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Blake Simkins
Head of Product Design at NexHealth
Professional Background
Blake Simkins is an accomplished product designer and leader with a strong emphasis on high-quality design that aligns with vital business outcomes. Over the years, Blake has demonstrated a passion for innovation and creativity, fostering an environment that nurtures both individual and team success. His extensive experience in various roles within the design sector allows him to bridge the gap between user needs and business objectives, making him an invaluable asset in any organization.
Throughout his career, Blake has held pivotal positions at prominent companies, where he heavily influenced product design strategies and team dynamics. As the former Head of Product Design at NexHealth, Blake spearheaded initiatives that not only enhanced the design quality of products but also ensured that these products effectively met business goals. His strategic thinking and collaborative leadership style empowered team members and inspired a culture of creativity and professionalism.
Prior to his role at NexHealth, Blake served as the Director of Product Design at Peerspace, where he played a crucial role in the design of innovative solutions that promoted engagement and user satisfaction. His adeptness at managing design teams and projects has characterized his career, with special recognition during his tenure at Podium, where he oversaw significant design efforts and product launches.
In addition to his corporate roles, Blake's commitment to education shines through his work as an Adjunct Professor of UX Design II at Utah Valley University. This experience enabled him to share his expertise with aspiring designers, fostering the next generation of creative minds in the field. As a former Senior Product Designer at Instructure, Inc., and Product Designer at Orca Health, Blake continued to refine his design philosophies and practices, delivering exceptional results that adhered to rigorous standards of excellence.
Blake’s career began with foundational roles as a Graphic/Web Designer at both Saxton / Horne Advertising and ID Communications. These early experiences laid the groundwork for his design sensibility and technical skills, refining his eye for aesthetics and functional design. Blake's journey reflects a continuous evolution in the field of product design, underpinned by his commitment to quality and innovation.
Education and Achievements
Blake holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Graphic Design from Utah Valley University, where he honed his skills in visual communication, typography, and user-centered design practices. His education equipped him with the technical and theoretical knowledge vital for excelling in the competitive landscape of product design.
With a strong foundation in graphic design principles, Blake has successfully transitioned into product design, where he brings an artistic vision to user experience (UX) and product functionality. His design journey demonstrates constant growth and adaptability to trends and technologies, making him a well-rounded professional in the design community.
Blake's contributions to the design field extend beyond corporate settings; by nurturing young talents through academia and offering insights into practical design application, he has made a lasting impact on many students and young professionals. His ability to convey complex design principles in an engaging manner has been essential for inspiring the next wave of designers.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Blake has achieved significant milestones that underscore his capabilities as a product designer and leader. His leadership at NexHealth, for instance, resulted in the creation of products that not only met aesthetic standards but also significantly drove user engagement and satisfaction. This is a reflection of his innate ability to intertwine creative vision with practical functionality.
At Peerspace, Blake's strategic oversight allowed the team to explore innovative design solutions that expanded the platform’s usability and aesthetic appeal, ultimately contributing to an increase in user interaction and platform use. These contributions are testaments to his strategic mindset and dedication to improving user experiences.
As a published designer and educator, Blake remains engaged with the design community, sharing insights through workshops, courses, and speaking engagements. His journey continues to inspire those around him, fostering an environment where thoughtful design and innovative thinking thrive. Blake Simkins is not just a product designer; he is a catalyst for change in the design sector, championing teams and inspiring future generations to understand the profound impact of design on everyday life.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.