2024 Recap & Looking into 2025 + a top secret share just for you
2024 has been such an unusual year for me here are a few highlights, what I'm cooking up for 2025, and I want to share something secret I'm working on with you.
Hey, wow we did it, we survived another year. TBH I hope you thrived instead of only surviving ❤️
2024 has been such an unusual year for me....
From high-vis to enablement
This year I transitioned from executing huge impact, top-level company strategic influence to more of an enablement role for dozens of areas across the business. It's actually been a super challenging adjustment for me as I'm used to "doing" 120%. Legit, I think, it took me more than 8 months to settle down enough to accept that I wasn't needed to do the work I just needed to oversee it.
Consumed by house reno
A massive, forced, double-extension house reno has consumed my life... and it's not over yet...
Lazy content creator
I've slacked off on creating content, but it's been SO gratifying. I absolutely live for the messages that say my advice has helped someone in some way.
An absolute huge thank you to all of you who have left comments, sent me messages and engaged with my content. It is really the thing that keeps me going ❤️❤️
This year as a content creator I...
🖥️ Designed & built my new design resource website (thanks for not making me code Webflow)
🤓 Taught myself Framer
🤝 Facilitated 8 workshops with over 30 people each
🫠 Used 7 new (absolutely nonsense) acronyms
✅ Had 390 downloads of my design resources
❤️ Broke 20k on tiktok and gained a bunch of followers all over the socials (I know you don’t care about the numbers lol) But go follow me on Medium so I can hit 14k, pretty please, I’m SO close 🙏)
🎙 Held a dozen tiktok live AMA: UX/Product Design sessions
🤖 Had ∞ conversations about GenAi
🤝🏻 Held 3 design huddles with folks from aspiring designers to heads of design
🎧 Had over 200k listens on my first UX podcast
🇵🇱 I gave my first external talk about how 1 story changed the future of Booking.com, in Poland, & spoke at the ICEM Summit in Amsterdam
I want to end this year on a super sweet message one of you sent me that I have since screenshotted and saved with all of the rest ❤️
"I just listened to your session with DesignOps on YouTube, and wow—it was so impactful! The part about showing the importance of UX to stakeholders really hit home for me because I’m currently in a company that doesn’t quite see the value of UX—or maybe they just don’t know it, as you mentioned.
Your talk has inspired me to try again, but this time with concrete evidence to back up my case. I’m also excited to explore the AI tools you mentioned. They seem like a great way to start making an impact on a budget while I work on getting stakeholders to buy in and positioning myself in the right rooms where decisions are made."
Just keep swimming 🐟 ❤️
I think 2025 is just as likely to be another odd year...
Layoffs are coming
My company has announced layoffs... so we'll see how that goes…
Ramp up content creation
It's so rewarding and hopefully, I can find more time since the reno is slowing down (a bit) plus I have had some ideas for a few bite-sized lessons and courses for a few YEARS now. Monthly podcast eps 😲
Want to see something more from me next year? More design reviews? More portfolios? How to have more impact? More Lives? Let me know in the comments!
Consultancy side hustle
I want to build up a consultancy side hustle and work on projects that excite me. If you’ve been following my Instagram stories you've already got a sneak peak of what I’ve been designing and building 👀. Soooo, it’s still totally WIP but I want to share it with you anyway. I’ll be slowly building it out in the new year as I nail down the content but I’m open to any and all feedback.