As a fast-growing and dynamic global company, our people are key to Perficient’s growth and success. Each colleague has a unique perspective to share, and through our People of Perficient series, we’re capturing a glimpse into the profound impact each person is making around the world.
We recently sat down with Kevin Galli, a Director for Perficient’s Experience Design practice, who brings exponential value by creating strong client relationships, navigating complex projects with agility, and achieving meaningful results that transform and amplify business growth. Continue reading to learn more about his expertise in experience design and digital marketing, his support of Perficient’s PRISM ERG, and how he’s creating a work environment that champions the success of every colleague.
What is your role? Describe a typical day in the life.
I’ve been with Perficient since 2019, and I started as a Senior Project Manager for a healthcare client and a real estate client. Within the first year, I quickly came to appreciate the culture and focus of Experience Design and Digital Marketing, which emphasizes trust and team empowerment, especially for team leaders. One of our key early wins was completing an enterprise-level healthcare UX and design system that could be easily tailored for regional site needs.
At Perficient, I really appreciate the autonomy to solve problems with support. That mindset made me feel confident in tackling bigger challenges early on. After two or three years, we undertook a complex and critical new project with another healthcare client, involving a site design overhaul and Sitecore implementation. This large project included multiple Business Units (BUs), workstreams and leadership roles, providing a great learning opportunity. My biggest takeaway: my leadership trusts me to take the wheel and drive, and work through the challenges as a team along the way.
Leadership recognized my potential, promoting me to a Project Management Team Lead position and subsequently a Director role where I could coach and mentor direct reports. I’ve gained a lot of confidence through my experience working with our clients across multiple industries. I’ve learned that I can tackle most challenges, make heads or tails of it, and figure out solutions to help our clients. I’ve found that building camaraderie and being my genuine self goes a long way for both our internal team and client relationships.
READ MORE: Learn About the Elements of Experience Design
What do you enjoy the most about your role and Experience Design?
Last year, I became a Director in our Experience Design team. I appreciate the trust the company places in its people at all levels and the confidence our leaders have in me. I enjoy building relationships and meeting new team members and clients. I have learned that tough conversations are a part of the job, but they are better when you have built strong relationships. It’s rewarding to have those conversations even though they can be tricky; I’ve learned it’s actually a disservice not to have those direct conversations as everyone misses out on the opportunity for continued growth.
I’m enjoying a project that we’re currently working on for a large university in California, which has an interesting challenge due to the university’s diverse branding needs and organizational structure. They aim for a broader national presence while managing a complex matrix of educational departments, healthcare groups, and shared services. Each department wants autonomy in their messaging, making it difficult to maintain a consistent brand voice. We are leading a large envision project for them, transitioning into a build phase. This involves analyzing their internal and public-facing sites, conducting content and analytics analysis, and comparing features against competitors.
We’re providing recommendations for immediate and future improvements, including customer journeys and personas, information architecture, visual direction, wireframes, and visual design. Additionally, we’re identifying technology gaps and conducting audience research through stakeholder and customer interviews to understand the target audience and appropriate messaging. It’s a complex program, but the people involved are wonderful to work with.
What’s your favorite part of what you do?
Besides building relationships, I’m outcome driven. I love seeing a well-thought-out plan coalesce into something that makes our clients happy and answers their questions, even the ones they didn’t think to ask. I’m constantly amazed by the talent around me. Working with such skilled subject matter advisors in their disciplines who impress our clients is incredible. Seeing clients satisfied and equipped with actionable insights to improve their business is the best part. One of my favorite moments on any engagement is getting our clients to let their guard down a bit. It shows they trust us and we’re well-positioned to handle any challenges coming our way.
I think celebrating with the team is very closely tied to this. I try to do that as often as I can, especially when we reach a milestone. There are a lot of people at Perficient who are not directly involved in the client day-to-day but still support the work we’re doing. It’s very important to give shoutouts to those folks too. When I worked as a Delivery Director for a Minneapolis-based client in the energy sector, our UX Design team celebrated birthdays and found fun excuses to wear different costumes and props: novelty glasses, hats, the goofier the better. I started acquiring so many things and now have a prop closet behind my desk filled with capes, hoodies, and hats so I’m always ready to surprise and celebrate with others.
Whether big or small, how do you make a difference for our clients, colleagues, communities or teams?
Kevin’s husband, Anthony, and their daughter, Hayden, at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
I try to pay attention to everyone within Perficient, whether they’re on my team or not, and be mindful of who might feel ‘othered’. Offering support and empathy without prying can be helpful. If someone’s open to discussing, I want them to feel supported.
As part of the LGBTQ+ community, I didn’t always have the confidence to be open about this topic, but I made the conscious decision to do so midway in my career. It took courage. I wasn’t sure I had to do that. I want to be an example for others, showing them that it’s possible to be open and find support if and when they’re ready for that. I’m thrilled we have our own group now dedicated to inclusion in the workplace – I think Perficient’s PRISM ERG is amazing.
READ MORE: Perficient is Empowering Change and Inclusivity Through Its PRISM ERG
What advice would you give to colleagues who are just starting their career with Perficient?
We are a big, growing, and ambitious company. It can be overwhelming at first. You might be thrown into a project and talking to clients right away. This can be jarring depending on your background, but there’s a real payoff in meeting new people and getting used to Perficient’s culture. Within six months, you’ll understand how our BUs are organized and how your specific BU operates. It can be daunting initially, but know you have support and that our wonderful culture makes it worth it. At Perficient, we have scrappy folks who dig in and ask, “What does it take?” I love that.
For anyone new, dig in, figure out your work, lean on your colleagues for support, and lean into what it takes to get the job done.
With Perficient’s vision and mission statement in mind, how do you obsess over outcomes?
Obsessing over outcomes stands out to me because I am very outcome driven, and I love making things happen. In consulting, the value we provide comes from our conversations: building relationships, actively advising our clients, offering practical ideas and inspiration in parallel, educating team members, and sharing insights. The real value is in delivering meaningful results that help clients transform their business.
Whether it’s implementing a system, pitching ideas, working on deliverables, or looking for opportunities to grow our business, reaching that end point is what I love the most. Let’s put some table stakes down, create a plan, and execute it. I see a lot of enthusiasm for this approach at Perficient, and I think it’s great.
What are you passionate about outside of work?
Kevin spending time with Hayden at a restaurant by the river.
My husband, Anthony, and I have a six-year-old daughter, Hayden. We love Detroit Tigers baseball games. I love going, but it’s mostly for Hayden. She’s a kiddo with special needs, and she goes to a school near us that provides daily care and therapy with a roomful of amazing classmates. There are certain things she can’t do, but we focus more on her happiness and what she can do. When you see her at a Tigers game, she’ll pull herself up to the railing and jump up and down for nearly an hour, all smiles and giggles. Between the game itself and just watching her, it’s the best thing ever.
I’m proud of the things that we do for my daughter to help her live a happy and fulfilling life. There’s a program in Chicago, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, that works with kids like Hayden. We’ve been able to spend a month living in Chicago each year to take her to therapy each day, and she does so well during it. Having the ability to do something like that is incredible. I’ve never worked at a company before that allowed this kind of flexibility.
It’s no secret our success is because of our people. No matter the technology or time zone, our colleagues are committed to delivering innovative, end-to-end digital solutions for the world’s biggest brands, and we bring a collaborative spirit to every interaction. We’re always seeking the best and brightest to work with us. Join our team and experience a culture that challenges, champions, and celebrates our people.
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