Kristin McPeak

“Kristin is a design operations director who has a passion for people, productivity, and teams. She kept our designers focused and productive, matching them to the best assignments to inspire them and their careers. She helped them set meaningful goals and stick to them. While always positive and kind, it is her amazing ability to be deeply empathetic while delivering hard truths that earned her everyone's respect. While Kristin has a deep understanding of the design industry and its quirky inhabitants, she is also intuitively aware of the connection points a design team has to a larger organization, which helps her integrate design more broadly. But for me personally, I'm a UX director who loves "the work." Knowing Kristin was keeping the boat upright, gave me the opportunity to focus all my attention on design. This gift of focus (in a noisy, distracted world) allowed me to do my best work and helped make PointSource the kind of place you dream about working at. Friendly, collaborative, and eternally optimistic - Kristin was more than our Design Ops Director (or cat herder or process maven). She was a "spirit animal" that guided our design team on a journey of constant improvement.”

“Kristin is a fantastic design ops director and design manager, and I had the pleasure of working on her team for 3 years at Pointsource/Globant. I found her to be a passionate advocate for human-centered, cross-functional design and a tireless champion of a strong and healthy design culture, even in the face of a difficult acquisition. She celebrates the power of collaborative design, building strong partnerships with tech, strategy, and delivery to ensure that design has a key seat at the table. Kristin is particularly adept at understanding the strengths of the individuals on her team, identifying and nurturing specific skills, and matching designers with teams and situations where they grow and flourish. She has excellent soft skills, and I felt I could address team or project challenges with Kristin and that she would have a balanced perspective with great insights and potential next steps. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Kristin. Any design team would be lucky to have her at the helm. ”

“Kristin was the glue to our design team. She has the innate ability to make those around her be better versions of themselves & she proactively helps others see challenges as true opportunities. She made it her mission to help our team succeed & did everything she could to support & nurture our team as it grew. She is compassionate, authentic & personable, while also a fearless Kick Ass team lead with a head for business. I especially appreciate how she's not afraid of diving into tough conversations with the heart felt intention to come out stronger & better on the other side. I truly miss seeing her everyday & know that the success PointSource achieved would not have been possible without her.”

“I've been struggling to write a review for Kristin, I keep trying to wrap all of my feelings into a business case, instead of just telling you why she's amazing (the business case -- she makes designers into rockstars). So I'm going to just speak from the heart, and tell you her impact on my life over the last four years as my manager. I could tell as soon as I had my first interview with Kristin, that she was different from any other manager I had worked with. She was thorough (seriously, I think she highlighted and footnoted my resume), very kind, and made clear that she has high expectations of everyone she hires. After getting hired, I quickly realized that Kristin was, by far, the best manager I had ever worked for. Her high expectations were accompanied by unending support, genuine empathy (you know those people that you end up telling them your life's story by accident, because they truly care, and just want to listen, well that's Kristin), and guidance. While under her guidance, I thrived at PointSource. Kristin had a knack for finding opportunities that made me just uncomfortable (in a good way) enough to allow me to grow without getting overwhelmed. She provided clear and concise feedback and helped develop a plan for improvement. While on her team, I grew from a designer with moderate communication skills to a trusted design leader with strong relationships with the client and team, and effective communication skills. At the end of the day, Kristin raised the bar of what a manager can be, and how much one person can truly shape your future. Any place that is lucky enough to have her will have one awesome design team, and she will be at the center of it.”

“Kristin has been my manager at PointSource and Globant for over four years. She has always ensured her people had everything they needed to be able to work effectively on projects while also making progress in their career paths. Kristin shows a great deal of compassion for her team, guiding them through challenges always with an eye on upward progress. It was that sort of quality that makes Kristin an extremely successful manager. I found Kristin to be an extremely supportive and encouraging manager. She helped me find the best balance between project work and personal goals. Under her firm and steady guidance, I was able to advance my career in a way I’m not sure I would have achieved on my own. That balance made me more productive, confident and reassured. Kristin is a great leader, more than willing to go the extra mile to make sure everyone that she manages has all the elements they need to succeed. I never worked with anyone who advocates for others the way Kristin does, she would be more than an asset to any team that is lucky enough to have her at the helm.”

“I have worked with Kristin for several years and have come to rely on her sound judgement, strong organizational skills, creative ideas, and leadership. She is a rare breed. Kristin has a big passion for her work at PointSource and as a volunteer for AIGA Raleigh. She evangelizes user-centered design, and is always looking for ways for her team to grow. I admire professionals who freely give their time to help others succeed. As a fellow board member for AIGA Raleigh, I've seen Kristin quietly guide our elected board in the right direction. She's always looking out for others and finding ways to help them build professional skills. We are lucky to have her in the Triangle area! ”

“Simply put, Kristin is amazing. I've had the pleasure of working with Kristin as members of the Raleigh AIGA chapter on the "Alina Wheeler Action Team" as well as other events and meetings. Kristin brings a positive, can-do attitude and wealth of experience to any project/collaboration she is involved in. When the chips are down, you can count on Kristin to rise the occasion. Guaranteed.”

“Kristin worked for Graves Fowler Creative for 5 years. Her design expertise is amazing - contemporary, thoughtful and inspiring. While working for us, she created a capital campaign for a national museum, designed a logo for a national health program, and developed a web site for a large non-profit. Our clients loved working with her because of her people skills and her design flair. She was also able to work effectively with other co-workers, making her a great addition to the team. She truly has the whole package. A week after she started at our company we had a devastating fire. Kristin weathered the trauma and was a team player in helping get the company back up and running. After 4 years she moved to California where we recently opened an office and again pitched in to set up in a new location. She was very flexible, dedicated, trustworthy, easy to work with and did anything asked of her. Kristin would be a tremendous asset for any company and has my highest recommendation.”

“Kristin's ability to synthesize a general idea into a concrete design is a key strength. Her designs for our annual fundraising hike have always hit the mark in balancing our message with a creative and energetic design.”

“Kristin is a professional and positive person to work with and work for. She is a terrific designer, in addition to being an organized, process-oriented and enthusiastic manager. I have highly enjoyed our collaborations and projects over the years since she first recruited me to work for her (at a July 4th party in 2000).”

“Kristin is a team player and a gifted designer. She is extremely thoughtful in her design approach and the clients needs and wants. I would never hesitate to work with Kristin again.”

“Kristin is a very talented, intelligent and easy to work with web designer and graphic artist. We have created many products together over the past 3 for military families and the DoD. She is a delight to work with.”