Navigating Uncertainty

How I've Navigated Every Industry Shake-Up Since 2008

I graduated undergrad in 2008 and walked straight into advertising as a junior Art Director during the financial crisis. Those early years were defined by uncertainty, cutthroat competition, and 60+ hour weeks. The timing was formative to say the least; designers were being laid off in waves. The 2009 documentary Lemonade captured that exact moment, creative professionals forced to get creative with their own careers.

I didn't know it then, but I was learning how to apply transferable skills and change agility. Those two concepts became the backbone of my professional career.

One Approach, Multiple Roles


Over the years, I've been an art director, industrial designer, service designer, design researcher, design strategist, UX designer, people manager, operations lead, and entrepreneur. The job titles and deliverables changed, but my underlying approach didn’t: human-centered, collaborative, research-backed, systems-level problem solving has been at the core of my work. My mindset has always been to bend around opportunities, not break under change and uncertainty.

What Are Transferrable Skills?

Transferable skills aren't just buzzwords on a resume, they're the capabilities that translate across roles, industries, and contexts. Most designers focus on the wrong things when pivoting. They list tools (Figma, Sketch, Adobe Suite) or outputs (wireframes, prototypes, presentations). Those matter, but they're not transferable skills.

Real transferable skills are about how you think and work. For example:

• Stakeholder management isn't exclusive to UX, it's relevant whether you're managing clients, cross-functional teams, or executive buy-in. The ability to translate complex ideas for different audiences, build consensus, and navigate politics works everywhere.
• Systems thinking applies whether you're designing a service ecosystem, mapping operational workflows, or identifying business model gaps. The skill is seeing how parts connect to the whole and finding leverage points.
  
• Research and synthesis means you can enter any domain, ask the right questions, and distill insights that drive decisions. This works in product strategy, market analysis, organizational design, anywhere uncertainty needs structure.
  

The key is recognizing what you do beneath the surface-level outputs. That's what travels with you.

Change Agility in Practice

Change agility isn't about being flexible for flexibility's sake. It's about maintaining core competencies while adapting your application of them to new contexts. It's strategic, not reactive.

When I transitioned from art direction to service design, I wasn't learning a completely new skillset. I was applying visual thinking and user empathy to broader systems. When I moved into operations, I used the same process rigor I'd developed in design research, just applied to team workflows instead of user journeys.

Change agility means:

• Reading the room faster than most people. You spot where industries are heading before the shift is obvious. You see which skills are becoming commoditized and which are gaining value.
• Positioning yourself for adjacent opportunities. Instead of making dramatic leaps, you identify roles that overlap 60-70% with what you already do well. The 30% gap becomes your growth zone, not a chasm.
  
• Reframing your narrative quickly. You can tell your story differently depending on the opportunity. The same background positions you as a strategist, a researcher, or an operator, whichever serves the conversation.
  

It's not about saying yes to everything. It's about knowing which changes align with what you're building toward, and which are distractions.

Why These Two Skills Work Together

Transferable skills give you the raw material. Change agility tells you how to deploy it. One without the other leaves you stuck. If you understand your transferable skills but lack change agility, you'll know what you're capable of but won't see where to apply it next. You'll watch opportunities pass because they don't look like your last role. If you have change agility but haven't identified your transferable skills, you'll pivot constantly without building anything durable. You'll chase every trend and end up scattered.

Together, they create a career that's both resilient and directional. You can adapt to market shifts without losing your through-line. You build expertise that compounds across roles instead of starting over every time the industry changes.

That's how you survive shake-ups. That's how you build a career that lasts.

Leading Others Through the Same Transitions

As a people manager and operations lead, I've spent years coaching designers and researchers through career transitions, organizational changes, and market shifts.

I've managed teams during company pivots, helped individual contributors position themselves for strategic roles, and guided designers through the messy process of figuring out what they actually want to build toward. The common thread: most people know more than they think they do. They just need help seeing it clearly and articulating it strategically.

My approach to mentoring mirrors how I've managed teams: direct feedback, practical frameworks, and a focus on building capabilities rather than dependencies. I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm here to help you see your options more clearly and make better strategic decisions.

We’re Shifting Again


Design is going through another major transformation. AI, role consolidation, mass layoffs, economic pressure, it’s giving 2008 all over again. You may be asking yourself some version of these questions:


• How do I position myself when the market is contracting?

• Which of my skills truly transfer, and which no longer matter?

• Where are the opportunities that aren’t obvious yet?

  
• Am I making a strategic pivot or just reacting?
  

These are the right questions. And if you're asking them but unsure where to go…

Let's Work Together


If you’re looking to explore change agility and transferable skills to adapt in an ever-shifting world, we may be a good fit. As a mentor, my goal is to empower you to:


• Identify and articulate your transferable skills

• Make strategic career moves instead of reactive pivots

  
• Identify adjacent career opportunities
• Navigate uncertainty with clear-eyed pragmatism
  

If you're ready to explore your next move, book a session with me on MentorCruise.