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…]
Recap: Designing Yourself – Season 2
For many of us, deeper understanding comes only in conversation with another. That is often the case with my friend Paul McAleer and me. After meeting at the 2013 IA Summit, we immediately realized that many of the same topics were on our minds and questions in our hearts. We started having some pretty spectacular [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…]
A New Perspective
Shifting your perspective isn’t only necessary to offer empathy to others, but it gives your own views much more depth. Here’s an excerpt from my February post for The Pastry Box, published today: On our first day of class, the teacher led us out of the building and brought us a few blocks away to [Keep Reading…]
