overhaul of the My Chacos Customization Program. As part of this initiative, I led the recoloring and redesign of hundreds of custom webbing patterns while carefully curating color palettes for each component of the customizable sandals, including the outsole, midsole, buckles, heel risers, and stitching.

My role involved driving the creative refresh of the program to improve customer engagement and visual appeal. Designing webbing graphics pixel by pixel and meticulously recoloring them to align with the season’s trends. Ensuring the visual elements of the customizable options were harmonious across the entire sandal construction, including the selection of materials, finishes, and components.

This overhaul contributed to a 40% increase in program growth the following year, revitalizing customer interest in the customizable footwear experience and solidifying Chaco’s reputation for creativity and personalization.

Key Achievements

Led the My Chacos Program overhaul within first two months of employment, driving a 40% increase in program engagement.

Developed and curated thousands of custom webbing patterns, ensuring that seasonal collections were aligned with both market trends and Chaco’s brand identity.

Pioneered the adoption of 3D design tools, accelerating product development and improving communication with global manufacturing teams.

Spearheaded sustainability efforts, resulting in a 74% improvement in Chaco’s Higg Index score.

Designed and developed entire footwear collections, overseeing every aspect of the process from initial concept to final production.

Led trend forecasting and seasonal strategy, delivering actionable insights that guided product, color, and graphic design decisions.