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Rebuilding the Patient Experience at

Rebuilding the Patient Experience

BRAND

THE ASPEN GROUP

INDUSTRY

HEALTHCARE

BACKGROUND

The Aspen Group is one of the largest multi-brand healthcare platforms in the US, operating thousands of clinic locations across dental, vision, and orthodontic brands. The creative function existed — but it was broken in ways that weren’t immediately visible from the outside.

On paper, there were people. In practice, there was no system. The organization had inherited a fragmented talent structure: the highest-level creative talent was concentrated in a central group, while mid-level creatives were distributed across individual brands with no creative or strategic leadership above them. Copy directors — skilled writers, not design leaders — had been left to make creative design decisions by default. There was no coaching, no shared standard, and no one connecting the work across brands.

Alongside the full-time team, over 30 contractors had accumulated across the organization — a mix of full-time and part-time engagements with no clear accountability structure, no alignment to specific brand budgets, and no visibility into what each contractor was delivering or for whom. Headcount existed without governance. Spend was happening without strategic intent.

The result was predictable: brand expression varied widely, agency costs remained high despite a large contractor roster, and the internal team — talented but leaderless — had no creative north star to build toward.

BRIEF

This wasn’t a talent shortage. It was a leadership, structure, and accountability problem — compounding across three layers simultaneously.

Mid-level creatives were capable — but isolated. Without design leadership, they defaulted to execution rather than craft. Copy directors were filling a vacuum they weren’t hired to fill. Senior creative talent, concentrated in one group, had no mechanism to elevate the work happening across the brands. And a contractor population of 30+ people was operating without accountability to any budget, brand, or creative standard.

The fragmentation was creating four compounding failures:

Inconsistent brand expression across every channel and brand — digital, in-clinic, campaign, and signage
A disempowered mid-level team with no growth path, no coaching, and no creative leadership to learn from
A contractor roster with no governance — headcount without accountability, spend without strategic alignment
Over-reliance on external agencies to fill quality gaps, despite already having significant internal and contractor resource going largely unmanaged

WHAT I DID

Restructured the creative org around leadership, not just function.

The first move was structural. I reorganized the creative team to distribute leadership — not just talent — across the brands. Senior creatives were repositioned as leaders and mentors, not just makers. Mid-level creatives were given design directors above them for the first time, with clear creative accountability and a standard to work toward.

Copy directors were reoriented to their core strength: brand voice, messaging strategy, and content. Creative design direction was returned to designers. Each discipline was given the leadership it needed, and the role boundaries were clarified so no one was filling a vacuum again.

Rebuilt the studio model to reduce agency dependence

As internal capability grew and contractor spend was rationalized, I restructured the studio to bring more work in-house — scaling the team to approximately 40 people across art direction, copywriting, design, photography, video, and production. The ~80% reduction in agency dependence followed directly from having a team that was now led, coached, and accountable — not just numerous.

Audited and restructured the contractor model

The contractor situation required a full audit before anything else could be fixed. I mapped every contractor engagement: what they were working on, which brand they were serving, what they were being paid, and whether that spend was aligned to any brand’s actual creative needs or budget.

What emerged was a picture of significant resource misalignment. Contractors were distributed unevenly, engaged on work of varying strategic value, and in many cases duplicating effort across brands with no coordination. Some were functioning as de facto full-time team members with no corresponding accountability structure.

I restructured the contractor model to establish clear brand-by-brand budget alignment, defined scope and deliverables for each engagement, and introduced an accountability framework that made headcount visible, manageable, and tied to actual creative output. Where contractor roles overlapped with internal capability that could be grown, we made the transition. Where specialist capacity was genuinely needed, we retained it — but with clarity.

Built a coaching culture into the creative infrastructure.

Structural change without cultural change doesn’t hold. I built a coaching and feedback culture into the day-to-day rhythm of the team — establishing creative reviews, directional briefs, and a shared visual language that gave mid-level creatives a framework to grow within.

For many on the team, it was the first time they had received genuine creative direction. The change in output quality — and in team confidence — was immediate and measurable.

Defined brand standards across all channels and in-location environments

With team structure stabilized and contractor accountability in place, I led the development of comprehensive brand standards covering digital platforms, service environments, and clinic touchpoints — creating a system flexible enough for multiple brands, cohesive enough to feel like one organization to the guest.

I also architected a guidance-first storytelling narrative to unify seasonal marketing and clinic signage — a creative framework centered on trust and human connection, applicable across every brand and channel.

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