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Meet an IDEA Team Member: Michael Hilding

Get to know our user experience and design manager.

When our website or online tools need some TLC, we turn to our resourceful tech pro, Michael Hilding. As our user experience and design manager, Mike helps build and enhance IDEA’s web technologies—like newsletters and webpages—to ensure our members can access content with ease. It’s also thanks to Mike’s editing that we can bring you a new episode of the IDEAfit PRO SHOW podcast every week!

Mike Hilding

IDEA user experience and design manager, Michael Hilding.

Behind the scenes, Mike approaches every task with speed and precision. He responds to any request for help with insightful feedback before swiftly improving the project in question.

Though his job requires patience and an astute eye for detail, Mike approaches his role with a tongue-in-cheek humor that’s not lost on his teammates. “My favorite memory of Mike is when he showed up to judge our pie-baking contest in a black judging gown,” laughs colleague Yentrang Phan, who worked with Mike on the marketing and technology team. “It really shows his dedication in following through on all of his commitments!”

Besides flexing his tech muscles and sharing his spirited humor at IDEA, Mike keeps himself entertained with hobbies like riding motorcycles, camping and playing guitar.

More on Mike

  • When asked which piece of fitness equipment he’d be, Mike responded, “I’d be that gun they fire to start a race.”
  • If he could be any professional athlete, he’d choose “motocross legend Ricky Johnson. A lifelong hero.”
  • A special talent of his? “I can ride a bike facing backwards,” he says.
  • He cites music and nature as his biggest inspirations in life and his two kids as his greatest accomplishments.
  • His toughest athletic challenge was hiking in Yosemite. “When I was a kid,” he adds, “I raced BMX and mountain bikes.”
  • On why he enjoys his job, Mike says, “I love improving processes, creating efficiency and building tools that allow nontechnical people the ability to express themselves in a technical environment.”

We love it, too!


Sarah Kolvas

Sarah Kolvas is the content manager for IDEA.

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