27: Leadership Secrets No One Tells You—But I Will
Leadership isn’t about answers—it’s about better questions and brave humility. From Target to Venmo, I share lessons on visibility, boundaries, and leading with empathy in uncertain, complex spaces.
Messy Middle #25: The best journeys aren’t always the smoothest
Design’s middle management is messy. It’s not about avoiding failure—it’s about resilience, boundaries, and coaching. Reframe uncertainty to build trust, growth, and lasting team impact.
MM 24: The Future of UX is Here—And It’s Not What You Think
The future of UX isn’t in tweaks—it’s in reinvention. Explore the four pillars of inclusive design to serve global users, aging populations, and shifting tech norms. It’s time to build for everyone, not just some.
MM#23: Messy First, Polished Later: The Secret to Getting More Done
Perfectionism masquerades as excellence but kills productivity. It fuels burnout, delays progress, and leaves us stuck chasing diminishing returns instead of shipping meaningful work.
Beyond the Rating: How to Advocate, Realign, and Thrive During Review Season
Performance reviews can feel off when feedback clashes with self-view. Learn how to self-advocate, realign expectations, and turn review season into a springboard for clarity and growth.
How Great Design Leaders Win Stakeholders with Powerful Storytelling
Great design leaders don’t just build products—they tell stories that drive action. Storytelling aligns teams, wins buy-in, and turns vision into impact. The best designs don’t speak—they resonate.
Corporations Are Living Systems, Not Machines: Ditching the Machine Mentality for a More Human-Centered Future
For too long, businesses ran like machines—rigid and resistant to change. But thriving orgs act like ecosystems: adaptive, collaborative, and evolving. Learn how to shift from control to resilience.
Transforming Design into Business Strategy: A Practical Guide for Middle Managers and Senior ICs
The real fight for design influence is in middle management. To drive impact, tie design to KPIs, revenue, and efficiency—positioning it as a business driver, not just a service or usability layer.
Why I Ditched My To-Do List for a Done List (And Never Looked Back)
Ditching my to-do list for a done list changed everything. It’s a mindset shift that tracks real progress, not perfection—boosting clarity, confidence, and momentum in the messy middle.
Pruning for Growth: The Art and Discipline of Critique in a Remote World
Excellent critique is like pruning a bonsai—careful, intentional, and growth-focused. Learn how to give structured, inclusive feedback and build a thriving critique culture in remote design teams.
What High Performers Do Differently & How to Train Yourself to Become One
High performers aren’t just gifted—they train mind, habits, and energy. Backed by research, this piece explores patterns that drive success—and how you can build them to thrive in any field.
Balancing Speed and Safety: Building Trust in Expansion Mode
In high-growth orgs, psychological safety fuels innovation. Explore five ways to build trust—curiosity, guardrails, feedback, shared ownership & pauses—so teams take risks, learn, and drive real impact.
Building Bridges to Make an Impact as a New Leader
Starting a new design leadership role? Learn how to align design with business goals, foster collaboration, and empower teams to drive lasting impact. Build bridges that set the stage for success.
Designing AI for Equity: The New Imperative for Interaction Design
AI shapes the future—but often mirrors past bias. From hiring to pricing, it can deepen inequity. To build trust, we must design AI with fairness, transparency, and human oversight at its core.
Exploring New Frontiers: Equipping Design Teams with Tools, Tips, and Strategies for the AI Era
Design leader navigating AI-era challenges? Learn how to align with strategy, prevent headcount loss, and integrate AI—while proving design’s value and driving innovation with practical, lasting impact.
Redefining the Story – Embracing Your Multi-Dimensional Self
When my daughter said math was “a boy thing,” it sparked a reflection on identity. Women are often told to choose—career or motherhood, ambition or care. True fulfillment comes from embracing all of it.
Your Career Is a Recipe: The Design of Mastery, Balance, and Growth
Growing up in India, kitchens taught me resilience and creativity. Like cooking, design leadership blends vision, adaptability, and care to turn simple ingredients into lasting impact.
Designers: The Cost-Effective Consultants Hiding in Plain Sight
Parenting has been one of my greatest teachers in design leadership. It’s shown me how to navigate complexity, foster resilience, and balance empathy with structure. Much like guiding teams, parenting is about understanding context, building trust, and embracing imperfection as part of growth. These lessons continue to shape how I lead with purpose and design impactful solutions in an ever-changing world.
Parenthood as a Leadership Blueprint
Parenting taught me to lead through ambiguity with resilience and trust. In both parenting and leadership, progress comes from patience, connection, and embracing imperfection with compassion.
Unlocking Talent Excellence - Tips for Senior Managers to Hire the Best Talent
Learn how senior managers can hire with empathy and strategy—from defining roles to onboarding. Explore inclusive job posts, witty interviews, and offers that attract top talent and drive success.