"Mike and I partnered with an extended Whirlpool and agency team on the relaunch of JennAir, one that earned a Gold Effie and numerous design accolades. There was no stone left unturned in this relaunch, from experiential, to digital platforms, to disruptive storytelling, to an all-new visual identity for the brand... down to the JennAir mark on the appliances. Without the fleet of stunning products and physical experiences Mike and his team envisioned, all would have been in vain. The level of artistry, the scholarly exploration of design reference, the clarity of vision was pronounced at every stage of the process. So grateful for my time with Mike on this Everest of a mission."

Atit Shah

Chief Creative Officer, Digitas North America

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"I worked alongside Mike on a project to transform and re-position Maytag brand in the kitchen. As the key design lead, his passion for storytelling through design was inspiring to the entire team! He brought strong, crisp insights to the project and masterfully translated them into design architecture and detailed elements that drove the heart of a new visual brand language. He easily flexed between product categories and applied vision across the project, consistently elevating the work and making it special. I fondly remember a tangent we took together to develop additional strategy offshoots to push the work to its limits - building out consumer activations, go to market concepts, and even digital roadmaps tied back to the design tenants. It is some of the work I am most proud of in my career, and I’m so thankful Mike was part of it. The work was better because he was on the team. I would be grateful if our paths crossed again!"

Shannon Blakely

​Vice President of Marketing, Baskin-Robbins at Dunkin'​ Brands

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"During my time with JennAir, Michael's leadership of delivering product designs embedded with our brand identity was impressive and inspirational. He enabled and encouraged his team to research, discover, and create designs for the kitchen that no other brand has been able to deliver. Michael was a great partner to elevate the what, how, and why behind our product designs. We worked in tandem with our agency to educate our audience on his masterpieces and was able to help articulate his inspiration, execution, and delivery of true luxury material and product. Michael was not just a sounding board but a force to push me to better integrate the concepts of true luxury into all of my training programs and post-purchase consumer experiences."

Mike Conover, MATLT

Adult Learning, Development, & Engagement Aficionado

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"Mike was such an inspiration for JennAir and Whirlpool Corporation. He brought much research-based knowledge routed in design and trends, with passion, to the luxury industry and kitchen space. He also had an overall understanding of design, spacials, driving a team towards clever and innovative concepts, and process management in a complex yet creative area. It was a great pleasure to work with Mike in JennAir's reinvention of product and message, and other Maytag/Whirlpool projects. It was awesome to see him flourish in the luxury design industry not just in the kitchen, but across all arenas."

Clayton Maas, PMP, MBA, MS

Business Professional at Whirlpool Corp

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"Mike and I worked closely together on multiple strategic and groundbreaking projects. Mike has an incredible sense of design, but matched with an almost endless creativity and energy. It is his natural curiosity and passion for people that drives him to produce solutions, not just designs that solve real human problems. Mike is able to synthesize massive amounts of inputs and simplify them to allow others to see his vision and ideas. He is one of the best creatives and thoughtful people I know. He would not only be a great asset for a company, but a true future leader of an organization."

Ronald Voglewede

Global Sustainability Director, Whirlpool and Board of Director at Alliance for Water Efficiency

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"Having worked with Michael for the past 12 years, and witnessed his growth from joining the design team to becoming a key member, thought leader, and driver of progressive and disruptive ideas, concepts and designs. Michaels skills ranged from delivering the necessary requirements for launch / go to market products, to the more forward thinking and blue sky concepts, each requiring a deep knowledge of the architecture and manufacturing needs, supported by an understanding of the consumer and their needs. His ability to connect ideas, people, disciplines and customer aspirations, allowed him to thrive in our design environment, making best use of the team and skills around him to prove value to the enterprise. Michaels latest achievements in championing the development of newest generation of the Jenn Air line up, shows his pride, passion and detail oriented mindset towards the delivering the story behind, the brand, consumer, concepts and product, helping Whirlpool reposition the brand. Michael would be an asset and valuable team member / leader of the next team he joins."

John Hall

Director | Global Consumer Design | Whirlpool Corporation

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"Michael is one of the most prolific creative thinkers I was lucky to have worked with. He has been engine behind the creation of a series of vision projects during the time Michael worked with me leading a major category in the advanced design team, based in Chicago. He had shown extraordinary design thinking skills throughout, working with internal and external stakeholders. I remember a specific offsite workshop he lead, engaging a multitude of process partners in a high impact design journey, generating a product pipeline which yielded for several years. In short, Michael is someone I relied on to produce substantial results with minimal intervention."

Hari Nair

CEO, Design for Winning | Professor, SCAD | Jury, Spark Awards | Member, World Design Organization | Jury, Edison Awards

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"I've had the opportunity to interact with Michael on 3 different occasions, all focused on next-gen innovation for a $6B product category. He blends fantastic skillsets -- deep technical knowledge, enthusiasm, inquiring mind, practical business sense -- to create great solutions. I would happily work with him again."

Kristopher Rich

Strategic Marketing Professional | Innovation Leader | Product Management Expert

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"I've had the pleasure of working with Mike in the innovation space over the last few years, helping Whirlpool push the boundaries of appliances in the home. Mike's vision for what could be is only matched by his passion in bringing that vision to life. His recent work on Jenn-Air's brand transformation speaks for itself, and his vision has helped breathe new life into Jenn-Air's Luxe brand image and product line and has set the brand up for success moving forward. From radical and emotive design, to thoughtful user experience decisions Mike has a unique ability to bridge the gap between technology, design, and consumer needs to create desirable human centered experiences."

Phillip Swanson

Advance Development and Innovation Lead at Whirlpool Corporation

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"My company has collaborated with various teams at Whirlpool Corporation for over ten years now. We have helped the company conduct ethnographic research to inform their innovation processes. I met Michael Seeley during a strategic project about "The Future of Water" and Whirlpool's opportunities for innovation in that space. We worked closely in defining the project objectives, executing fieldwork and during synthesis. Michael provided us with clear direction for aligning our synthesis with the capabilities and vision of Whirlpool. I discovered that Michael is able to think generatively and strategically across different aspects of experience design- product, service, and brand. He has empathy for the consumer's life realities and curiosity for how they want to live. I have no doubt that Michael will be an asset to anyone who wants to integrate design thinking into their strategic visioning process."

Uday Dandavate

Author, Co-Founder and CEO, SonicRim

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"I have worked on several projects with Mike ranging from highly innovative first of its kind to reinvigorating an old platform to extend its life. No matter the circumstances I found Mike to be a true thought partner, knowing how to walk the delicate balance of design requirements vs business requirements. I found myself in long discussions debating the merits of our future product design attributes and features. In the end, the product always ended up in a better spot because of his willingness to push and my requirements to pull. Mike would be a great addition to any design team."

Sheila Stafford

CEO TeamSense at TeamSense

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"I had the pleasure of working with Mike during his time at Whirlpool Corporation, where we collaborated on several projects together. His ongoing effort to push the boundaries for JennAir band and design development provided a natural link to my team’s work. The pursuit and delivery of luxury consumer goods provided a vehicle to showcase the value and differentiation of well crafted products. Mike’s passion for the product was key in bringing premium craftsmanship to life in so many of our products. Mike was respected by his peers and leaders and was known as a thought leader in our design organization. He was a valued member of our product development teams, he has a disciplined work ethic and always pushed everyone he worked with to deliver with excellence. Mike would be a valuable member of any design team and I highly recommend him."

Daniel Page-Wood

Craftsmanship Senior Manager at Whirlpool Corporation | Perceived Quality | Global Consumer Goods | Product Development

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"Michael is a wonderful designer and strategist. He most recently led the futuring and design strategies for our next generation Maytag and JennAir brands. He was a key representative and speaker for the JennAir brand at many of their launch events and shows. Michael has a great capacity for creating order out of Chaos. He demonstrated the keen ability to map out business, manufacturing, consumer inputs, retail, and trends. Then he systematically connected the dots with Brand and Consumer focused thinking relevant to leadership goals. Adding that ability to his already world class designer skill set made him an excellent design strategist and communicator. He masterfully used a vision for the brands to generate a future roadmap of innovations and designs. Mike showed his versatility beyond a single brand strategy as he worked with me at the portfolio level to outline synergies and opportunities for our global portfolio of over 30 brands. I observed this approach bring success in both product delivery and advanced strategy planning. He knows how to build a story and tell it. I am excited to see what Mike will accomplish in his next role."

Jason Tippetts

Global Brand Design Director, Whirlpool Corporation

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"I have worked with Mike for more than 7 years across countless projects and initiatives. With this perspective, I am glad to recommend him for any Design setting. Of his many talents, his refined aesthetic eye is the superpower he brings to visual brand language strategy and design. His work on the JennAir brand here at Whirlpool Corp. is top-tier. I am always impressed with the visual imagery he created and curated on Whirlpool's most important projects. Mike is a passionate and talented Designer with a refined eye that sees trends before most others."

Kyle Walters

Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Ranges & Cooktops at Whirlpool Corporation

 

 

"Michael's unique blend of vision and precision consistently leads to extraordinary outcomes. He is always focused on the consumer and helps the team see blind spots during strategy and vision creation. Michael harnesses the power of visuals, words, and analogs to create powerful brand stories. He is dedicated to bringing the vision to life, and I have personally witnessed him go above and beyond to ensure flawless delivery. Michael brings people together, building on the strengths of others and elevating the team to the next level. He is a leader in meetings, and challenges others on the team appropriately. Based on my experience working with many designers, Michael is an ideal leader for any design team."

Michael Ledford

Product Marketing Director at Whirlpool | $6B in Global Innovation Launches | Life Cycle Management | Integrated IoT | Branded Product Development | Analytics | Sales

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"Michael and I both worked on the JennAir brand during his time at Whirlpool. The brand was in the midst of a major strategic overhaul and Michael and his design team played an integral role in this work. His passion for the new direction was infectious and he was a real brand steward; he had a strong ability to tell the brand and product story and influence stakeholders. I’ll never forget his support of the brand launch in Canada. He made the trip to Toronto to be the keynote speaker at our media and designer launch event and his presentation was instrumental in gaining traction for the launch."

Janice Ryder

Sr. Marketing Manager (Head of Brand Marketing) at Whirlpool Corporation

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"I worked with Mike for many years at Whirlpool, it's immediately obvious he's innovative and creative... What most people don't see is how thoroughly analytical he is, he looks at every facet of a problem. He is eager to take on any challenge, works hard and genuinely cares about his team."

Antony Kirk

Design Director, Sleep Number Corporation

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"I watched Mike present as an intern and he was already a sharp guy. His ideas were out of the box and pushed the envelope. Some of those original ideas were used to spin off new ones. Fast forward 12 years I've seen him move through categories and brands add his touch to each. This enabled him to gain a wealth of knowledge to move forward to manage high end brands and push to ensure exclusivity on the bespoke side of our business. He has been able to partner with in marketing and engineering to find common ground and produce beautiful elements within the products as well as influence the design for overall impact. Take the time to meet Mike!"

Charles Stohrer

Global Senior Manager, Stylemaster Studio at Whirlpool Corporation

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"I had the pleasure of working with Mike on many projects ranging from new business spaces to improvements to an existing product. In all cases, Mike did a fantastic job of creating desire and delight in both the design and the user experience. He is a an excellent team-player, focused on providing a winning design that meets the business, technology, and manufacturing's needs."

Amanda Konczal

Director of Marketing at Dexter Laundry

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"I have great respect for Mike. Mike is one of the most determined people I have ever worked with. He is very passionate about the projects he is involved with and holds his standards next to perfection. Mike not only drives himself to be the best, but encourages others to perform at his level."

August Jacobson

Partner, VP Product Development at Carpeturn.com

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"I have worked with Mike through various design functions within Whirlpool and have found him to be an innovative and talented designer. His visionary ideas have contributed greatly to our design group and therefore he has proven to be an immediate asset within a very short time! Mike is beyond his level of experience and is poised to have an impactful and successful career."

Ryan Bradley

Senior Manager: Industrial Design, Modelshop & Production Artwork at Newell Brands

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"I had the opportunity to work with Michael while I was in Whirlpool's electronics engineering organization. Michael was always eager to reach out to his technical counterparts to collaborate and and work together to bring design concepts to life. This collaborative approach, along with Michael's strong design vision and strategy helped to realize several successful high-tech solutions across User Interface, Connectivity, and Lighting. Michael is a great designer and teammate who I would be happy to work along side anytime."

Matt Ebrom

Director - Electronics and IoT at BISSELL Homecare, Inc.

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"Mike led the design and thought leadership work for the JennAir product & brand strategy over the last few years, and has done an exceptional job representing the brand publicly as well. Mike's work and energy have impressed me from the day I met him. He has a natural curiosity about him that fuels his passion for the consumer and often leads him to a creative solution. He also has ability to articulate a design that makes the intangible, tangible in a simple way that makes it feel approachable and human. I can't say enough great things about him in the short period of time I have worked with him. If you have the opportunity to work with Mike, I'd highly recommend it as you'll come away new, bolder perspective and along the way you'll be inspired by his work."

Giovanni Roberto

Sr Regional Sales Manager, East Coast at JennAir