Helping Leaders Build High-Performing Agile Organizations

I partner with leaders to create environments where Agile teams thrive—collaborative, high-performing, and focused on delivering meaningful outcomes. Through coaching and training, I guide teams at every level of the organization to identify their most important goals, define measurable success, and develop the mindset and practices that drive continuous improvement and lasting change.

With deep experience in the public sector and a broad range of expertise across private industries, I specialize in Enterprise Business Agility, Lean/Agile leadership, organizational design and strategy, product management, and performance management. My approach combines strategic insight with practical, hands-on support to help organizations navigate complexity, scale Agile effectively, and achieve real, sustainable impact.

Specialties:
Enterprise Business Agility | Agile Leadership | Organizational Change | Scaled Agile | Lean Product Management | Strategic Planning | Agile Project Management | Performance Measurement | Continuous Improvement | Coaching & Facilitation | Training

Julie Springer

Make happiness your company’s superpower | Using positivity experiments and a happiness blueprint to unlock your team’s performance | Team Coach | Founder @ Smiling Bowtie

You're Not Just Building an App. You're Building a Feeling.

Most founders think they're selling a product.
They're not.
They're selling confidence. Ease. Trust. Belonging.

But somewhere between the idea in your head and the code on the screen, that feeling gets lost.
It gets buried under features, frameworks, and friction.

That's where I come in.

I don't just build apps.
I build experiences that feel right.

The kind that make your audience say, "Finally, someone gets me."
The kind that turn your big idea into something people actually use and love.

Because good tech doesn't just work.
It connects.

WHAT I DO

I help founders, solopreneurs, and business owners bring their ideas to life through emotionally intelligent design.

The kind of apps that feel as good as they function.

Sometimes that looks like building custom AI apps designed for trust, not just features.
Other times it's helping product teams craft user flows that increase engagement and retention.

And for growing businesses, it's partnering as a Fractional Product & Experience lead, architecting both the tech and the human journey behind AI products.

WHY IT WORKS

I'm a systems-thinking creative who spent 20+ years leading in fashion, tech, devops, coaching, and EQ before realizing something big:

I wasn't meant to just build systems.
I was meant to build experiences that make people feel something.

Now I turn ideas into apps that reduce workplace anxiety, improve team connection, and help people feel seen and valued.

Because the future of tech isn't just artificial intelligence.
It's emotional intelligence, built right in.

WHO I WORK WITH

Founders building their MVP who need a technical partner who gets the human side.
Product teams who know engagement isn't about more features, it's about better experience.
Executives who want tools that actually reduce turnover instead of just tracking it.

If your idea matters and you want it built with care, clarity, and emotional depth, let's talk.

DM me or visit: https://smilingbowtie.com

Antoni Tzavelas, ACC

Today I celebrate my beautiful wife Laura's milestone birthday.
 
And looking not a day over 30 🥰
 
You know that quote "behind every successful man there is a strong woman"?
 
I never loved it.
 
Not because it's wrong. 
But because it puts her behind me. 
And that's never been true. 

Not once.
 
She's been beside me. 
Ahead of me sometimes. 

Quietly holding things together while I was out there chasing the next thing, thinking I was doing it on my own.
 
I wasn't.
 
Every exam. 
Every course. 
Every pivot. 

Every moment I wanted to quit and every moment I forgot to celebrate... she was there. 

Not cheering from the sidelines. 
Actually in it with me.
 
And here's the part that still gets me...
 
She did all of that while raising our kids to be the kind of humans you actually want to be around. 

Patient. 
Kind. 
Real. 

That's her fingerprints all over them.
 
I used to think I got lucky. 
Now I know it's bigger than luck. 

She chose this. 
She chose me. 
And she keeps choosing this life we've built together.
 
So yeah. 

Milestone birthday. 
Big number. 
Whatever.
 
What I'm actually celebrating is her. 

The woman who made space for everything good in my life to exist.
 
Happy birthday, sweetheart. 

I cherish you. 
Always have. 
Always will.
 
Yes this is sappy. 

But absolutely no F***s given.

Antoni Tzavelas

Your App Genius | Building apps that are an extension of your brand | AI Technologist | Fractional CTO | Coffee + Pizza Aficionado

I stopped speaking last year. 

Stepped off stages, said goodbye to keynotes, and dove into building apps with 0 coding experience.

4 months later, I'm sitting on more learnings than I shared in a year of talks about workplace happiness.

And this morning I realized, I've been hoarding them. 
Waiting for... what exactly? 
For them to sound smarter? 
For the story to have an ending?

Meanwhile, someone right now is staring at an idea they want to build but think they're not technical enough for. 

Someone's pivoting for the 3rd time, wondering if that makes them flaky. 
Someone's leading a team while still figuring out the thing they're supposed to be leading.

I just lived all of that.

Last week I built a fancy transcription integration into Miru Pulse Inc. 

Worked beautifully. 
Forgot to test it after. 
Broke the entire login page. 

No one could access the system. 

Found out when an influential person my co-founder invited tried to log in and... error page.

That's the stuff no one talks about in polished keynotes six months later. 
But that moment? That's where the real learning lives. 

The panic. The fix. The humility of realizing you can break the front door while building a back room.

We don't need more polished retrospectives from people who figured it out five years ago. We need the real-time stuff. 

The "I just broke my own login page yesterday" stuff.

So I'm winding up speaking again. 
Not because I've arrived. 

Because the learning is happening now and someone needs to hear it while it's still got dirt on it.

If you've learned something recently, even if it's half-baked, share it. 

The middle is where people actually need help. 
Not the ending.

Today is Scott MacGregor's birthday.
 
And I need to tell you about him.
 
I've known Scott just over a year. Met him once in NYC, 2024. And somehow, in that short time, he's rewired how I think about relationships.
 
Which is saying something. 

I've been relationship-first my whole life. But Scott? He took something I thought I understood and made me realize I was just scratching the surface.
 
Here's who Scott is.
 
He's the guy who built The Outlier Project. A community of speakers, authors, Olympians, founders, Navy SEALs, Green Berets... I mean, extraordinary people... because he believed something most people only say out loud: 

That everyone deserves access to extraordinary humans. Not just the well-connected. Not just the ones who already made it. 

Everyone.
 
And he didn't just build it. He opens the door. Wide. For people like me.
 
When I found The Outlier Project, I wasn't looking for a network. I was looking for my people. And Scott saw me. All of me. And graciously invited me into his world like I'd always belonged there.
 
That's his superpower. He makes you feel like you matter. Not because of what you've done. Not because of what you can offer him. 

Just... because you're you.
 
He has this framework he teaches called "Who's Your Oprah." I won't spoil it, but I'll say this: 

It changed how I think about the people I surround myself with. Not transactional. Not strategic. Just intentional. Genuine. The kind of relationship-building that comes from a pure place.
 
Scott shows up for people first. Always. With nothing expected in return. And because of that, when he calls? People answer.
 
I'm one of them now.
 
Trusted partner. Close friend. One of the good ones.
 
Happy birthday, Scott. 

Thank you for seeing me, and for reminding all of us that we already belong.

If you’re not learning AI right now, you’re not being cautious. 

You’re falling behind.
 
I’ve rebuilt myself 7 times across my career. New careers. New skills. New resets. Learning has always been my safety net. When something stopped working, I learned my way out.
 
But if I’m honest…  

The last 2 years, I slowed down. I stayed comfortable. I kept up just enough and watched from the sidelines.
 
Then I stopped talking about AI and actually started using it.

Not reading 10 threads a day.  
Not saving 50 posts for “later.”
 
Vibe coding. Building. Breaking things. Fixing them.
 
And everything changed.
 
I got faster without rushing.  
I built 2-3x more without working longer.  
I unlocked skills I had quietly decided were “off the table” for me.
 
Here’s the part people don’t like hearing:
 
AI isn’t a “nice to have” skill.  It’s the new baseline.
 
This isn’t about prompts or tools. It’s about learning how to think, build, and move differently. AI doesn’t replace your skills. It turns the volume up on the ones you already have.
 
Waiting 12–24 months for things to “settle” sounds smart.  But it’s really just comfort in disguise.
 
Curiosity has always been the real career insurance.  Right now, AI is rewarding the curious.
 
Because let’s be honest…
 
The people who learn AI won’t just survive what’s coming.  They’ll win.  Quietly. Efficiently. Repeatedly.
 
So ask yourself:
 
Are you learning with AI…  

Or are you about to watch someone else take the victory lap?

Lately I’ve been noticing something, and it feels too honest not to say out loud.
 
Pretty much everything good that’s shown up in my life over the last 4 months didn’t come from pushing harder. 

It came from slowing all the way down.
 
Most mornings I sit. 
Early. 
Quiet. 
No phone.  

Just me and whatever name you want to give it… God, Source, higher power. 
I don’t overthink it. I just show up.
 
I didn’t start meditating to “manifest” anything.  
I started because I had an addiction to control.
 
Planning. Forcing. Fixing. 
Trying to stay ahead of life.  
It looked responsible. It felt chaotic inside.
 
Meditation cracked that open.
 
Sitting in stillness taught me how to loosen my grip and live in the unknown without trying to tame it. To stop predicting every outcome. To let silence lead for once.
 
And here’s the part I keep reflecting on.
 
When I stopped controlling, life started offering.  
Business showed up without chasing.
Opportunities landed without effort.
 
But that’s not even the biggest shift.
 
It’s the gratitude.
 
Some mornings it hits so hard it feels ridiculous. Tears. Full body joy. 

That kind of overwhelming goodness where you’re crying because there’s nothing wrong and everything feels right at the same time.
 
That’s why I start my day here.  
Not to be calm. 
Not to be spiritual.  

But to touch that frequency and carry it with me into the rest of the day.
 
Meditation was my guiding light out of the chaos.  It opened doors and emotions I never thought I’d have access to.
 
I’m not sharing this as advice or a reveal.  
Just a reflection I didn’t want to ignore.
 
Letting go gave me more than control ever did.

I hope this helps someone else as much as it helped me.

I’ve changed careers 7 times.

Fashion Designer.
Sys Admin.
Cloud Engineer.
DevOps.
Training. 
Coaching. 
Keynote Speaking.
Now building with AI.

None of them were safe.  None were guaranteed.
 
Here’s what I’m noticing in today’s job market and why it feels familiar.
 
Roles are changing faster than they can be named.  
Job descriptions are outdated the moment they’re posted.  
And more people are stuck asking, “What should I apply for?” while the work itself keeps shifting.
 
This is the same tension I felt every time I moved into a new field.
 
I never started with job postings.  I started with the work.
 
Before I had a title, I would:  

Learn what the role actually involved day to day.  
Notice where teams were overwhelmed or quietly stuck.  
Build skills around those gaps... sometimes through courses, sometimes through a lot of unpaid time and curiosity.  
Show up already useful, not just qualified.
 
That approach used to feel risky.  Now it feels like the reality of how work moves.
 
What I’m seeing now is this:  

The people finding opportunities aren’t waiting for roles to exist.  
They’re responding to real needs.
 
So if you’re job hunting right now, here’s a simple place to start:
 
Pick one role or industry you’re curious about.  Study the work, not the title.  Ask yourself where help is actually needed and build toward that.
 
You don’t need permission to be useful.
 
Creating your own lane isn’t a future strategy.
 
It’s already happening.

Architects don’t hate clients.  

They hate noise.
 
Not because clients are difficult.  But because uncertainty creates it.
 
“Any updates?”  
“Can we tweak this?”  
“Just checking in…”
 
That’s not collaboration.  That’s noise disguised as curiosity.
 
If I were to build one app for architects, it would eliminate the noise by combining 3 simple things into one calm client portal.
 
First: Clarity 
 
Clients can always see:  
What’s decided.
What’s pending.  
What’s next.  
What needs their input.
 
No more status emails.  The answer is already there.
 
Second: Boundaries  

Any change goes through the system.  
Cost impact.  
Timeline impact.  
Approval required.
 
No “small tweak” conversations.  The app becomes the bad guy.  The architect keeps the relationship.
 
Third: Responsibility

Clients see decisions they owe.  
Deadlines.  
And what happens if they miss them.
No chasing. 
No guilt.  

The timeline moves because of choices, not reminders.
 
When you put these together, something interesting happens.
 
The architect stops managing emotions.  
The client feels informed instead of anxious.  
And the project moves forward without constant interruption.
 
Good design needs space.  

Good systems protect that space.
 
What if the best thing you built for architects wasn’t a drawing tool…  but a noise-removal system?

Everyone's building custom GPTs. 

Almost nobody's making money from them.

Here's the uncomfortable truth about the AI gold rush:

Building cool technology ≠ Building a business

I see entrepreneurs everywhere showing off their latest GPT creation. Impressive demos. Clever prompts. Zero revenue.

We took a different approach.

Started with custom GPTs like everyone else. But in 45 days combined altogether, we had a full SaaS product with paying customers.

The secret? We stopped being AI developers and started being business builders.

While others obsessed over prompt engineering, we focused on:
• Solving real problems people pay for
• Creating seamless user experiences  
• Building actual sales processes

Your GPT isn't your product. It's your prototype.

The real opportunity isn't in the AI. It's in the transformation you deliver.

Stop building experiments. Start building businesses.

The AI boom won't wait for you to figure this out.

I’ve met so many founders with great app ideas who never ship them.  

Not because the idea isn’t good.  

But because they don’t trust it will hold up once real people start using it.
 
And honestly, I get it.
 
I knew architecture.  
I knew security.  
I knew systems and scale.
 
What I didn’t know was how to code it all together.
 
So the idea stayed stuck longer than it should have.
 
Most people don’t have the skillset to build an app that’s ready for the masses.  
One that doesn’t break at 100 users.  
One that feels calm, safe, and solid from day one.
 
Then AI removed the last barrier for me.
 
Now I help founders turn real ideas into real apps.  
Not fragile demos.  
But real products, designed to grow.
 
And yes… sometimes that realization hits while smiling next to a very judgmental chicken in a Santa hat.
 
Confidence looks different for everyone.  

Mine apparently clucks.

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Julie Springer

Antoni Tzavelas, ACC

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