Designers who code are often described as unicorns. Mythical creatures, not of this world, capable of incredible feats. Natalya Shelburne is on a mission to change all of that. She says these so-called unicorns should be as commonplace as horses. Natalya knows a lot about sitting at the intersection of art and code, she’s the co-author of the Design Engineering Handbook, the senior manager of design infrastructure at GitHub and was previously senior software engineer at The New York Times. And in this episode, Natalya breaks down the misconceptions of the design engineer, gets to the root of making designer/developer collaboration work (hint: it’s about people), shares the value of design systems for better business outcomes and offers advice on carving out a career on the multidisciplinary path.

The pandemic was a time of peaks and troughs for Printful, the custom printing company Davis Siksnans helped launch in 2013. His organization experienced explosive growth in both revenue and headcount during the pandemic, expanding from 500 employees in 2019 to 1,600 in 2020. But he was also forced to reckon with how his global workforce and supply chain was impacted by COVID-19 and make adjustments to help the company navigate on the fly. In this episode, we talk to Davis about running an eCommerce business during a global crisis, how Printful is making eCommerce more sustainable and the most important leadership lessons he’s learned after nearly a decade in business. 

Trevor Hubbard has spent the last decade thinking about what leads to failure. His process around identifying weak points is core to his work at Butchershop, the agency he founded in 2009. In fact, during one retreat a couple years ago, Trevor and the executive team listed out potential conditions that could lead to Butchershop’s demise. Among them? A global disaster that prevents them from leaving San Francisco or going to the office. We talk to Trevor about how moving to a distributed workforce opened the door to new business perspectives for Butchershop, the non-profit his team launched seemingly overnight at the start of COVID-19, his system for minimizing meetings, and how his process has helped many massive companies swim, rather than sink.

For the last 15 years, Shanna Tellerman has been figuring out how virtual reality and 3D modeling can make our lives better. The founder of the interior design startup Modsy knew that both of these technologies had the potential to change how we interact with the world and buy products—but not in the way people might think. We talk to Shanna about her biggest revelation when it comes to VR, the importance of data and AI for attracting and retaining customers, and how Modsy has tapped into consumer desires and thrived during lockdown.

Like so many entrepreneurs, developer Ire Aderinokun started her business because she was frustrated with something—namely the Nigerian financial system. It was operating on technology and bureaucracy that seemed stuck in the past and unsuited for global consumers. Which is why Ire started Buycoins, a crypto trading platform for Africa allowing people to seamlessly buy and sell cryptocurrency. We talk to Ire about her background as a front-end web developer and user interface designer, her work advocating for women’s equality in Nigeria as a founding member of the Feminist Coalition, and how cryptocurrencies can shape our future for the better.

Joy Cho has gone from a freelance designer sharing her inspiration to building one of the most influential brands on the planet — and she has the 15 million Pinterest followers to prove it. The founder and creative director of the lifestyle brand Oh Joy! has partnered with everyone from Target to Microsoft to Keds to create products that reflect her singular aesthetic. But Oh Joy! is in a constant state of evolution, and Joy herself is always looking for new opportunities to create and collaborate. We talk to Joy about her strategies for developing a successful creative business, finding a social media platform that works for you, and knowing the right time to end a business venture and move onto something new.

This is the third episode of Now What? A new podcast series from Wix, hosted by Rob Goodman, about how technology is changing… everything. Subscribe and follow the show for new episodes. Get show notes, subscribe to our newsletter, and learn more at www.wix.com/nowwhat.

If you’ve bought from a buzzy direct-to-consumer brand in the last decade, there’s a good chance its brand was crafted by Red Antler. The Brooklyn-based agency founded by Emily Heyward, JB Osborne, and Simon Endres is the creative brain behind brands like Casper, Allbirds, and Hinge, and has defined an unmistakable millennial style through its work. But creating a breakthrough brand doesn’t stop at a snappy tagline or a perfect logo, it’s about understanding your customers at a foundational level and gaining their trust in the process. We talk to Emily about how branding has evolved since she launched Red Antler, her new book Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love from Day One, what changes the studio has gone through since COVID-19, and how working with businesses you believe in is vital to success.

This is the second episode of Now What? A new podcast series from Wix, hosted by Rob Goodman, about how technology is changing… everything. Subscribe and follow the show for new episodes. Get show notes, subscribe to our newsletter, and learn more at www.wix.com/nowwhat.

Aarron Walter wanted to change the world through art, but soon found himself changing lives with screen design. He made his name founding Mailchimp’s legendary UX practice before moving on to head up design education at InVision. Now he’s facing his biggest challenge yet: using design to fight COVID-19 at Resolve to Save Lives. We talk to Aarron about designing for emotion, how he’s bringing his design practice to HealthTech, and what he’s learned while trying to help billions of people navigate a pandemic through better design.

This is the debut episode of Now What? A new podcast series from Wix, hosted by Rob Goodman, about how technology is changing… everything. Subscribe and follow the show for new episodes. Get show notes, subscribe to our newsletter, and learn more at www.wix.com/nowwhat.

What if you could tune in to a frequency broadcasting from the future? A place to uncover stories from the brightest leaders in business, design, development, and eCommerce, sharing the insights you’ll need to grapple with tomorrow. This is Now What? A new podcast series from Wix, hosted by Rob Goodman, about how technology is changing… everything. Listen to a special preview of the series now. Subscribe and follow the show, and join us for new episodes starting May 11th. Learn more at www.wix.com/nowwhat.