design thinking story
Nicole Dessain
Why Talent Tales?
Why Talent Tales?

design thinking

Connecting with Questions – A Conversation with Jessica Haaz

Connecting with Questions – A Conversation with Jessica Haaz

In this Talent Tales episode, talent.imperative Founder Nicole Dessain had the honor to interview Jessica Haaz, an attorney who works at a New York State agency.

Jessica is an investigative attorney and former prosecutor who has spent most of her career in the private sector within New York City and State.

Jessica’s superpower is relationship building. She thinks she has honed this superpower because she is curious and likes to learn about people and because she is authentic which makes others feel comfortable talking to her.

A little over a year ago, Jessica launched a personal project called “100 Interesting Conversations”. The initial inspiration came from a conversation with one of her professors years ago who highlighted that sometimes you just need to have conversations with people to learn about their jobs and that by asking them insightful questions you might figure out career options for yourself.

Inviting Inclusion – A Conversation with Dr. Valerie Toney Parker & Steve Bynum

Inviting Inclusion – A Conversation with Dr. Valerie Toney Parker & Steve Bynum

In this Talent Tales episode, talent.imperative Founder Nicole Dessain had the honor to interview Dr. Valerie Toney Parker (Chief People Officer) and Steve Bynum (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager) at Chicago Public Media.

Valerie’s superpower is marked by her bi-vocational career as both, a social justice theologian and an HR leader, through the metaphor of wine. Wine brings people to the table, to be in conversation. The text of “not pouring old wine into new wine skins” reminds her of the fact that if we want to change systemic issues, we can’t continue to do so the way we have in the past.

Steve’s superpower is the ability to put people at ease by providing a safe space for shared humanity. He was raised by his grandparents in Memphis and his family had a tremendous influence on shaping who he is today. By moving to Chicago, Steve became part of a global community which he cherishes. Being part of this “diaspora of humanity” helps him, an African American man, to feel supported when faced with inequities.

Going Hybrid – A Conversation with Snyk’s Diana Marchese

Going Hybrid – A Conversation with Snyk’s Diana Marchese

In this Talent Tales episode, talent.imperative Founder Nicole Dessain had the honor to interview Diana Marchese, the Director of People Experience at Snyk.

Diana’s superpower is taking ambiguous ideas, clarify them, and then turn them into tangible results.

Diana shares that she entered the design thinking world as an art teacher. She feels as though she organically applied a design thinking mindset when collaborating with her students and thinking holistically about the experience of the student. In 2015, Diana pivoted her career and moved into the field of workplace experience. She realized that students and adults have the same needs and wants: to be heard, to feel safe, and to have an impact.

Diana joined her current company, Snyk, in January of 2020 - right before the pandemic hit. She spent her onboarding months helping to transition the company to a virtual organization.

Scaling Capability – A Conversation with IBM’s Damon Deaner

Scaling Capability – A Conversation with IBM’s Damon Deaner

In this Talent Tales episode, talent.imperative Founder Nicole Dessain had the honor to interview Damon Deaner, the Director of Employee Experience & Design at IBM.

Damon’s superpower is blending design and technology. He now applies his superpower by using design and tech to enable people experience.

Damon started his journey in design thinking in 2012 when IBM announced that they would bring design back and build a culture of design thinking. Damon joined the newly formed design organization and helped bring developers, engineers, and designers together to use design thinking. From there, he ended up leading all design talent at IBM and conducted several employee lifecycle projects. That caught the attention of the CHRO and eventually Damon was asked to join the HR team to build an employee experience practice.