

I've done it three times, from founding designer at a 2-person startup to leading 30 designers in fintech. I care about the stuff that makes a team actually function: clear roles, good rituals, honest feedback loops, and a culture where people grow. I trust my ICs to own the work. My job is to make sure they have what they need to do it well.
Design systems, intake processes, org structures, measurement frameworks. I like the behind-the-scenes work that makes everything else move faster. I'm the person who reorganizes the Figma files, rethinks the crit format, and builds the tracker nobody asked for but everyone ends up using.
I run workshops, build toolkits, and help teams figure out what AI-native design actually looks like day to day. Not theory. Real workflows, real tools, real output. I think the teams that experiment together learn faster, and I'd rather put something scrappy in front of people than wait for it to be perfect.
I make it a point to design something every day. Staying close to the work makes me a better leader. It keeps my feedback sharper, my instincts current, and my conversations with ICs grounded in the actual craft, not just the strategy around it.