Request session
Available times (30 mins)
πAbout me
I'm a product design leader with nearly 15 years of practice with in-house Design teams and consultancies. I've managed and mentored individuals at varying experience level throughout my career. I'm excited to speak with you, share experiences, and help you take the next step in your career! If youβre unable to find a time to meet with me, check out my blog for potentially relevant advice: https://cattsmall.com/blog
Product Design
Skilled in
βοΈWhy I mentor
I'd like to see more people who look like me succeed in this industry long-term. Too many folks burn out early in their careers. My hope is that I can be part of a support network, especially for people of color (femmes of color in particular) in tech.
Talk to me about
π Launching products and measuring success
π― Setting team goals and metrics
π Product vision and strategy
π Working in cross functional teams
π° Negotiating a promotion/offer
π¬ Useful user research
π°οΈ Working remotely for the first time
π» Running effective meetings
π©βπ Being a woman in tech
π« Managing up, down and around
π£ Becoming a people manager
πΊοΈ The technical or people track?
π¬ Giving and receiving feedback
π Being the only designer
π½ Presenting your work
ποΈ Building a design process
π§ UX and UI design
π©π½βπ» Launching side projects
π« Breaking into tech
π Dealing with imposter syndrome
π° Managing burnout
π Mock interviewing
π Resume and portfolio review
π Preparing for the next level
π Getting the most out of my internship
Recommendations
Hereβs what Merit users have said about Catt
Catt was amazing. She provided me with concrete examples of how she solves problems and recommended me some great programs to attend. I have no doubt that she would be a great leader one day.
Catt is an excellent and experienced designer. In thirty minutes I learned so much about what I could do to improve my portfolio and she also helped to point me in the right direction in regards to finding the roles that I want to target. I am thankful that I contacted her to talk and would gladly recommend her to anyone who is looking for advice in this field.
I was incredibly lucky to have booked a session with Catt. She was really down to earth and open about her experiences at some of the coolest companies in the world. There are very few designers of her caliber or with her unique perspectives. I felt actively listened to and she provided actionable ideas as well as empathy for the tough challenges that designers face in immature design orgs. I hope she becomes a design coach as her mentorship would be an asset for many folks following in her footsteps.
βοΈ Recent Answers
How to grow as a product designer?
Hey Francis! I'd love to discuss this more live to understand the specifics, but my hunch is that you'd majorly benefit from getting internal feedback. If you haven't already, can you request feedback from your team? I've found a lot of success from these two questions:
- What are 1β3 things I've done well in the past 3 months?
- What are 1β3 areas of opportunity you'd recommend I focus on in the next 3 months?
If you want more specific feedback, I'd recommend you think on the role you'd like to eventually have. That will help you ask for more helpful feedback. It sounds like you want to be more strategic, so can you get feedback from your team about where you're at now? Does your company have a career ladder, and can you use that to assess yourself?
