Who's Behind School ID

My family joined the international school world thinking it would be a two-year adventure. It became the center of our lives. We spent five years at the Western Academy of Beijing, where my wife worked in counseling and our kids thrived in a community that quickly felt like home.

I joined WAB’s in-house team and worked across design, web, photography, and strategy. That is where I saw the real challenge facing many schools. They often have strong values and a clear mission, but the story that reaches the community is scattered. Brand Strategy becomes a patchwork of old habits, quick fixes, and competing voices. Schools rarely have the time or support to step back and shape a clear identity that everyone understands.

At WAB, I led the development of a new Brand Strategy that brought every part of the community into the room. The work was rooted in empathy, practical listening, and a focus on how identity connects to belonging. It changed more than the visuals. It changed how people talked about the school.

That experience shaped my direction. I had spent years in design, marketing, and brand systems work for nonprofits, but schools showed me something different. They need more than design. They need clarity, structure, and a way to express who they are with confidence.