I first started designing websites when I was in middle school and high school with fun WYSIWYG tools like Homestead, Geocities, and Dreamweaver. I would also take on graphic design projects like a poster and logo for my brothers band, or for a family friend's business. I didn't realize there would be a career in it, but when I got to school at Carnegie Mellon a lot of doors opened in terms of both understanding how design is more than just how things look, but how things work, and also in understanding the types of challenges companies needed help with. I'm super thankful for my time there as it allowed me to learn from so many people and practice projects in interdisciplinary teams.

The journey has been wild. To be perfectly honest, I really never thought I'd be managing / leading teams! I'd always really enjoyed just making things and particularly the prototyping part of the design process. In fact, I'd even considered an IC role at Figma before considering the management role! I think roles are really contextual to the company, to where you're at, and what resources you'll have available to you to learn the most from. Careers aren't always linear either — you can move between different types of roles depending on those aforementioned variables. Figma just so happened to offer an amazing opportunity for me to grow as a manager from some really seasoned coaches and mentors, and the team has been a blessing to work with.