Home

Design is my Passion.

I have worn many hats, but at the core of my passions, I am a designer. I design for people - spaces, brands, landscapes - paper, digital, physical - if it can be made more functional and aesthetically pleasing, I will make it so.

I worked in the tech industry for over 10 years - my background is in digital art, web and graphic design, and front-end web development. Starting out as an intern in 2004, I learned the ropes using Photoshop 7.0, slicing designs and placing them into HTML tables to create websites for clients, and using Photoshop as a creative outlet to make digital art. I attended the Santa Rosa Junior College and then the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, all while moving up in the industry working in-house for wine companies, tech startups, and web design companies.

I have always been passionate about great design, usable interfaces, innovative engineering, and fascinated with everything this ever-growing industry has to offer. I enjoy the challenge of translating complex ideas into elegant, intuitive designs.

About that gap.

After a very tough couple of years culminating in the birth of my daughter, the death of my mother, and extricating myself from a terribly abusive relationship (in that order), I took a hiatus from the tech industry. In 2016, I spent the better part of the year diving deep into ecological landscaping practices, permaculture design principles, and sustainable land stewardship. Combined with hands on experience and certificates in permaculture design and ecological landscaping, all these skills translated easily to designing landscapes. Getting my hands in the earth has been a much needed respite. In 2018, I married my best friend, and my family doubled with the addition of my husband and my step son.

Then 2020 rolled around. And I blinked and 2021 is nearly over as I write this. I've spent the past year and a half being teacher and daycare instructor to my daughter and step son, gardening, and running a small Etsy shop. I have spent a lot of time self reflecting and thinking about where I want to go from here. I miss design and working in a fast paced environment. I'm ready to step back into the tech industry.

Her natural ability for design, love of the landscape, willingness to get her hands dirty, tech background, and her ability to function under loose structure were all critical traits that helped her succeed. I find Leah to be honest, committed, and hardworking. What stands out most is her willingness and flexibility to work in a high-paced and stressful environment where the structure was constantly evolving.

Rick Taylor, President, Elder Creek Landscapes

If you're seeking a dedicated, driven, thoughtful, talented creative for your team I can attest that Leah would be a tremendous asset.

Jen Gray, Director, Habitat for Humanity East Bay

Leah has the uncanny ability to understand even the most garbled design ideas and then elaborate and execute perfectly. She's incredibly creative and it's very easy to get into a synergistic work flow with her. She's also very adaptable to many styles and forms of media. I would highly recommend Leah for any position, as I know no matter what it was she would rise to the occasion.

Matt Sevrens, Machine Learning Engineer, Yodlee

She is creative and willing to do everything to get the job done. She is an easy going person and a team player. I have no hesitations in recommending Leah for any position she pursues.

Zhuomei Wu, Product Designer, Yahoo

Leah is not only a talented designer, she learns on the go and quickly applies her skills across new software, media and technologies.

Dave Held, Senior Software Engineer, DemandStar Corporation