Setbacks

I’ve been let go three times since becoming a product designer, and it was the third time hurt the most.

Being offered the position gave me hope and validation. The team seemed super capable, the product was a dominant player in the space, and it was billed as an opportunity to leverage the all the skills I honed since becoming a product designer. Yet candidly I wasn’t starting from a position of strength; after being laid off at Cockroach, a few contracts had tied me over for 2024 but FTE was elusive.

Several months into this role, it became apparent the team needed a graphic, brand, and marketing design skillset beyond what I could offer. The company believed that I had the aptitude, but closing this gap would take more support than they believed they could put in. I was let go in short order.

Receiving the news was numbing. I was a boxer laying stunned and lifeless in the ring after taking an uppercut. Not even my usually loud and snarky inner critic knew how to react.

Coming to, that numbness became fear and sadness. Fear as this time felt like the death knell for my short career as a designer. Sadness because this time snuffed out a hope for a career turnaround that had just been reignited.

In the days and months that followed, I had a lot of time to reflect on what I went through. If there is a silver lining, it’s that growing as a designer for me is leaning into the skills that matter in designing experiences for B2B, enterprise, and developer tooling.

It might be a second death knell to announce publicly that my skills in graphic, brand, and marketing design, today, are at best mediocre. And that is ok. Considering this was my first go at this kind of design, the good news is that it can only get better from here.

And maybe most importantly, I’m learning that it’s okay to be candid about this outlier in my career timeline. Shit will happen, but what matters is how you respond.