About David

Hello! I'm David, and I'm passionate about helping individuals from nontraditional backgrounds break into management consulting and product management. My career journey has been anything but linear. I spent my twenties chasing gelada monkeys in Ethiopia while earning a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. During an extended rainy season there, I taught myself to code—a skill that eventually led me to a computational ecology postdoc and later to a career in data science and technology. From 2016-2025, I was at McKinsey & Company, where I built products and platforms serving thousands of global clients. I am now an independent consultant and coach. As the first person in my working class family to earn a Ph.D., I understand the unique challenges faced by those entering prestigious fields without traditional networks or backgrounds. I specialize in guiding career transitions for academic scientists moving into consulting, as well as engineers pivoting to product management roles. Whether you're a researcher looking to leverage your analytical skills in a new industry or an engineer ready to shape product strategy, I'm here to help you navigate that transition successfully.