The Way Onboarding Shapes Culture
I once joined a design team where my first week felt like detective work. There were scattered files, half-documented processes, and no real introduction to how decisions were m...
Mentoring Isn’t About Giving Answers
When I first started mentoring younger designers, I thought the role was about giving answers. Share the tools, show the shortcuts, pass down the knowledge - that’s what I assumed...
Empathy Is Your Most Underrated Leadership Skill
When you first step into a leadership role, it’s easy to assume success comes from sharper strategy, faster decisions, or stronger design opinions. I thought the same. But over ...
The Silent Cost of Overlooking Team Feelings
When you’re leading a design team, it’s easy to get caught up in deadlines, features, and deliverables. I’ve been there - focused on velocity while overlooking the undercurrent of...
Why the Design Ladder Isn’t Just Titles
When I first started in design, I thought career growth was all about climbing titles. Junior to mid, mid to senior, senior to lead - it looked like a neat ladder. But the reality...
Aligning Design With Business Success
One of the most overlooked parts of design leadership is making sure creative strategies aren’t floating in isolation. A beautiful concept that doesn’t move the company forward ...
Fostering Creativity and Excellence
When people ask me how to build a creative, high-performing product team, my answer always begins with trust. Without it, ideas stay hidden and risks are avoided. With it, the w...
No Shortcuts in Design - Only Loops and Reps
Two decades in, I’ve sat through enough workshops, read enough bestsellers, and seen enough new frameworks launch with bold promises to know one thing: there’s no magic formula....