About

I'm a product manager. I've spent the last ten years working on products people use to get their jobs done: learning platforms, admin tools, and the integrations that connect one system to another.

I started out designing and building websites, and ran my own web design business, Erion Media, from 2009 to 2016. From there I moved into product management at ITX, a software consultancy, where I worked with enterprise clients in HR technology, healthcare, and research publishing. At Skillsoft I owned the admin experience and badging for the Percipio learning platform. Today I'm a Principal Product Manager at SafeSide Prevention, where I'm bringing AI into our products and the way we work.

What ties it together is that I like figuring out what people actually need and then building the simplest thing that gets it done.

Before product management

I was a web developer and designer, comfortable working for clients of various sizes, from a photographer with an online portfolio to e-commerce sites that generated thousands of dollars each month.

In addition to normal web development and support duties at UniteU, I was also part of their Professional Services Retainer program. As a dedicated resource to their largest, highest volume e-commerce merchants, I worked directly with companies such as Moosejaw, Lumens, Peter Glenn, Hickey Freeman, and Austad's Golf.

Michael's work consistently demonstrated three characteristics: a rapid response to the client's requests, clear communication on directions and expectations, and an ability to deliver on the client's vision. I received frequent feedback from my team on Michael's attention to detail, adherence to time and budget constraints and general positive approach to getting the job done.

CUnet, a previous employer, generates leads for colleges and universities through forms at a portal site and through external vendors. Since our forms represented the schools, appearance and functionality had to be just so. The biggest challenge was creating designs that were unique to every client but met CUnet's own branding standards and the best practices for forms. Working with other designers and stakeholders, we created and documented a set of standards and best practices. At the same time, I worked with programmers to make sure the forms being generated met at least the minimum requirements for web content accessibility, a marked improvement.

Michael has been a pleasure to have within the Presentation team at CUnet, a company that is very new to the “design” world. He has taken charge in a lot of instances where he felt the company was lacking initiative from a presentation standpoint and succeeded in immediate improvement. His ability to be efficient and his mandate to work hard combine nicely with clean, appealing design skills. We look to Mike as a team leader in most instances, even if the company has simply classified us as equals.

Before CUnet, I worked as webmaster on Citibank The Student Loan Corporation's intranet and developed internal web applications for them. Being responsible for the intranet exposed me to various business groups within the company, where I worked to understand their needs and develop appropriate solutions.

Michael was approached to assist with a project of great significance for the sales team and required to be completed within a quick 3 week turnaround time. Michael met with various groups in the organization to create a search engine on the intranet for all the print unit marketing materials. The result of this project was an annual savings of $26,000.

The project I'm most proud of at The Student Loan Corp. was extending Great Performances, human resources' employee recognition program. I worked closely with human resources and did user testing with employees to make sure the application met their needs and was usable. The improvements automated approval processes for varying award types that had previously been done manually, a very time-consuming task. Other enhancements included a JavaScript shopping cart and inventory control system to manage prizes for award recipients, plus reporting so managers could see who in their department was being recognized and for what.

Mike came into our business at a critical time in our project. We gave him our requirements and an aggressive date for implementation. Mike has given 110% to getting Great Performances back up with all of the enhancements. Feedback from our users has been fantastic. They appreciate the ease in using the site and the new reporting functionality.

WWWEnterprise, Inc. was a startup where I worked as Director of Technical Services, doing pretty much everything related to technology. The bulk of my responsibility was programming and maintaining over 60 e-commerce domains that generated approximately $5 million annually. The most popular of these sites received over 10,000 unique visitors per day. Maintaining code for that many domains soon became nearly unmanageable, so I started an initiative to consolidate it. Working with another programmer, we centralized all the underlying code for the sites.

I worked closely with Michael in a start up company for over 4.5 years. His working knowledge of programming languages and understanding of web development aided in turning a small company into a major player in the physician-only skin care sales arena. He is a self-starter, motivated, and strives for quality results.

Outside of work

When I'm not working, you can find me mountain biking, hiking, exploring with my camera, and generally enjoying life.