About
Hey there.
I'm Li, a designer, technologist, and social entrepreneur based in Virginia. I build meaningful things, including services, systems, and the experiences around them. Whether you're starting something new, untangling something that stopped working, or giving shape to ideas and concepts before they're built, I help convert intangibles into physical possibilities and real experiences.
My career took off in Fall 2010 co-founding a small startup on a Virginia college campus. Since then I've been privileged enough to work in a range of lanes, primarily focusing on technology and media, while always maintaining an active presence among passions. Today my work spans: web design and development, public relations, strategic marketing consulting, blockchain and emerging technology, gamification, new economics, product and systems design, and of course, service and experience design as a whole.
I've spent most of my career somewhere between the creative side and the technical one, which has turned out to be a wonderful place to stand. I like hard problems, clear language, and figuring out and understanding actual needs rather than what is ever initially thought. Nonetheless, my work and I reside in a space of alignment, forever streamlining processes that convert intangible assets into reality. Let's make something meaningful together. ^_^
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What I've built
It started in October 2010 with the Illuminated Ventures Project, an idea-incubator co-op I co-founded with Richmond creatives and VCU students. Around the same time I got my first experience in corporate tech from the inside, at ICF working on business content migration for a site rebuild for Progress Energy. During that stretch, I also started the public relations department for the Raise 5 Project, an HIV prevention and substance abuse awareness program at Virginia Commonwealth University.
In 2013 I co-founded Producia, a marketplace that let students fund creative projects with hours instead of cash using a time-based currency. It led us to invitations and participation in the Future of Money and Technology Conference in San Francisco, Inside Bitcoin in Las Vegas, and more.
In 2017 I worked with the Integrated Engineering Blockchain Consortium as a member on their board of advisors, and eventually co-led CoEngineers, a peer-to-peer publishing platform for engineers — essentially asking what it would take to treat professional knowledge as something you could account for.
In 2019 I opened Invincive Studios in Downtown Richmond's Arts District on 2nd St., and in 2021 founded Brave Intangibles, which is where most of my client work happens now: service and experience design, software design and development, and more.
How I work
I start by listening, usually for longer than people expect. Reading extensively and asking questions. My approach is research, design, develop, deploy/deliver. Everything I start is rooted in a flow: research, design, develop. Sometimes those overlap, sometimes we go back.
We will diverge and converge, always. I'll need time to process, and so may you. Nonetheless, some projects require interdependence, and having worked in solitude can render powerful results in collaborative environments, thus I like to nurture both styles of work respectfully, for everyone.
Still, strategy follows understanding, not the other way round. Thus I look at the systems, the relationships, the constraints, and more to help individuals and businesses get pointed in the same, or an adjusted direction.
And for the teams, companies, and individuals who are really ready, I sometimes offer high-level work intensives, work sessions, or work-a-thons, which are great ways to jumpstart or immediately accelerate something, along with pushing through stagnation and getting the snowball rolling.
- Service design
- Experience development
- Asset mapping
- Service blueprinting
- Systems analysis
- Facilitation
- Strategic consulting
- Product & systems design
- Workshops & training
- Public speaking
Other ways to find me
braveintangibles.com
My consultancy — service design, experience development, and software for businesses. Free tools there too, including a blueprint generator and a service design glossary. Have fun!
Visit →itsaligned.com
Where I put my art. Abstract free-hand work on canvas and stone — straight lines, dots and curves in ink and acrylic. There's an interactive gallery, and the One World triptych.
See the gallery →Work history, because I feel like I need to keep my account semi-updated. SMH. We can still connect though. =)
Connect →Get in touch
Design and development work, research and consulting, workshops and training, and speaking on service design, human collaboration, and AI.
