Hiring

Why I’m Not Chasing Viral Content (And Building Something Better)

Last week, I caught myself scrolling through another "how I grew my newsletter to 10K subscribers" post while my coffee went cold. The enthusiasm was infectious, the screenshots impressive, the growth curve exponential. But something felt hollow watching someone else's metrics while I sat with my own blank newsletter draft, wondering if anyone would care about my thoughts on design hiring. The breakthrough came when I stopped asking "how do I get more people to read this?" and started asking "what do the right people actually need to …

Continue Reading about Why I’m Not Chasing Viral Content (And Building Something Better) →

When Everything Falls Apart, Keep Moving

The fifteenth rejection email showed up while I was eating cereal straight from the box at 2 PM. Three months into my switch from design to recruiting, and I'd basically become a professional disappointment collector. I remember staring at that email for way too long. Not because it said anything particularly brutal—just the usual "we've decided to go with someone else" fluff. But something shifted in me that day. Maybe I was too tired to care anymore, or maybe I'd finally hit that weird place where rock bottom starts feeling solid under …

Continue Reading about When Everything Falls Apart, Keep Moving →

The Day I Learned Other People’s Moods Aren’t My Report Card

The email hit my inbox at 2:47 PM while I was sitting in that overpriced coffee shop on Brigade Road, nursing my third espresso and pretending I had my life together. Two lines that felt like a punch to the gut: "We're terminating the project effective immediately. Invoice for work completed." No explanation. No phone call. Three months of design recruitment work vaporized in thirty-two words. I closed my laptop and stared at the barista making someone's elaborate matcha creation, watching normal people live their normal Tuesday while my …

Continue Reading about The Day I Learned Other People’s Moods Aren’t My Report Card →

Why Design Hiring Is Still Broken

I began as a designer. I know the obsessive joy of nudging pixels until they line up, rewriting copy until it breathes, shipping flows that most people never notice but quietly depend on. Years later, I moved into recruitment—a path that didn’t exist when I started. Suddenly I was on the other side of the table, helping leaders decide whose work even deserved a conversation. Today, after a decade in this seat, I’ve built an unusual record: one out of every three designers I put forward gets hired. That success didn’t come from shortcuts or a …

Continue Reading about Why Design Hiring Is Still Broken →

What They Don’t Tell You About Being the First Designer

When Bramble—a tiny, pre-seed climate fintech startup—hired Mira, there was no “design org.” No onboarding. No system. No existing anything. There was just Mira. One designer. One product with more bugs than logic. One request from the founder:“Can you make it feel like we know what we’re doing?” She was given a Figma login, a Notion doc filled with contradictions, and a terrifying amount of freedom. And it was electric. In those early months, Mira moved fast. Not the “move fast and break things” kind—this was quieter, more …

Continue Reading about What They Don’t Tell You About Being the First Designer →

Why No One Wants to Lead Your Design Team—And Why That’s Not Entirely Your Fault

A founder recently told me their "dream hire" for a Head of Design had slipped away. They had found the perfect candidate. Seasoned. Visionary. A leader who could transform their product and brand. They threw in a great salary, equity, and all the right perks. The candidate nodded, asked thoughtful questions, seemed engaged. And then? They disappeared. Not a rejection. Just silence. It wasn’t an isolated incident. I’ve heard this from multiple founders, and from design leaders on the other side who say they’re tired—tired of fighting for …

Continue Reading about Why No One Wants to Lead Your Design Team—And Why That’s Not Entirely Your Fault →

The Great Illusion of “Rational” Decisions

Most people like to think their decisions are driven by logic and reason. We convince ourselves that we carefully consider all options, weigh the pros and cons, and make choices based on facts. In reality? Most of those decisions—especially the important ones—are led by something much less objective: our opinions. These aren't the well-thought-out opinions that come from experience or reflection. They’re the gut-level opinions, shaped by past experiences, biases, emotions, and, sometimes, our egos. These opinions look a lot like rational …

Continue Reading about The Great Illusion of “Rational” Decisions →

How I Lost a Great Designer Over $2,000

I still remember the email. Short. To the point. "Hey, I really wanted to work with you, but I’ve decided to take another offer. They matched my expectation." Just like that, a designer I’d been wooing for weeks slipped away. Over $2,000. The Setup It was a perfect match. The designer was exactly what my client needed—sharp thinker, strong portfolio, great cultural fit. The company was equally great—a fantastic team, a product that excited the designer, and solid long-term career growth. The offer was fair. Good, even. But the …

Continue Reading about How I Lost a Great Designer Over $2,000 →

Additional menu

Hiring