I had an interesting conversation today talking with someone about brands I have worked on in my career. She considers herself an "artisan shopper," and the work that I have done to transform brands, leverage their quirks, and improve their relationships with consumers inspires her. It is people like her who both care about and consider the products they consume and life experiences they have that gets me up in the morning. 

Some days I reflect on how my best friends' work directly improves lives by curing rare forms of cancer or providing emergency therapy, and I feel that perhaps my professional talents have been misdirected. But it is moments like these when I realize that I have been making a collective positive impact and that the body of work building brands and improving products and user experiences creates a mutually beneficial dialogue. 

In the digital space, there are worker bees building this 1:1 dialogue at scale. The  automation of a relevant conversation feels soul-less upon first glance. But in actuality, I believe that tuning in, picking up data crumbs, and answering customers' signals is now one and the same as building a brand's legacy. As brands become more intrusive on users' everyday lives through multiple channels and with higher frequency, it's those that care about their legacy and how and when they engage, that will do right by artisan shoppers. We must control the conversation and preserve the integrity of the brands we represent. It is with great joy that I have contributed to a brand's evolution. 

What is your career legacy?