My journey so far

At 19, I moved to San Francisco with a clear plan: study product design, play NCAA soccer, build a long-term career in tech, and stay for the next 10 years.

And for a while, everything was going to plan.

I fell in love with the city and the energy at the Academy of Art University. I was welcomed by an amazing Icelandic community already thriving there and dove deep into UI/UX.

During my time there, I took on two projects that changed how I think about product design.

One was a Corporate Sponsored Project with NASA, where we developed a robotic system for the International Space Station. It was a surreal experience that taught me how to design for real-world, mission-critical environments.

The other was Strike, a wearable that helps prevent brain injuries in sports by tracking impact, performance, and recovery data. I led the full product and UX design, and it won Best in Show (2022). It was my first deep dive into health, data, and human performance, and it stuck with me.

After graduating, I joined Apple as a UX Product Designer, focusing on the eCommerce experience for Apple Premium Partners. I worked on how people discover and buy Apple products through partner sites across different markets, collaborating with design, product, and marketing teams.

It was everything I had worked toward, until a visa complication threw it off track.

Like many international professionals in the U.S., my visa situation became uncertain. Rather than sit in limbo for months, I decided to move on. I signed with a promising startup in Europe and started preparing for the next chapter.

As I was getting ready to relocate, I flew home to Iceland for a short break, and that’s when I got the call.

The startup had lost funding. The offer was gone.
And because I had already left the U.S., I couldn’t return.

Just like that, everything I had spent years building, the network, the momentum, the plan - disappeared.

I joined Icelandair as a product designer, working on the Saga Club experience, the booking engine, a large-scale design system, and diving into aviation. I was grateful for it all, but I knew I had to build something of my own.

Today, I’m the co-founder of Studioek and I’m the co-founder of Nouri, a personalized health optimization platform built for longevity, performance, and aesthetic wellness.

Looking back, I genuinely believe it was all meant to happen. The journey didn’t go as planned, but it led me to what I care about most: building products that help people feel and function better. That’s what Nouri is all about.

We’re launching soon, and if you care about wellness, performance, or aging well, I’d love to have you on this journey.

📩 Join the waitlist at https://nouri.is