Join Mollie and Claire in their discussion with Christopher Nguyen, the founder of UX Playbook. From a computer science dropout to a business graduate, turned self-taught designer, and now a content creator. This episode covers Chris's career journey, including his experiences in toxic work environments, his decision to quit his job during the pandemic, the process of starting and growing UX Playbook, his approach to writing and content creation, and his future plans to evolve his business into coaching designers to build their own businesses. Key discussion points include recognizing signs of an unhealthy work culture, taking ownership of one's career path, the importance of self-reflection, the role of writing and content marketing, and Chris's vision for helping designers become entrepreneurs.

(1:11) - Guest Introduction

The hosts introduce their guest Chris, a product designer, founder of UX Playbook, and former head of design who has worked with companies like Google, Nike, and Coca-Cola. They discuss Chris's background and career journey.

(3:01) - Toxic Work Environments

Chris shares his experience of joining a company that turned out to be toxic, despite being warned beforehand. He describes the red flags, lack of innovation, and the 'good enough' culture that eventually led him to quit.

(12:31) - Taking a Break and Starting UX Playbook

After quitting his toxic job, Chris took some time off to experiment with different projects before accidentally stumbling upon the success of UX Playbook through writing online content.

(19:21) - Knowing When to Leave a Job

The discussion shifts to recognizing signs that it's time to leave a job, such as physical aversion to going to the office, draining interactions, and lack of excitement about the work.

(23:41) - Layoffs and Career Transitions

Chris offers advice for those feeling stuck in their current roles due to the fear of layoffs, emphasizing taking small steps towards exploring new opportunities.

(28:21) - Chris' new venture - The Job Sprint Program

Chris talks about his new program 'The Job Sprint', created to help people land their dream jobs through a tailored approach and active learning activities.

(33:11) - Future Business Evolution

Chris shares his vision for evolving his business beyond just serving designers, potentially helping them build their own businesses and potentially owning a stake in their ventures.

Be sure to check out Chris' latest venture - https://backlog.design/?ref=bounce

In this episode of Bounce, hosts Molly Cox and Claire Flowers dive deep into the incredible journey of Erika Flowers, a renowned author, designer, and technologist currently working at NASA. Erika shares her inspiring story of resilience and transformation, from her early days as a web designer in the 90s to becoming a digital service expert. She opens up about her personal journey as a late-in-life transgender woman and the challenges she faced along the way. Join us for an insightful conversation about identity, growth, and the power of being true to yourself.

(00:37) - Introduction

(01:31) - Erika Flowers Career Overview

(07:56) - Journey of Self-Discovery and the Transgender Experience

(17:20) - Masking and Authenticity

(19:00) - Implications of Coming Out at Work

(22:33) - Transitioning and Personal Relationships and Transition

(24:27) - Coping with External Perceptions

(28:24) - Navigating Professional and Personal Identity

(35:28) - Positive Outcomes Post-Transition

(37:13) - Intersection of Identity and Workplace Treatment

(40:21) - Passing and Workplace Misogyny

(41:49) - Importance of Creating a Support Environment for Transgender Individuals

(51:02) - Empathy and Visibility

(53:23) - Being a Good Ally

Description

This episode explores creative leadership techniques that drive outcomes as well as the pitfalls of survivorship bias in building a product. Kelsey Nichols discusses her unconventional path into product management and building a product way of thinking that focuses on failure patterns and how to adapt.

(0:05) - Introduction to the podcast and hosts

(0:57) - Welcome to Kelsey Nichols, CTO at Landing

(1:07) - Kelsey describes her career journey from PE teacher to engineer to product manager and back to engineering

(3:36) - Kelsey talks about her transition from engineering to product management

(8:14) - The benefits of having a diverse background in product development

(9:33) - The event that led Kelsey to focus more on the "why" of product development

(10:57) - Areas where product leaders might miss the mark according to Kelsey's experience on the engineering team

(13:19) - Challenges of integrating a new product team and common friction points

(14:36) - Building a product department from the ground up and how it's similar to building a product

(16:33) - Initial challenges and concerns about the success of the product department at Landing

(17:40) - Why looking at failures can be just as valuable as looking at successes (concept of survivorship bias)

(21:15) - The importance of embracing failure and creating a safe space for experimentation

(23:34) - Kelsey's experience as the longest-standing product leader at Landing (in jest)

(24:29) - The importance of creating a safe space for product development

(25:12) - The reality of failure and success rates in product development

(25:28) - Transitioning from Engineer to Product Leader

(28:34) - The Danger of Saying No in Product Management

(29:03) - Creative Strategies for Handling Feature Requests

(32:18) - Building Relationships with Stakeholders

(34:33) - The Importance of Business and Customer Focus

(36:09) - Problem-Solving as a Core Skill

(36:58) - The Value of Customer Research

(38:21) - Learning from Mistakes