I’m currently in Toronto, Canada where I’m surrounded by a bustlin’ city, diverse food options (yum) and the Toronto Raptors.
I was itching for something new in 2022. I had been mentoring so many aspiring UX designers and I saw how badly they all wanted to learn UX. I realized that all my mentoring and pep talks could only do so much. I wish I had the time to teach them UX.
Then one day, I saw that Memorisely was hiring online teachers. I had been following Zander for while on Instagram. I gave it a shot and here I am!
I’m out of bed around 5:15 AM. That’s because I start the day with a gym session. I had always been a morning person and working out in the morning has tremendously helped with my mood and energy levels. When those endorphins are running through my body after lifting heavy weights – I feel unstoppable. Lately I’ve been working on my barbell overhead presses and sumo deadlifts.
Once that’s all done, I do some morning reflection. I reflect on the Bible readings for the day and journal about what I’m grateful for and my hopes for the day.
I actually work at a different timezone. My team is located in Calgary but I live in Toronto so there’s a 2 hour time difference for me. I use this early time to go for a walk around my neighbourhood and listen to an audiobook.
By the time I get back from my walk, it’s time to log in and start. A big chunk of my day is spent at work. I stay connected with my coworkers through Slack, Google Meet, and the occasional Figma cursor wave. After work, I usually cook dinner with my Mum and catch up with my Dad and brother.
I love being part of the behind-the-scenes at Memorisely. The team is such a powerhouse and getting updates on our successes and upcoming milestones gets me excited.
An important chapter in my career was attending a UX Bootcamp. I’m a Bootcamp Baby and I always want to give back to the community somehow. I owe a lot of my UX growth to my bootcamp because it gave me the confidence I needed during my career transition.
When I finished my bootcamp, my instructor asked me to stay as a Teaching Assistant while I searched for my first UX job. I actually really enjoyed helping students and providing feedback to improve their projects. Unfortunately, I stopped teaching when I found a job.
But I always had an itch to teach. I would hold small workshops for communities interested in learning Figma. I’m excited to teach more often now that I’m at Memorisely!
My workspace is still in-progress. I’ll be moving soon so bare with the chaos. I got my monitor, keyboard, mouse, Macbook Pro, Sony headphones, and my iPad. My iPad has my digital planner!
I have to have Spotify, Notion, and my digital journal
Go for a walk!
I started going for lots of walks because of my personal trainer. He wants me to get 14k steps a day. I thought he was nuts. But then I started incorporating at least one 45 min walk a day and it helped me mentally, not just physically.
Famous figures like Henry David Thoreau and Abraham Lincoln were known to take long walks as a way to detach from work. It was said that during their walks, they would discover their most brilliant ideas.
Those guys are right. I started implementing walks as a way to get away from my desk. Usually I’m listening to an audiobook/podcast. But there have been instances where I wanna work out some of my thoughts. So I go on a walk in silence, feel restored, then I get an occasional eureka moment for a design problem.
I recently got laser surgery and my goodness it was the best thing I had ever done. I can’t believe I can see everything now!
Being outdoors helps with the health of your eyesight! Light is made up of many colors and the violet rays help with stabilizing your eyes. But make sure you wear some sunglasses to protect your self from the harmful UVA/UVB rays.
When people ask me this, I always start by asking “Would you rather have a small piece of a big pie or a big piece of a small pie?”
Personally, I want a big piece of a small pie and working at a startup is an opportunity where I get to see the whole business and influence a change across the board. Startups are fast and exciting and I love getting to see the impact of my work right away rather than waiting years for it to come into fruition.
I’m actually facing this right now since I’m starting at a new company. I’ve been getting some morning scaries when I think about what feedback or correction I might get. To get over this, I remind myself that no one knows everything.
We’re all just here to learn and improve ourselves. So when there are moments when I worry about not being good enough to be a designer, I remind myself that I am here to learn and it’s a chance to be a better designer.
I love trying new restaurants, especially when I can do it with my team. I’ve been lucky to find coworkers who are total foodies. Our team lunches or after work hangouts are times when I discover something new.
But when I’m on my own, I really treasure times when I get to try new recipes or read some books. I also like to draw portraits when I feel like being creative. Here’s a piece of my godson!
I listen to a lot of R&B, K-pop, Afropop, and Kanye. I think Kanye has been my top Spotify artist for at least 3 years now? It’s always a toss up between him and Beyonce. Here’s a playlist I typically play when I wanna get excited for work:
