Designing products for
today & tomorrow

Joan is M3’s President and Co-Founder. From an early age, Joan was fascinated with technology, largely thanks to Star Trek. She has always been mechanically and analytically minded, and her thorough commitment to managing the everyday demands of running a business has been foundational in the continued success of our company.

Early in her career, Joan lived in the Silicon Valley and worked in production control for a company that made silicon wafers. This role was instrumental in shaping Joan’s appreciation for process. It was also during this time she met and married Terry Branson. In her next job, Joan transitioned to an IT role at Tandem Computers. There, her interest in technology really flourished as she learned more and more about setting up and maintaining computer systems. After moving with Terry and their two daughters to Round Rock, TX, Joan started working as an office assistant for an accounting firm, where she learned the importance and integrity of accurate bookkeeping.

All these various work experiences set Joan up as a sort of ‘Jack of All Trades’ with collective knowledge of the many aspects needed to run a successful business. Although she didn’t know it at the time, the experience she was gaining all those years gave her the precise complimentary skill set she needed to help bring Terry’s vision for M3 Design to life. In the early days of M3, Joan quite literally kept the lights on, managing everything from the bookkeeping to the facilities to the technology. In the decades since, she has been instrumental in building and maintaining our company culture, and she truly represents the family-like feeling of M3. Joan served as M3’s office manager until Terry’s passing in 2023 when she assumed the role of President. Outside of M3, Joan enjoys cooking, woodworking, gardening, playing with her grandkids, and spending time at the Branson family ranch.

Connect with John

John is M3’s Director of Engineering and COO. He joined the M3 team in 2008, bringing with him extensive experience translating surgeons’ needs into successful orthopedic products. John has a stellar knack for selecting and prioritizing the details necessary to build towards the overarching strategic goals of M3 Design and their customer base. John is known for his incredible work ethic and passion for delivering products that are both functional and easy to use. He believes the first and last impression a product makes must be phenomenal, and he constantly pushes the team to consider every aspect of the product they are designing to make sure that happens. During his tenure at M3, John has led ongoing programs for strategic clients such as Stryker, DJO Surgical, Rockwell Collins, and Argon Medical.

Prior to joining the M3 team, John worked at Amedica and Sulzer Orthopedics leading R&D teams and development projects for Spine, Hip, and Knee implants and instrumentation. John has a Biomedical Engineering degree from Northwestern University and holds multiple patents. He has presented at national and regional conferences and written on various product development topics. When not working John is also known for having a good time and playing a practical joke or two on his colleagues. John makes sure the culture at M3 remains light-hearted and fun. In his spare time, John regularly competes in (and wins) BBQ competitions. His colleagues are grateful for the left overs he is kind enough to bring into the office.

Connect with Nathan

Nathan is the Director of M3’s design team. Nathan pushes himself and his team to promote design solutions for EVERY element of a user’s workflow and experience. With this philosophy, M3’s design team has tackled everything from groundbreaking surgical solutions, to IoT ecosystems, to designing entire environments that deliver phenomenal user experiences while under Nathan’s leadership. Prior to joining M3 Design, Nathan had a leadership position at Boston-based product development firm, Altitude. During his tenure there, Nathan opened their first satellite office in Los Angeles, where he forged strong relationships with key accounts on the West Coast. A native of the UK, Nathan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial and Furniture Design from Nottingham Trent University. On the rare occasion when Nathan isn’t working, he enjoys doing “lad things” and drinking beer.

Lauren brings extensive experience in mechanical engineering, product design, and innovation to her role as Director of Engineering. She has spent her career developing cutting-edge products across medical devices, IoT, consumer products, and enterprise equipment. Lauren’s leadership extends beyond engineering execution—she has successfully managed multidisciplinary teams, spearheaded strategic design initiatives, and contributed significantly to business growth and culture here at M3. Her collaborative approach ensures that projects meet both technical and market demands while driving innovation and efficiency.

Prior to joining M3, Lauren worked for Essential Design and Shark|Ninja interfacing with global teams and bringing a range of products from complex biotech equipment to high-volume consumer products to reality. Lauren holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT where she was a student athlete in swimming and soccer and the captain of the varsity soccer team. Outside of work, Lauren is a figure skater, hiker, and pun aficionado. Her dog, Kershaw, is her pride and joy, and she’s always happy to give you a copy of his yearly calendar (The Kershaw Kalendar). Whether she’s perfecting a spin on the ice or fine-tuning a design for production, Lauren brings passion, precision, and a positive spark to everything she does.

Connect with Kevin

Kevin is passionate about building long-lasting client relationships—one product engagement at a time. He loves helping companies grow and prosper by identifying their core strengths and shaping strategies that drive innovation, revenue, and profitability. His expertise spans business strategy, product marketing, sales channel management, and business development, with key skills in strategy development, marketing communications, and process improvement.

Before joining M3, Kevin led multiple product marketing teams, developing and launching new strategies and products for global process, chemical, pipeline, and power generation markets. He played a key role in championing stage-gate processes for major global measurement automation units, bringing new product families, extensions, and applications to market. His experience also includes managing global sales channels—ranging from direct sales teams, to distributors, to manufacturer reps—for leading process automation and measurement suppliers.

Kevin has over 20 years of sales and marketing leadership experience with Emerson Process Management and Cameron Valves & Measurement. He also spent five years as an Austin-based entrepreneur, founding and operating an advertising and consulting firm.

He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering and a BBA in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin, as well as an MBA from Pepperdine.

Outside of work, Kevin enjoys winning Saturdays at DKR (Hook ’em), losing Sundays as a Cowboys fan, live music, movies, PGA golf, Gulf Coast fishing, boating on Lake Travis, and exploring Austin’s culinary scene in search of the perfect margarita.

Connect with Michele

Michele is M3’s Director of Finance. She believes that tightly and accurately managed financials pave the way for businesses to grow and improve year-over-year, and she puts these beliefs into action through ongoing collaboration with management and employees. Michele’s keen financial aptitude and insights have been indispensable in helping M3 grow into the business it is today. 

Before joining M3, Michele had a variety of financial experience in everything from public accounting to healthcare to non-profit industries. After starting her own accounting business, Michele grew a passion for accounting and financial reporting for small businesses, which ultimately led her to her role at M3. In her spare time, Michele loves to spoil her kids, cook and serve others. In fact, she’s highly regarded as one of M3’s best chefs.  

Connect with Gray

Gray is M3 Design’s CTO and fountain of useful advice and knowledge of EVERYTHING from engineering, technology trends and forecasting, business strategy, and all aspects of product development. Gray believes in being open minded when it comes to innovative solutions to problems, and tackling R&D and product development efforts in a way that can successfully feed into an overarching business objective. Gray has had a leadership role at M3 Design for over a decade, and has been the point person for some of M3’s largest accounts such as Emerson. He has also been the fulcrum that has helped some of M3’s late-stage technology start-ups become full-fledged businesses. Prior to joining M3, Gray led engineering, program, quality and design teams at such companies as Ford Motor, Texas Instruments, Compaq and Xyterra Computing as they created and delivered advanced products as diverse as fault-tolerant super computers, automated vehicle test systems and generations of personal computing devices.

Gray is a frequent contributor to the M3 Design’s blog, as well as publications such as MD&DI and has spoken at such events as South by Southwest and the Central Texas Digital Convergence Initiative. Gray’s colleagues appreciate his advice and guidance on pretty much everything (most of the time), his entertaining stories collected throughout his career (including being personally fired by Michael Dell in the late-1980s), Gray’s New York no BS attitude, and above all—his unwavering ethics. Gray holds a BSEE from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an MBA from the University of Houston. In his spare time, Gray enjoys low-tech hobbies such as creating pottery and building character by watching N.Y. Mets baseball.