Shabnam Gideon
In a comical juxtaposition of nationality and geography, Shabnam was born and raised in the mountains of southwest Virginia.
From a very young age, she devoured books, classic country music, and kofta curry in just about equal measure.
It was those books, her love of words, and seeing the forest and the trees, that led her to studies in semantics and technical writing, a career in interactive strategy and design, and ultimately to Focus Lab. She joined the team in 2014 and currently serves as Strategy Director.
Whether documenting or creating processes, researching and writing, content strategizing, or participating in a meeting, you’ll find she’s quick to ask questions, dig deeper, and seek perspective. Why? Because she seeks to create order out of disorder, to bring seemingly disconnected ideas together, to elucidate the common thread, and to find clarity where we might not even have known it was lacking.
But what does she DO? Brand strategy, brand communications, content strategy, interactive strategy, and processes for them. She is passionate about process, customer experience, supporting her team, and being intentional and methodical (yet still creative!) in everything.
When not actively spreadsheeting something, Shabnam indulges her mountain-gal spirit by spending a lot of time in sport: mountain biking, road and gravel biking, hiking, cooking without recipes, seeing how low she can keep the thermostat in winter, stuff like that. She and her blended family keep a vegetable garden, fruit trees, and a small flock of cantankerous laying hens.
