Creative Spotlight: Brian Leary, Lead Product Designer
Written By: Gray Moxley
Most creative projects don’t begin with a plan. They begin with everyday moments. For HOPPR Product Designer Brian Leary, that moment was a bedtime song in a house where music tends to appear out of thin air. Their dog, Pepino, was often in the center of it. One night, after yet another minor household disaster, Brian said, “Oh, Pepino, the dog with no chill.” The line stuck! It turned into a small, recurring anthem, slowly but surely planting the creative seed that would grow into a full story.
The slow beginning
The first version of what would become Oh, Pepino! lived in a note on his phone. Brian typed the lyrics quickly and didn’t think much about it. The idea of a book came months later, during the nightly routine he and his wife Jessica have with their son, Grayson.
Storytime was part of the rhythm of every day. Brian had joked before about writing a book of his own, and Jessica pushed him to actually try it. He opened Figma (not because it was the “right” tool for creating a picture book, but because it was familiar) and just began sketching. What followed were many nights of small iterations and quiet work after the house settled. In 2024, Oh, Pepino! became a published book. In December 2025, Blast Off, Pepino! followed, this time taking their dog to space aboard Saturn V.
Seeing your child recognize their own life in a drawing, seeing their face light up at a story you made just for them- is its own kind of reward. Moments like that stick with you.
Brian’s own words
“The ‘Pepino the Pup’ series started life as a song.
We sing a lot in the Leary house—little improvised tunes that narrate our lives. Pepino is the star of many of them: equal parts adorable and mischievous. ‘Oh, Pepino, the dog with no chill!’ became a recurring anthem when we caught him getting into trouble. One night while putting my son to bed, I typed the rest of the lyrics into my iPhone, and there it sat for almost a year.
The book idea came later. Bedtime stories are a nightly ritual with our 4-year-old son, Grayson. With encouragement from my wife Jessica, I finally gave it a try.
For the illustrations, I used the tool I knew best: Figma. Months later, I published Oh, Pepino! in 2024. On December 1, 2025, I released Blast Off, Pepino!, a story about our curious pup journeying to space aboard a Saturn V rocket.
Creating something for your child and seeing their face light up when they recognize little illustrated versions of their family is hard to describe.
In many ways, this process mirrors how I approach my work as a product designer at HOPPR. Start with curiosity, work within constraints, iterate through feedback, and focus on telling a clear story that resonates with the person on the other side.”
Why stories like this matter here
The connection between side projects and professional work isn’t abstract; it’s practical. The habits that carried Brian through the Pepino books (patience, iteration, the discomfort of working in a medium that isn’t quite built for what you’re trying to do) are the same habits that shape good product design. The same muscles get used when building thoughtful tools for clinicians, analysts, and health systems. Work improves when people feel free to pursue projects that sharpen the way they see and make.
Creativity at HOPPR
We value rigor, but we also value play. Creativity appears in small bursts and often leads somewhere meaningful. Sometimes it results in a feature improvement or a prototype that becomes a product. Sometimes it results in a children’s book about a dog who doesn’t know how to chill.
Both matter. They say something about how someone thinks.
Brian’s books didn’t come from a strategic plan. They came from noticing a moment in his own home and following it long enough to see where it led. That mindset shows up in the way we build at HOPPR.
Pepino may not be part of our product roadmap, but the spirit behind him certainly is.
We’re proud to share Brian’s work and proud of the people who bring this kind of creative energy into our team.
