I am so proud to announce that I have earned my official designation as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) from the International Coach Federation —credentials I’ve been pursuing for a year! I received my coaching certification from New Ventures West in June 2014, and since then have accrued more than 750 hours of client contact. [Keep Reading…]
On a Year as a Certified Coach
Today is my one-year anniversary of being a certified coach. On June 6, 2014, I became a certified professional coach through New Ventures West, and was set off on a whole new adventure. My business and my life have changed dramatically. I went from a decade as a user experience practitioner serving businesses exclusively to [Keep Reading…]
Are you the designer of your own career?
Take a moment to think about what the final moments of your life will be like. I hope it will be a very, very long time from now. But put yourself there, in your last days, reflecting back on your life. What legacy will you be leaving behind? Will your future self be proud of [Keep Reading…]
Getting Ready to Change
An excerpt from my dialogue with Paul McAleer on our podcast Designing Yourself, Episode #16: Ready Set Go (originally aired July 1, 2014), with minimal editing for readability. Two weeks ago I was finally certified as a professional coach. I was in this yearlong certification program where I was trained to be a professional coach [Keep Reading…]
My 2014 Annual Report
Hello friends, family, clients, future clients and supporters! I have some exciting news. 2014 was hands down my best year in 10 years of business. It would be impossible to tell you every amazing thing that has happened (because there were a lot of them!), but here are a few highlights: Big Wins in 2014 [Keep Reading…]
Today is my 6th anniversary of going solo
Six years ago today, also a Friday, was my very last day at my very last full-time job. Two weeks prior, I had finally worked up the courage to walk into my boss’s office and quit. It was a cushy job with great pay, reasonable hours, and somewhat interesting work. But that was no longer [Keep Reading…]
Drupal.org User Research: Stakeholder Workshop
At DrupalCon Austin 2014, we officially kicked off the reimagination of Drupal.org with a full-day workshop with Drupal Association staff, Working Groups, select board members and advisors, facilitated by our user experience coach Whitney Hess. In the morning, we did the serious business of defining our objectives, target audiences, metrics for success (KPIs), partners and [Keep Reading…]
If Not Now
In my July contribution to The Pastry Box Project, If Not Now, published on the eve of my 32nd birthday, I share my lifelong struggle with seeking approval — and that perfect intersection of readiness and permission where everything seems to click. When I turned 30, I suddenly had this realization that I was officially [Keep Reading…]
User Experience Coaching for Drupal.org
Yesterday the Drupal Association announced that I will be their user experience coach for the reinvention of Drupal.org. It is such an honor to have been awarded the opportunity to guide their extensive user research and product strategy initiative over the next several months. Many organizations would prefer to outsource to agencies to solve their [Keep Reading…]
My 10 Principles for Designing Experiences Applied to Designing Organizations
It’s hard to believe that it was way back in 2011 when I first began giving my presentation Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX. Three years later, I’ve given that talk at more than a dozen conferences around the globe, from Hong Kong to Bogotá to Tel Aviv and beyond. It has been a tremendous [Keep Reading…]
