This episode is sponsored by Mobbin, which is the largest design reference library for mobile and web, offering practical inspiration from real apps that address genuine design challenges. Don’t forget to mention Design Life when you register at Mobbin!

In this episode, Femke and Charli discuss the evolution of their side projects and reflect on what they’ve learned and how they would approach them differently if they were to start over. Femke and Charli share their personal side project journeys and discuss if side projects should be treated as passion projects or potential income sources. They also explore the value of different content formats, such as short-form versus long-form content, the effective leveraging of sponsorships and alternative revenue streams, and which platforms to use for posting. 

Episode timestamps:

0:54 Episode start

01:37 Mobbin Sponsorship

05:52 What was your first side project?

9:16 Should you approach your side project as a money-making venture from day one, or is it better to treat it as a personal passion project?

14:04 How Femke went from blogging to where she is at now.

15:27 Charli's side gigs

16:19 How does Charli approach sponsorships in her work?

19:00 What are some other methods for generating income aside from sponsorships?

20:44 With the knowledge we have now, what steps would we take first when starting our side projects?

22:34 Is short-form content truly valuable? Do audiences form attachments to short-form creators compared to those who produce long-form content? Femke and Charli share their perspectives on different formats

Links:

A huge shoutout to our sponsor for this episode, Mobbin! Make sure to check them out 

Femke's new community

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

This episode is sponsored by Playbook, which is a collaborative platform for creatives to store, organize, and share their work. It features AI-powered search and integrates seamlessly with design tools, making it a great space to manage all your files and projects. Join the "30 Days of 30 Projects" Challenge with Playbook to elevate your creative skills and unlock your full potential!

In this episode, Femke and Charli share their goals for 2025, including how Femke plans to approach her return to work and engage with her new community as well as Charli's business aspirations, plans for YouTube videos and content creation, writing projects, and ideas for future books.

Episode timestamps:

0:37 Episode start

1:35 Playbook sponsorship

4:04 What was the first goal you wrote down?

9:50 Femke’s new community

13:36 Other goals on the list

28:53 Hobby-related goals

Links:

Big thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Playbook! Be sure to check them out and see how they can elevate your workflow

Femke's new community

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

‍

This episode is sponsored by Playbook, which is a collaborative platform for creatives to store, organize, and share their work. It features AI-powered search and integrates seamlessly with design tools, making it a great space to manage all your files and projects. Join the "30 Days of 30 Projects" Challenge with Playbook to elevate your creative skills and unlock your full potential!

Femke and Charli engage in a conversation about the advantages of being a generalist versus a specialist, explore the various types of skill sets needed to future-proof your career, and discuss whether incorporating AI into your skill set is essential.

Timestamps: 

0:53 - Episode Begins

1:43 - Playbook Sponsorship

3:16 - Catching Up

5:12 - What are the current expectations for skill sets in the design market?

10:04 - As a designer, how do you feel about the trend of companies prioritizing shipping over pixel-perfect craftsmanship? Why do some companies address skill gaps by hiring specialists as freelancers?

19:38 - What's your stance on specializing versus being a generalist? What changes have you made in your approach recently?

20:43 - What constitutes reasonable expectations for a generalist? Is it about specific skills or broader responsibilities? What is a "V-shaped skill set"?

22:43 - How do you view the role of AI in future-proofing your career?

26:26 - Any advice on how to effectively broaden your skill set?

Big thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Playbook! Be sure to check them out and see how they can elevate your workflow

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

This episode is sponsored by Playbook, which is a collaborative platform for creatives to store, organize, and share their work. It features AI-powered search and integrates seamlessly with design tools, making it a great space to manage all your files and projects. Join the "30 Days of 30 Projects" Challenge with Playbook to elevate your creative skills and unlock your full potential!

In this episode, Femke and Charli discuss design maturity within organizations, the importance of establishing a strong design culture, practical advice for implementing changes, and personal experiences of integrating new design practices in the workplace.

Time stamps:

0:49 - Introduction

1:23 - Playbook Sponsorship

3:07 - Catch-Up

6:58 - How would you describe the design culture of the places you have worked at so far?

9:21 - What about experience with less mature design companies? How can I evaluate my company's design maturity?

16:15 - Is there a right time to establish design culture and maturity within an organization?

19:57 - Do you have any advice on implementing changes towards better design practices?

21:49 - Have you introduced any new practices or changes to workflows since joining your current workplace?

Episode Links: 

Big thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Playbook! Be sure to check them out and see how they can elevate your workflow

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

‍

This episode is sponsored by Playbook, which is a collaborative platform for creatives to store, organize, and share their work. It features AI-powered search and integrates seamlessly with design tools, making it a great space to manage all your files and projects. Join the "30 Days of 30 Projects" Challenge with Playbook to elevate your creative skills and unlock your full potential!

In this episode, Femke and Charli delve into the journey of transitioning from an individual contributor to a design manager, including distinct responsibilities and skills required for effective management in the creative industry. They talk about their training experiences, essential books, and learning opportunities that contribute to the development of successful management careers.

Timestamps:

0:34 - Intro

01:16 - Catch-Up

03:31 - Playbook sponsorship

04:52 - Training for Management Skills

06:38 - Charli's Current Management Training at Kit

08:24 - Femke’s Training Overview

16:15 - Book Recommendations

• The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julie Zhuo
• Radical Candor by Kim Scott
• The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier

19:23 - At what point of your career did you get the coach?

21:08 - How to balance the relationship between external coaching and internal management?

23:37 - Did you have a chance to coach others in management?

25:16 - Is there anything Charli would like to pursue in management training, specifically in design leadership?

Big thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Playbook! Be sure to check them out and see how they can elevate your workflow

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

This episode is sponsored by Playbook, which is a collaborative platform for creatives to store, organize, and share their work. It features AI-powered search and integrates seamlessly with design tools, making it a great space to manage all your files and projects. Join the "30 Days of 30 Projects" Challenge with Playbook to elevate your creative skills and unlock your full potential!

In this live Q&A session, Femke and Charli dive into key topics for designers, including staying relevant in the industry, navigating stakeholder misalignment, making career moves, and the challenges and rewards of building a design culture as a founding designer.

0:38 Episode start and catch up

04:39 Playbook sponsorship

06:43 Q1: How do you stay cool and relevant for 9 years in the design industry?

08:30 Q2: When stakeholders are misaligned in product leadership, should a designer check in with the project manager to ensure alignment at the team level? Should designers step beyond the technical scope of their role to address misalignment?

13:22 Q3: What does it feel like to be a founding designer and how can you create a design culture?

15:48 Q4: How do you start a new role after ending on a low note at a previous company?

18:04 Q5: What’s the difference between a visual designer and a UI designer?

22:20 Q6: What were your sources of inspiration for shaping the new creative direction for Kit?

24:04 Follow up on the founding designer question

25:17 Q7: How do you view the current job market? Is it important to base career moves on company name recognition, or should you prioritize skills and experience over past employers?

30:08 Q8: How can you make your growth plan more actionable and trackable, especially when discussing career progression with your manager?

33:40 Q9: What advice do you have for someone hiring and leading a design team for the first time?

38:38 Q10: What are the main lessons you’ve learned from doing the podcast and sharing your career journey? Has the podcast contributed to your design thinking and overall creative self-development?

Big thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Playbook! Be sure to check them out and see how they can elevate your workflow

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

‍

This episode is sponsored by Playbook, which is a collaborative platform for creatives to store, organize, and share their work. It features AI-powered search and integrates seamlessly with design tools, making it a great space to manage all your files and projects. Join the "30 Days of 30 Projects" Challenge with Playbook to elevate your creative skills and unlock your full potential!

Charli and Femke explore the challenges and best practices in cross-functional collaboration, including navigating role overlaps, planning for future initiatives, understanding how other teams work, leading effective meetings, and how cross-functional feedback fits into performance reviews.

Timestamps:

0:33 Episode introduction

1:20 Playbook sponsorship

3:36 Cross-functional collaboration: who are your daily collaborators, and what roles do they play in your projects?

5:37 Navigating overlapping responsibilities: how to understand roles across disciplines

7:34 Charlie’s planning for 2025

13:38 Successful cross-functional partnerships: key elements for building strong relationships

17:06 Building context on other teams: how to start understanding their roles and processes

20:33 Approaching cross-functional meetings

24:22 The role of cross-functional feedback in performance reviews: is it valued differently than feedback from your own discipline?

27:24 Homework for listeners

28:12 Special live event announcement

Links:

Big thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Playbook! Be sure to check them out and see how they can elevate your workflow

Sign up for Charli and Femke's live event on November 1st at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm CET 

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

Femke and Charli dive into the experience of rebranding ConvertKit into Kit. Charli shares a behind-the-scenes look at launch day and the rebranding process, including what didn’t make it into the final launch but is on the roadmap, as well as key lessons learned and what could have been done differently.

Timestamps: 

0:33 - Intro & Life Update

3:32 - How did it feel when the rebrand was finally complete?

5:26 - What was the public’s reaction? Walk us through the launch day—how did it unfold?

9:33 - Reflecting on the yoga retreat...

13:06 - How did the collaborating agency contribute to the launch? Or was it the Kit team handling the rollout?

18:57 - Can you share the process behind the rebrand and the driving initiative?

21:37 - What didn’t make it into this launch but is on the to-do list?

22:00 - Lessons learned—what would you have done differently throughout the process?

Show links: 

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

Femke shares her experience navigating the challenges of parental leave, including her decision to take extended time off supported by her employer and Canadian government benefits. She reflects on the challenges of staying connected with the design industry while on parental leave and the potential motivations for returning to work earlier than planned. Femke also discusses how her perspective on work-life balance has evolved over time as she adjusts to her new routine.

Timestamps:

01:42 - Life updates from Charli and Femke
05:16 - Deciding how much time to take off and Canadian parental leave benefits
08:06 - Would you consider returning to work earlier than planned?
09:34 - Employer reactions and typical leave duration at Femke's workplace
12:41 - How Femke arranged her 18-month long maternity leave and differences in parental leave across countries
15:56 - Reflections on being out of work for an extended period
18:27 - Adjusting to maternity leave and staying disconnected from work
20:18 - Staying updated on the design industry while on leave

Links:

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

Charli and Femke talk about Charli’s recent promotion and how she approached this process. They explore the importance of taking ownership of your professional growth, including how proactively seeking feedback and showing initiative can help advance your career.

They also cover important questions like when to bring up a promotion, what the promotion process entails, and how tools like a promotion matrix and self-evaluation can help you in that process. Femke shares her past experiences with promotions, addressing the challenges of unmet expectations and what happens when someone believes they deserve a promotion but receives feedback suggesting otherwise. The episode gives advice on how to ask for a promotion, especially when you’re unsure, and how to use feedback to guide your approach.

Timestamps: 

01:00 – Charli’s update

01:52 – Femke’s update

03:36 – Overview of Charli’s promotion

05:34 – Taking ownership of your promotion

07:40 – When to bring up a promotion

08:44 – The promotion process

16:05 – Do you have to meet every criteria?

18:16 – Femke’s promotion experiences

24:24 – What if someone expects a promotion but their performance feedback suggests otherwise?

26:30 – How to approach the conversation when you’re unsure about your chances for promotion

Show Links: 

Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers”

Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]