Meet Dr. Kevin Sakamoto
I started Nemawashi Consulting because the best business decisions rarely happen in isolation. I've lived what happens when they do
In Japanese, nemawashi refers to the practice of laying groundwork before change: bringing people into the process, building alignment, and making sure decisions land with buy-in instead of resistance. After 15 years leading product and strategy at companies like Dollar Shave Club, Lululemon, Target, and Zappos, I've learned that this is the difference between transformation that sticks and transformation that breaks things.
I hold a Doctorate in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, publish peer-reviewed research on employee dignity and digital transformation, and teach MBA and undergraduate courses at Cal State Fullerton. I'm also a TEDx speaker and the co-host of the Product Ops Podcast.
Today, I work with founders and leadership teams who are navigating real complexity — AI adoption, e-commerce growth, organizational change — and who want a thought partner who has done it, studied it, and can help them do it with more clarity and less collateral damage.
The story behind my work
The practitioner
Over 15 years, I held senior leadership roles at some of the most recognized consumer brands in the country. At Dollar Shave Club, I led product through a period of rapid DTC growth. At Lululemon and Target, I worked at the intersection of digital and physical retail. At Zappos, I was part of a team obsessed with customer experience as a competitive advantage.
These weren't observer roles. I owned roadmaps, led cross-functional teams, managed budgets, and made the kinds of decisions that show up in revenue numbers. That experience is what I bring into every client engagement.
The researcher
In 2024, I earned my Doctorate in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, not to leave industry, but to understand it more rigorously. My research focuses on what happens to people during digital transformation: how dignity is preserved or eroded, how leaders make decisions under uncertainty, and how organizations can change without losing what makes them work.
I publish in peer-reviewed journals including the Academy of Management Discoveries and the Journal of Services Marketing. I conduct postdoctoral research at Pepperdine and teach at Cal State Fullerton, where I've received the Circle of Excellence in Teaching Award in consecutive years. I have presented at the Academy of Management Annual Conference in consecutive years; in Copenhagen in 2025 on the hidden value of employee resource groups, and in Philadelphia in 2026 on a new framework for assessing worker behavior in AI-enabled environments.
The philosophy
A failed consulting engagement rarely comes down to a flawed strategy. More often, the people were simply never brought along. New systems get implemented but not adopted. Decisions get made but not understood. Teams comply without committing.
Nemawashi is my answer to that problem. Every engagement starts with groundwork, understanding the organization, its people, and the dynamics that will determine whether change actually lands. I'm not here to hand you a deck. I'm here to help you build something that lasts.
The practice
Nemawashi Consulting works with small to mid-sized entities, with a particular focus on minority-owned businesses, navigating growth, AI adoption, and organizational change. My clients range from founders running lean teams to leadership teams at companies approaching $200M in revenue.
What they have in common: they're doing hard things, they care about their people, and they want a partner who brings both strategic rigor and genuine accountability to the work. If that sounds like you, I'd like to talk.