Tim Allen: Make your ceiling your floor

Tim Allen is the Global Head of Design at Instacart. He leads the global product design, research, content and operations, centered on food access and inclusivity. His focus on fueling human potential is key to building products and cultures that inspire people to do their best work. As an additional outlet for his passion for design thinking, Tim was named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business for 2017.  Tim speaks and instructs at schools and events around the country.

Prior to Instacart, Tim led Airbnb's global Product Design team, Microsoft's Experiences & Devices design practice and Amazon's Product Design Studio as Executive Creative Director leading the experience design for Echo, FireTV, and Kindle products. Tim also shaped the vision for one of the largest Experience Design teams in the United States at R/GA, whose Nike+ work established the future of connected experiences for brands. Through innovative work with Adobe, Red Hat, and IBM, Tim holds seven patents related to software design, ranging from chat interface modeling to mobile device synchronization.

We dive into how throughout his career, Tim continued to make the ceiling his floor. We chat about what that means, how his upbringing impacted him as a designer, and how the skills that got you to where you are today won’t necessarily get you to what’s next.