I am qualified.

I am a seasoned human centered design practitioner, CTI-trained Co-Active coach, and INELDA-trained End-of-Life Doula.

Throughout my 20-year design career, I've focused on helping the world's biggest and most innovative organizations create products and services that maximize people’s potential and reduce their suffering. I've walked alongside people as they navigate retirement, aging, sexual health, serious illness, chronic disease, debt, mental illness, and death.

I am drawn to taboo topics and life's messy struggles. In researching and designing for challenging life circumstances and everyday wellbeing, I've seen where people struggle, and I've come to understand what it takes to get to the other side.

When it comes to designing a life you're excited about, you need clarity to know what changes to make, and courage to take action. I use my gifts for providing insight and perspective towards helping you design a life you're excited about.

I have direct empathy.

I’ve experienced highs and lows as a high achiever in my professional and personal lives. I've struggled with and overcome personal, physical, and emotional setbacks. I’m passionate about living a life that I’m proud of. And while that doesn’t mean that work is always the center of my focus, right now it looks like applying my talents to work that makes me feel alive, connected, and fulfilled. My lived experience and personal expertise give me the empathy and resources to be a caring and skillful guide.


I'm the right partner for you.

Your struggles are more common than you think, you have more power than you realize, and it's never too late to work towards change. As a CTI-trained Co-Active Coach, I partner with individuals to help them build meaningful lives and take action. As an INELDA-trained End-of-Life Doula, I empower individuals and families to explore, plan for, and face death with an open heart.

Let's work together to shift your perspective and create a meaningful life, for however long you may have.


Street cred and fun facts:

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 taught a consistently popular course at Stanford University called Design Execution: Bringing Ideas to Life. I’ve run my own business, Design Tugboat, for almost ten years!

I grew up in Miami and am a surfski kayaker, runner, and retired swing dancer (Lindy Hop and Balboa). I have a BA in Anthropology from Emory University and an MBA from Georgia State University. I now live 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. I love puns and birds.

Annie Valdes

International End-of-Life Doula Association

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.

Give Life to Death

Give Life to Death

I bring a Give Life to Death* approach to my coaching work. This means that the fees I bring in from coaching allow me to offer my End-of-Life Doula services for pro bono and deeply discounted rates. While I believe that EOL Doula work is and should be highly valued, until there are more doulas offering their services in this space, I want to make this work as accessible as possible to people who need it. For now, that means ensuring that financial access is not a barrier.

*I made this up. I call copyright dibs!