b'WOMEN IN TILE 2020became full time Design Director for the distributor. Ihavealwayshadanapprecia-tionfortileandwoulddesigntile intomanyprojects,sothiswasa naturalandexcitingtransitionfor mycareer,shesaid.Herdesign background allows her to see how a product will be used, and have the vision to see it fully designed. This givesmetheinsighttoknowifa product of ours will be successful. Inadditiontoherdesignback-ground, empathy and good listen-ing skills empower herand other womenwithabettersense ofwhatcustomersarelooking for, she said. She offers a sense ofempathy,aswellasagreater degree of openness and intuition.ShesusedthischaoticCOVID timetochangemarketingstrat-egiesandgetproductinfront ofcustomersinanewway.I stepped in and thought about what I would want to see as a designer, she said, developing product and informative videos that allow the user/designer to actually see what the product would look like with scale and texture. This is our way ofbringingtheproducttothe buyerwithoutphysicallybeing there.Thisisexactlywheremy femaleempatheticnaturecomes in. I put myself in somebody elses shoesandthoughtaboutwhatKatie Michael-Battaglia designed Nemo wouldmakemylifeeasierasaTile+ Stones Philadelphia showroom. designer, without having access toShe helped design the distributors show-room on her own time, which led to a materials library or getting to aher coming to work for the company in showroom.2015. Photo credit: Megan Lawrence. 62TileLetter | October 2020'