I’ve spent more than 20 years studying why people thrive at work and why most organizations make it harder than it needs to be.
I started at Great Place to Work, where I rose to VP and helped build their first SaaS culture measurement platform. I’ve worked inside LinkedIn and led revenue and product development at companies that research and recognize the best workplaces in North America. Right now I’m Executive Vice President and Principal Consultant at Best Companies Group, where we run more than 60 employer recognition programs and work with over 4,000 organizations a year. I also hold an EVP role at COLOR Magazine.
I hold an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas. I grew up in Mexico.
What I Believe
The average person will spend roughly 90,000 hours of their life at work. That’s not a rounding error, it’s most of a life. What happens inside those hours matters. Not just for productivity. For people.
I don’t think happiness is the right target. Happiness is a mood. What I care about is growth: whether people are becoming more capable, more connected, more themselves through the work they do. That’s the more durable driver of fulfillment, and the more honest promise an organization can make.
Most culture problems aren’t culture problems. They’re leadership problems, communication problems, design problems — wearing a culture costume. I’ve spent my career trying to tell the difference.
Why I Write
I write because the gap between what we know about building good workplaces and what most organizations actually do is enormous. The research exists. The case is made. And still, most people spend Sunday nights dreading Monday.
This space is where I work through what I see: in the data, in the organizations I advise, and in the larger shifts reshaping how work gets done. I don’t write to be balanced. I write to be honest.
You’ll find pieces here on workforce demographics, manager effectiveness, the real mechanics of employee engagement, and what it actually takes for leadership to matter. Some of it will be uncomfortable. That’s usually where the useful stuff lives.
Beyond the Work
Outside of BCG and COLOR, I volunteer with financial literacy programs for middle schoolers, help immigrants navigate legal systems, and support young men in finding purpose and connection. I’ve run soccer camps for orphaned kids in the Dominican Republic. I’ve sat with people in their final weeks as a hospice volunteer. I’ve raised money for mental health care for people experiencing homelessness.
I do all of it for the same reason: improving how people experience their lives, at work and everywhere else, is the highest-leverage thing I know how to do.