Making the complex simple, actionable, and (sometimes) humorous.
talks + writing on professional growth, design, and the on-going challenges of building a team or a business
Description of my interest in speaking
Starting a business & startups.
Communication in cross-functional teams and with clients.
Getting a product from 0 to 1.
Learning to borrow from physical design for digital design.
How different types of intelligences process space + information.
Having a Designer in your strategy team.
Creating a team or office process.
Leaning into your unique skills + way of working.
Sketching as a way of problem solving.
Building financial models as a visual diagram.
All about failure + learning from it.
Freegan street art four loko, wolf four dollar toast butcher shaman twee keytar pickled hot chicken ramps blue bottle iPhone edison bulb. Crucifix cred 8-bit bushwick taxidermy neutra master cleanse fashion axe. Cray green juice celiac, umami bicycle rights listicle pinterest narwhal. XOXO taiyaki selfies seitan tote bag, fingerstache hoodie prism. This gibberish will be replaced by something epic about why it matters for people to look at the big picture. Snackwave shaman pitchfork XOXO VHS keffiyeh schlitz celiac tofu woke craft beer tacos gentrify taxidermy direct trade. Squid cornhole neutra, migas thundercats echo park bitters adaptogen stumptown.
On stage energy - ask a few people about this.
About Michelle
Michelle, a spatial morphology specialist, boasts a diverse background in architecture, co-working, and startups. Her architectural portfolio spans university facilities, medical offices, retail spaces, museums, and more. Notably, she devised the innovation plan for Ponce City Market and co-founded HUB/NEX Atlanta. In experience design, she has collaborated on projects for AT&T, Cracker Barrel, and others, emphasizing customer journey integration.
She is currently writing a design theory about cognition and designing for a wider range of people. You can see bits and pieces of this on her Instagram along with photos of travel, books, gluten-free donuts, things around Atlanta, and Jim.
Talk Content
UX Hustle Conference 2021
How to Survive an Epic Failure
My clients are often surprised at my facility with business models and metrics. First, they want to know why I’m asking about margins and revenue goals, but after a few conversations, they might ask how I learned this. It’s fun to talk about my years creating programming for startups and working with them to create the initial pitch. I can laugh about staying up late googling things and working my way slowly through the creation of my first pro forma. I learned so many incredible and useful skills during that part of my life.
The other side of that experience was closing the business. And even though it took a fraction of the time, I think I learned just as much. I grappled with the change in my professional identity and intense feelings of failure. It was lonely and life-changing. There weren’t a lot of places where I could connect with people who had gone through it because it’s not usually the story you hear.
In 2021, Amanda Worthington and the UX Hustle Conference gave me an opportunity to present my thoughts on what failure is and what I learned from it. I am eternally grateful for it.
Make Learning a Part of your Process
ARTICLE
A quick read about creating a process for yourself, your team, or your organization that focuses on incremental improvement. Part of 97 Things Every UX Practitioner Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts edited by Dan Berlin and available from O’Reilly Media.
More Doing = More Learning
(VERY SHORT) BLOG
All the versions you create along the way really are moving toward something that matters. It’s just that sometimes the thing that matters i what you learned by doing them.
Bold Moves
PODCAST
Kristin Rocco asks her guests to think about what it means to be bold. This is a chat between Kristin and myself about leaning into who you are and letting go of needing approval.
What People have to say about the talks
Hi, Event Organizers
Sometimes the hardest thing about having creatives speak at your conference is getting them to submit their presentation materials on time. So I’ve collected the things I think you will need here in a few handy folders - headshots, bio’s of various lengths, and copy for each talk (Headline, description, and presentation slides where available). You’re helping me, so I want to be as helpful to you as possible.
Let me know if there is something to add to this collection.
Headshots
Speaker Bios
Social Media
Talk Materials