I am going to tell you a story I have been sitting on for 4 years!! Anyone who knows me will understand the challenge of keeping my mouth shut for that long, especially when I am excited about something. Now, with Client Permission and the end of a confidentiality period, I can finally share a project that brings me so much pride and awe. It was the most challenging project of my post corporate/ consultant/advisor life and is a living testimony to the power of Imagination, Passion, and Talent. I hope you enjoy it!

Fall 2021. Calendars packed with Zoom tiles and a quiet email from a former Disney colleague: a high-profile client needed help with a confidential retail concept. “You’re better suited for this,” he said. I took the discovery call.

The brief: provide physical retail design inspiration for the Los Angeles Clippers’ new home—the Intuit Dome—and do it in a way sports had never seen. No cash wraps. No lines. No friction. Fans would just walk out. Every transaction through the app. At the time, that hadn’t been executed in sports apparel retail. Not like this.

I assembled a five-person strike team of Disney and Disney Store veterans and we dove into six months of research, discovery, and ideation. We mapped fan journeys, deconstructed best-in-class experiences, and kept asking one question: what does “seamless” mean when the building is full and the clock is running?

In May 2022, we presented—virtually, thanks to Covid—to Steve Ballmer (Team Owner) and Gillian Zucker (Team President). It was challenging, energizing, and honestly, a master class. We expected to hand off the ideas and move on.

Two days later the phone rang:
“Can you lead the design, architecture, and execution of the flagship store and twelve satellite stores?”

We said yes. I figured out how to do this later!!

Opening target: Fall 2024. The clock read 25 months. Time to build the long-haul team:

Then came the ecosystem: the NBA office, Nike, NBPA, product licensees, general contractors, overall project leadership, and a roster of technology innovators pushing the “just walk out” experience to be fast and trustworthy. We lived in prototypes—first in Miro, then full-scale with real fixtures, real product, and real humans. Slide decks are confident liars; full-scale pilots tell the truth.

“No line” doesn’t mean no guidance. It means the space does the teaching: wayfinding that reads at a glance, lighting that points without shouting, sightlines that reduce decision fatigue, curated product over crammed product, and human hosts who play concierge, not traffic cop. It also means operational precision—inventory accuracy, guest education, accessibility, and equity—so every fan feels it was built with them in mind.

You’re seeing the visible results in the photos. What you don’t see are the thousand quiet decisions that make “effortless” possible at game speed.

1) Hire the brightest people you can find—then get out of their way.
A-players collapse timelines and raise standards. Your job is clarity and cover, not micromanagement.
Do: Define “done” on one page, make decisions fast, kill politics early.

2) Treat partners like co-authors, not vendors.
When the NBA, Nike, licensees, GC, and tech are in sync, the fan feels it. Shared context beats heroic rescue.
Do: Create a single source of truth, schedule friction upfront (design reviews), celebrate joint wins publicly.

3) Manage client communication like a core product.
No surprises, no mystery. Give signal, not noise; own the gaps before they ask.
Do: Ship a weekly one-pager (risks, decisions, next five), demo live over decks, set a clear escalation path.

4) Push to the edge of discomfort—then take one more step.
“Invisible” innovation only looks effortless after you’ve sweated every seam. If it feels safe, it’s not new.
Do: Prototype at full scale, invite critics early, time-box experiments so bold doesn’t become reckless.

5) Respect the Brand, honor the Fan, serve the Story.
If any choice breaks one of those three, it’s the wrong choice. Seamless can’t mean soulless.
Do: Write the fan’s day-in-the-life, test with diverse fans, and let the brand narrative decide tie-breakers.

1) Name the Impossible Out Loud.
“Never seen before” isn’t a vibe; it’s a contract. Define it in plain language—fan behaviors, operational rules, tech guardrails—and use it to kill beautiful ideas that don’t serve the mission.

2) Design for the Friction You Removed.
Cutting checkout also removes a natural pause. Replace it with smart touchpoints: mirrors, price/fit clarity, human hosts, and lighting that tells the nervous system, “You’re good. Go.”

3) Prototype in Public (Before the Public).
Decks convince; pilots convince and reveal. Mock the journey at full scale with real product and real humans. Invite the critics early (league, brand partners, ops, security) and let them break it while it’s cheap.

4) One Story, Many Owners.
Brand, architecture, merch, ops, and tech all claim the customer. Appoint a single integrator to hold the through-line so the fan experiences one story—not a committee meeting.

5) Lead With Candor and Calm.
Big, visible work attracts anxiety. Say the hard thing first, protect the team’s focus, and celebrate progress like oxygen. The pace is relentless; leadership is the thermostat.

To Lyndsey, Robin, Justin, Sharon, and Scott—you turned ambition into a system.

To our amazing vendor partners and suppliers, thank you for believing in the vision and going above and beyond to provide unique and bespoke solutions.
To our partners at the NBA, Nike, NBPA, licensees, the general contractors, and the Dome’s project leadership—thanks for pushing and protecting the vision in equal measure.
To Steve Ballmer and Gillian Zucker—thank you for the high bar and the trust to clear it.

What began as a confidential discovery call became a two-year sprint to redefine how fans shop inside an arena. No lines. No friction. Just the quiet confidence of a system designed around people, story, and speed.

Oh, and completely changing and upgrading the product mix with the amazing Sarah Jackson and her team…….what a ride!!

It was HARD. We made many mistakes, and have many “do-overs” and scramble sessions, but we stayed true to the mission and vision and delivered on time and budget.

Jimism that applies to this Story : Go Big or Go Home!