Hi. I’m Kai — Cognitive Composer and Founder of Inspiration Unscripted.

This work began with a question I’ve carried since childhood.

When my mother, newly diagnosed with breast cancer, shared her regrets about the ideas she never brought to life, it sparked a lifelong fascination: Why do some people create new paths while others quietly follow the ones handed to them?

That question led me to study human-centered design and ethnographic research at Stanford University, where I trained under Dr. BJ Fogg in the Behavior Design Lab.

After Stanford, I spent over a decade working with companies like Google and Disney — and hundreds of organizations across nearly every major industry — studying how people respond when facing uncertainty, transition, and pressure. During that time, I also developed a set of metaphor-based cognitive tools informed by my background as a violinist and composer.

Across these environments, I noticed the same recurring, invisible patterns — belief systems that once protected people but now prevented meaningful change. Over years of engagements, I coded these into a living database of more than thirty paradigms that quietly shape how professionals think and act.

To turn this research into a sustainable practice, I partnered with a licensed therapist and a small team of collaborators — blending behavioral science and narrative design to help leaders shift culture from the inside out.

Inspiration Unscripted was created to bring this work to life: helping people unlearn old scripts and write new music that matches the moment they’re in.