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Agnes Y.
Senior Product Designer
Agnes Y. is a talented designer with a wealth of experience in product design and visual interactive design. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Human Computer Interaction and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the School of Visual Arts. Agnes has worked at several well-known organizations including Fruitful, Level, Square, Vivint Smart Home, Nike, Braze, and Baronfig. Her expertise lies in creating innovative and user-friendly designs that resonate with customers.
Highlights
When I make significant life decisions, I tend not to overanalyze them. I go with my gut and do it. Once, I flipped a coin to decide whether I would move across the country to join Nike. The next month, I was in Beaverton, Oregon.
Four years ago, I had not considered working for a small startup. However, after I met a very small team of 15, I wanted to find out why these smart and talented individuals were at a risky new company rather than a well-established brand-name company.
When I decided to join, I thought I knew what I had signed up for: wearing multiple hats, moving fast, and dealing with a bit of unstructured chaos. However, on day one at Level, I realized it was much more than I originally anticipated.
Change can be constant. Being part of a startup means taking part in the creation and growth of a new company. Unlike established companies with proven processes and structures, we were in our infancy. We regularly had to change and adapt our processes and structures in search of consistency.
Working on the company's vision from the beginning, knowing that I could contribute directly to the success of the company, gave me immense satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. On the other hand, working on a variety of tasks, from products to investor decks, wasn't easy for me. Doing things I had never done before was also uncomfortable, and it's something I'm still working on.
I understand that this isn't for everyone. Working on something new, being flexible, and quickly adapting to workflow with different teams isn't always easy. However, these challenges often result in personal growth.
Overall, joining a startup was a worthwhile experience, both as a designer and as a human. I am grateful for the journey I have been through and for the people who joined me along the way. I truly appreciate the trust they placed in me, as I know that I wouldn't have been able to do all of this without them.
Maybe I was too brave, or maybe I didn't think enough before I made the decision. But I can confidently say that throughout this experience, I have learned and accomplished more than I expected of myself. So, perhaps stepping out of my comfort zone and taking a risk was something worth doing because I believe every choice we make leads to an opportunity to learn.
I hope this story can help people who are thinking about what they should do next, and I'll tell you: "Go flip a coin."
