While working at Apple as a corporate training facilitator and then as a learning experience designer, it was important to me to observe how people worked and to ask questions about their workflow before creating the training that introduced them to a new product or process. As an undergraduate psychology major, my classes and jobs were research-focused, so this social scientist lens was organic to me.

Being at Apple also inspired me to create things that looked beautiful and worked beautifully as well. So, I took a risk and set out to pursue creative work. I studied graphic design, art history, painting and drawing at Austin Community College, and did coursework towards a Master’s degree in interior design at the University of Texas (Austin).

On a hunch, I registered for a UX course and on the first day, my instructor showed us Dan Saffer’s Venn diagram of all the various disciplines that overlap with UX design. I saw an amalgamation of many of my creative explorations and the dots started connecting.

I found my tribe.