Design Conversations: Stories of Bold Career Shifts | ADPList London 🇬🇧
About the Event
We will explore the inspiring and unconventional career journeys of designers who have taken bold leaps of faith, embracing the unknown to forge their own unique paths. Our panelists will share their personal stories of navigating non-linear transitions, overcoming challenges, and finding success in unexpected ways. This panel is designed to spark new perspectives and encourage attendees to reflect on their own journeys. Join us for a candid discussion on the courage, creativity, and resilience required to take risks, break away from the traditional path, and design a career that truly aligns with who you are. Whether you're considering a career shift or just looking for inspiration, this event will offer insights and motivation to embrace the uncertainty and take control of your future.
🍕 Refreshments are on the house thanks to our generous sponsor, Pendo. This event is completely FREE!
🤝 Agenda
6:00 PM: Doors Open - Community Pre-Networking
6:30 PM: Event Introduction by City Host
6:40 PM: Panel Discussion
7:20 PM: Q&A
7:30 PM: Community Networking
Panelists
Denise Baggio, UX/UI Designer @ Boxooo
Originally from Italy, Denise moved to London in 2016 to become a veterinary nurse, graduating with a BSc in 2019. After working in the field and transitioning to a training role in one of the UK’s biggest animal charities, she discovered a passion for UX design and quickly began studying the subject against the backdrop of the pandemic.
In 2022 she completed a UX bootcamp, balancing careers while gradually moving into design. By mid-2023, she transitioned fully into a Product/UX Designer role at Boxooo International, where she collaborates with a global team to design a mobile app for an international food and lifestyle venue set to open in 2025 in Saudi Arabia.
She loves how UX design blends creativity and analytical thinking, allowing her to conduct research, test ideas, and create products that meet business needs while delivering excellent user experiences.
Jason Mesut, Coach | Consultant | Connector @ Resonant
Jason Mesut helps people and their organisations pursue positive futures. Navigating the uncertainty of their present.
Jason’s squiggly career had him swim against the tides of many contexts. Private school scholarship; Industrial Design Engineering; early Web Design, Management Consultancy; User Experience Design; Service Design; Product Strategy; and team leadership.
He now helps people and organisations through his Creative Coaching, Strategic Consulting, and Community Connection practices. Working with Group of Humans, IxDA, Coaching with Chemistry and his own Resonant Futures business.
He is currently most ‘Internet famous’ for his Shaping Design work, which provides a more accessible toolkit for people (usually designers) to understand their own unique value and differences, so they can plot a path that is uniquely there’s.
Lena Makarov, Digital Product Designer @ Nationwide Building Society
Born and raised in Ukraine, Lena has successfully navigated a diverse career path transitioning from an interpreter and international relations manager into tech and finding her passion in product design. Her journey has been challenging - changing industries, roles, and countries - but exciting and rewarding. She’s not afraid to start fresh, proving that impossible is nothing to herself and other aspiring designers. Alongside her design work, she enjoys sketching @discoveringmyinnerartist and supporting animal charities.
Zita Orbán, Designer @ Lateral &co
Zita made the jump from Computer Science to Design over a decade ago, driven by a passion for making technology more human. Helping many mentees from different careers move into design roles gave her a keen understanding of the kinds of hurdles people face when trying to break into the industry. To raise awareness and highlight the rich contribution of career changers in the field of design, Zita runs Lateral Stories (http://lateralstories.com) interviewing people who successfully made the jump from previous careers, sharing the skills they transferred, the challenges they faced and the things they learned along the way.
ADPList London
This event is planned and hosted by ADPList Ambassadors representing the London Chapter:
⭐ City Host Angelina Severino
📣 Speaker Lead: Jaspreet Thakrar
🏠 Venue Lead: Mark Opland
🍕Nourishment Lead: Ana Gimeno Munoz
🎨 Creative Lead: Shraddha Andani
Follow ADPList London LinkedIn Chapter Page here for future events updates!
Interested in sponsoring a future event like this one? Email us at community@adplist.org.
Our sponsors
This event would not be possible without support from our event partner, Pendo. With its combination of product analytics, in-app guidance, and product planning and feedback tools, Pendo helps product teams automate user onboarding, education and support, launch new products and features, measure user sentiment, and accelerate software usage and adoption, all without requiring engineering resources.
Mind the Product is the world’s most engaged product community, providing articles, meetups, training, and events that support the careers of 300,000+ product people globally.
Pendo and Mind the Product have generously extended a promo code for ADPList members to get £150 off if they want to attend mtpcon London! You can register here and use the code "ADPList150" to get your discount.
About ADPList
ADPList is a global community of mentors and learners, a community that was founded in 2021 with a mission to democratize mentorship for all. It has since grown to 30,000+ mentors who have mentored more than 100 million minutes in 141 countries across the globe. Our community gatherings are a great opportunity to meet new ADPeople, build community, talk shop, and get inspired.
👉 If you are an ADPList Mentor, we invite you to join our exclusive Mentor Slack Community! Email community@adplist.org for assistance.
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