Burnout hits designers hard, but why it happens depends heavily on where you work. Freelancers and in-house designers experience creativity, pressure, and exhaustion in totally different ways — and understanding the differences helps us protect our energy, our craft, and our careers. Freelance Designers: Freelancers carry everything on their shoulders: design, marketing, client communication, billing, deadlines, revisions, and boundaries. The freedom is amazing, but the cost can be high. Irregular income creates pressure to say yes to everything. Clients bring unclear briefs, sudden direction changes, and scope creep. And since freelancers often work alone, there’s little feedback or collaboration to recharge inspiration. Burnout shows up as exhaustion, self-doubt, and feeling “on call” 24/7. Autonomy is high — but so is ambiguity. In-House Designers: Company designers have the opposite problem. Work is structured, deadlines are defined, and teams provide stability. But the pace and expectations can drain creative energy fast. Cross-functional pressure, shifting priorities, and the need to support product timelines often lead to overload. Creative direction is shaped by stakeholders, not always designers. Even though there’s more support, meetings, rigid processes, and limited autonomy can make designers feel boxed in. Burnout emerges from repetition, decision fatigue, and not having enough control over the work they’re responsible for. The Core Difference: Freelancers often burn out from too much freedom without structure, while in-house designers burn out from too much structure without freedom. One fights isolation and unpredictability. The other navigates politics and pressure. Burnout isn’t a personal failure — it’s a signal. And when we understand the environment we’re designing in, we can build better habits, boundaries, and systems that support our creativity instead of draining it. I have attached a checklist for you to review.

There's been a lot of discussion on our Community Calls over the past few months about Vibecoding / AI development, and a frequent question or request is for sharing of resources around: 1. Getting started 2. Best practice guidelines Let's use this to share any learnings, useful guidelines or tips about specific tools / agents to use.

Whether you’re a seasoned design leader steering complex digital ecosystems, or an aspiring design executive preparing to step into your first leadership role — you belong here. This isn’t just another design community.This is a home for visionaries, changemakers, and product pioneers who believe that design leadership is more than just pixels and prototypes — it’s about creating a vision, aligning teams, and driving innovation at scale. What you can expect here: ☕️ Weekly Coffee Hours — casual virtual meetups where we discuss real-world challenges, share leadership lessons, and unpack the evolving role of design leadership in the age of AI, remote work, and digital transformation. 📚 Free & Premium Content — from exclusive playbooks and case studies to deep-dive workshops on stakeholder alignment, design strategy, and leading high-performing teams. 🎯 Expert Insights & Peer Coaching — learn not just from me, but from your fellow design leaders across industries, all navigating the same challenges and opportunities. 💬 Open Conversations — this is a safe space to ask hard questions, get unfiltered feedback, and sharpen your leadership craft. New members, please introduce yourself and share a pic of your workspace or your team in the comments!