I am a seasoned human centered design practitioner, CTI-trained & Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), and INELDA-trained End-of-Life Doula. I love teaching and facilitating groups because I believe that we learn best through personal reflection and in community.
I have taught a wide range of audiences, from corporate and community groups, to academic communities. For several years, I taught a consistently popular course at Stanford University’s continuing studies program called Design Execution: Bringing Ideas to Life. I also designed and taught a second course there called Design Your Departure: A Creative Approach to End-of-Life Planning.
I’ve run my business, Design Tugboat, for over ten years. Before that, I spent 10 years working at the award-winning global design consultancy, IDEO, during its golden era (hot take!), where I led work across the organization's domains of health, wellness, and aging. I've walked alongside people as they navigate retirement, aging, sexual health, serious illness, chronic disease, debt, mental illness, and death. I bring my learnings from those experiences to my teaching curriculum.
I’m based in Mountain View, CA, where I'm able to both kayak and wear a parka on the same day, year-round—fortunately not at the same time.
Annie Valdes, CPCC
11 Books That Shaped Me
Each of these books has moved me in some way and played a role in shaping how I think. I've included affiliate links to Bookshop.org through which, if you choose to purchase, I may earn a small commission (at no cost to you).
Mindset, Carol Dweck
Human qualities can be cultivated through practice and learning. Mindsets are powerful beliefs that can be changed. You can choose to change them.
Atomic Habits, James Clear
An excellent synthesis of all of the best thinking in habit design.
Hope for the Flowers, Trina Paulus
Your intuition knows what feels right. My mom gave me this book when I was a young adult, and it encouraged me to listen to the small voice inside me that advocated for me to take a different path in life.
The Creative Act, Rick Rubin
Part poetry, part philosophy, part meditation. I can listen to the author share his thoughts in this audiobook again and again, especially while running. Profound wisdom, and he's got a soothing voice!
The Brain That Changed Itself, Norman Doidge
Neuroplasticity. Rethink what you know about human limitations, even in the face of injury. Our minds are far more powerful and resilient than we realize.
The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman
What to say about Don Norman? Although I've cooled on him lately, reading this book in a Human Computer Interaction course in 2001 felt like coming home. Up until that point, I hadn't encountered anyone else who thought about the world like this. I was suddenly not alone... there were others like me!
Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
I read this in 2012 while deep in the Design for Healthcare world. Gawande was a surgeon who thought about the humans in healthcare. He "got it," and when I had the chance to meet him in an IDEO meeting, it was a rare fangirl moment. *Swoon*
Final Gifts, Maggie Callanan, et al.
Death is sacred and mysterious. There's so much we don't understand, but this book brought me an entirely new level of wonder and curiosity.
It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok, Megan Devine
This is the most human way of talking about grief that I've encountered. Megan Devine writes about deaths that come out of order (far before they're expected), but her perspective rings true for all losses.
The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
I read this after my dad died, and the way she captured the disoriented out of body experience I felt comforted me.
The Beginners Guide to the End, BJ Miller
I briefly met BJ Miller through project work in 2014. It was one of my worst professional days and I was not myself. As a result, I genuinely hope he doesn't remember me, but I've been a huge fan of his work since I first heard about him. Read anything you can by him—he is a model for how to be with people and prioritize quality of life and humanity at end of life.