Give yourself permission to practice UX every day Progress takes practice. You have to work at it every single day. Regardless of your circumstances, when you practice UX every day, you: Build empathy with your colleagues Better meet your customers’ needs Become more strategic in your approach Make more informed design decisions Resolve conflicts with [Keep Reading…]
Three Key Ingredients to Giving Yourself Permission
The thing about giving yourself permission is that it’s a process. You don’t just do it once and then live in freedom forever. You have to say Yes to yourself over, and over, and over again. Every day, I coach people through the process of giving themselves permission. They got tired of waiting for things [Keep Reading…]
Do You Give Yourself Permission?
Whether you’re my best friend or we’ve never even met, I know a secret about you: you’re capable of more than you realize. How can I be so sure? Because the 70+ people I’ve coached over the last 14 months have proven it to be true. Over and over and over again, I watch people [Keep Reading…]
Proud to be Whitney Hess, PCC
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…]
I Need Help
Originally published on the Pastry Box Project one year ago today on September 10, 2014 If you want something done right, do it yourself. That’s what we’re taught anyway. So we hone our self-reliance over a lifetime of hardship. We convince ourselves of others’ inadequacy and marvel in our own superiority. Everyone else is simply [Keep Reading…]
If Not Now
Originally published on the Pastry Box Project one year ago today on July 10, 2014 I turn 32 tomorrow so I’ve been thinking a lot about growing up. To the aspiring practitioners I coach and mentor every day, I’m a senior in the field. To the people who met me when I was just starting [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…]
