Laird Sapir brings a diverse background of user-experience design, project management, customer service, and over ten years of web development experience to the OPEN MINDS team. In her current role as Vice President of Web Services, Ms. Sapir leads our team of web developers; brings technical guidance and business practicality to every web-based application that OPEN MINDS develops; and defines a strategic purpose and unique digital brand for each client project that crosses her path.

Prior to her role with OPEN MINDS, Ms. Sapir was the sole proprietor, lead graphic designer, and web developer for Memphis McKay – a boutique marketing firm that primarily served authors, publishing companies, and small businesses. In this role she designed and built over 200 websites and managed the ongoing maintenance for over 100 client sites. She is well-versed in site architecture and planning, responsive design, and various open source technologies such as WordPress, PHP, Javascript, and React. Ms. Sapir has written several widely used open source plugins serving the author community, and has been cited in industry publications such as Torque Magazine and WPMU Dev.

Ms. Sapir is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef who has served as a Restaurant Manager and Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Nordstrom. Throughout Ms. Sapir’s history with Nordstrom, she experienced first-hand the importance of having an “ear to the ground” to better understand the customer experience. Ms. Sapir’s tenure with Nordstrom provided unparalleled insight into consumer expectations, preferences, and purchasing patterns – all of which directly translate into optimal user experience best practices.

Ms. Sapir holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, in addition to an Associate of Arts in Culinary Arts from the California School of Culinary Arts.