Hustle

Ten years ago, Funsize launched the Hustle Podcast. Since then, we have had nearly one hundred conversations with exciting people in the design industry.

Today, we're excited to announce and discuss the next generation of the Funsize podcasting, The Funsize Show!

This podcast, now rebranded as The Funsize Show, is a variety show with many exciting segments hosted by many brilliant people at Funsize. The content will span the gamut of design leadership to design expertise, conversations with our clients about our relationship and our work, taking risks and trying new things, fun and inspiring conversations with our team,  and more.

We're about to launch a new website for the show and will be making that announcement on our social media and on future podcast episodes. Please stay tuned. We think you'll like it.

Check out more exciting episodes on the Funsize Show Website.

Web: www.funsize.co. |  Instagram: @funsizeco  |  X: @funsize 

Juliana Vislova is the VP of Design at Mercury, an all-in-one banking platform for startups. A former linguistics major, Juliana is career switcher who spent time as an art director for a digital marketing agency before her design career. After moving to the U.S., she stumbled upon product design and immediately loved its intersection of pscyhology, art, storytelling and problem-solving. Her design path has taken her from the founding designer at Mercury to now leading a team of 20. 

In this episode we cover: 

• Career Switching
• Burnout
• Personal agency in work
• Giving up control and trusting others
• Meetings as work
• And more!

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During our party for SXSW 2022, we interviewed designers and tech workers to understand how their careers were affected by the pandemic and what it means for their futures. We'd like to extend a huge thanks to Johnny Abowd, Carlos Menchaca, Dina Williams, Ali Metall, AC Cowart, Steven Parvaresh, Rick Messer, Isabelle Encela, Steven Ray and Katy Beightol for sharing their perspectives on this unique episode. 

In this episode we cover:

• How people's work was affected by the pandemic
• The differences in team dynamics created over the last two years
• Where designers see their careers headed next
• And more!

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Brian Peterson is a a multidisciplinary creator supporting, connecting, and empowering organizations through strategic design. Brian’s background is in fine arts with a brief stint in animation/illustration. His path to design has taken him through freelance visual design, to a founding team startup, to the design studio at Funsize. Currently, he leads design teams at Affirm, where he works to bring honest financial products to the world.

Brian is a strong believer in collaboration and he sees design as a vehicle for connecting people and transforming organizations. When not thinking about design management, operations, methodologies, etc., Brian likes to build worlds through drawing.

In this episode we cover:

• Design management
• Individual contributors
• Growth
• Management
• Design operations
• Leveling up
• And more!

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Kevin Hawkins is the director of product design at BookClub—an online platform that brings authors and readers together. He is also an award-winning, multi-disciplinary design leader and educator with over 12 years of experience building communities and launching products.

Kevin is a self-taught front-end developer and started his career doing freelance web design for local businesses and science NGOs in his home town: Washington D.C. He transitioned to his first full-time job in UX at 16. Since then, he's been a UX leader for Booking.com, PwC, EY, Gap Inc., and more. 

Kevin now resides in Amsterdam where he teaches UX and directs the production and launch of innovative products. In his spare time, he likes to travel, learn new perspectives, and desires to be challenged while doing good work. 

In this episode we cover:

• Outcome vs. intent
• Workaholism 
• Cultural inspiration
• 20% time
• Sofas  & interior design
• Hygge
• And more!

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Michael Holzer is the director of UX at Google Payments and has been at Google for over eight years. He is a passionate, entrepreneurial design leader currently focused on building and operating large-scale creative teams working on new mediums and technologies.

Michael grew up in Silicon Valley and started his career studying mechanical engineering and industrial design by prototyping bicycle helmets for Bell Sports. After dropping out, he pivoted to designing irrigation systems for a landscape architecture firm and soon found himself exploring and learning more about web design while working on the company's first website.

When not "working" in the traditional sense, Michael is passionate about biking and building his athletic cred.

In this episode we cover:

• Technology & security
• POS systems
• Government incentives
• Society at large
• Building teams
• Autonomous teams
• And more!

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Alli Metall is a husband, father, and designer living in Reykjavík, Iceland. He was born in Húsavík, Iceland--a small town on the northern coast (also famed as the setting of Netflix's Eurovision Song Contest). He began his career playing guitar in death metal and jazz bands and soon combined his interests in music and computer games to a career in design. After a brief agency stint as an intern in New York City, he returned home to work at a game company, a fin-tech startup, and an airline. Nowadays, Alli is the owner, founder, and creator of his own studio: Metall.

Alli shares his fears (running out of $$$) and dreams (surfing in Hawaii before turning 80) and what he's seen as the silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this episode we cover:

• Job  switching
• Agency formation
• Ego vs. teamwork
• The pandemic & the future of work
• Designing for screens
• What we're looking forward to
• And more!

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Aaron “Ron” Irizarry, is the Sr. Director, Servicing Platforms Design at Capital One. He loves all things user experience, problem-solving, and design process. Having worked for Fox/IGN, HP, Nasdaq, and now Capital One, Aaron loves sinking his teeth into complex problems. In addition to his day job, Aaron speaks at events and provides training for companies on design team structure, communication, and collaboration. He is also the co-author of Discussing Design.

Most importantly, Aaron is a master of the BBQ arts, a lover and player of heavy metal music, and a lifelong Dodgers fan.

In this episode we cover:

• Design systems
• The critiquing process
• Collaboration between levels
• Facilitation techniques and frameworks
• Establishing ground rules
• Identifying emotional responses
• Feedback vs. critique

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In this first episode with Tony Sanchez as an official co-host, we were honored to be joined by a design legend. 

Toke Nygaard is the Chief Creative Officer at Zendesk. With more than 20 years of experience designing digital experiences, Toke Nygaard oversees Zendesk’s brand and product UX/UI. In this role, he is constantly developing and building the Zendesk brand with his global team of passionate creatives, keeping the product experience true to its origins of being simple and easy to use. 

Before joining Zendesk, Toke was a founding partner of one of the largest pioneering design communities, K10k. He was also the founder and creative director at Cuban Council, a digital-design company, where he helped design the original Facebook identity, and worked with a range of clients from Tyra Banks and Francis Coppola, to Apple and NASA. Previously, he worked for Danish web-design frontrunner Araneum and later helped start the Oven Digital offices in London. 

Outside of the office, Toke enjoys spending quality time with his family and is a table tennis aficionado.

@tokenygaard

In this episode we cover:

• The intersection of design and art
• Fantasy illustrations
• Visual design education
• Moving from a startup to IPO
• Transitioning from designer to manager
• In-house vs. agency
• Balancing quality and production
• And more!

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For the last episode recorded in 2020, we flip the spotlight onto our founders, Anthony and Natalie Armendariz, to walk us through the challenging, chaotic and — at times — exciting journey that was 2020. In a year that provided surprises and obstacles for just about every human being on the planet, we wanted to tell our agency's part of the story. We hope you enjoy.

We cover:

• Our mindset going into 2020
• Business and culture goals entering 2020
• Q1 happenings at the beginning of the pandemic
• Surprising new client relationships in 2020
• How/why did Funsize actually grow in 2020?
• The "staff augmentation" niche during the pandemic
• The pandemic's effect on team culture
• Team perspectives during the pandemic
• Expectations when starting Funsize years ago
• The launch of Funsize Ventures and what it means
• Work differences between designers and developers
• What will 2021 bring? 

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Ted Boda is currently a Product Design Manager on the Well-Being team at Instagram. He is also a former Director of Design at Udacity, former Senior Designer at Nest Labs, former Lead Mobile Designer at Netflix and a former Lead UI Designer for Keynote at Apple (where, interestingly enough, he worked on some of the slides used for Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth). With all that experience to draw on, we loved having Ted on the show — for a second time — to hear what he's been up to and gain some insight into how design management is done at one of the largest social media platforms on earth. 

We cover:

• Guesswork at the beginning of design leadership
• Design leadership at Instagram
• Design tools at Instagram and Facebook
• The Well-being team at Instagram and what they do
• What an average week looks like for Ted.
• His "cameo" on Netflix
• Qualities to look for in Design Managers
• Ted's childhood interests

Margaret Lee is the Director of UX Community & Culture at Google. A self-described "reluctant leader," she heads up programs that unite departments across the company and create Google career opportunities for those who might not typically have access. Margaret created this role for herself a few years ago when she noticed there was an opportunity to put more intention behind efforts of inclusion and community within Google. After a manger's encouragement, she took a leap of faith and began sharing her passions on-stage. She hasn't looked back since. 

We cover: 

• Her path to design
• Google's shift to a design focus
• How Margaret created her own niche career
• The differences  intentionality can create
• How Google is improving access to UX jobs
• The complex challenge of inclusion
• Reluctant leadership
• How her role at Google has changed her personally
• Connecting with new team members during the pandemic

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Braden Kowitz is a former design partner at Google Ventures, where he had the opportunity to work with startups like ClassPass, Gusto, Slack, Medium, Flatiron Health, TuneIn, BlueBottle Coffee, 23andMe, One Medical Group, HubSpot, RetailMeNot, Nest and more.  He is the co-author of NY Times Best Seller, Sprint, and the co-founder of Range, a tool that keeps teams connected and productive. We're extremely grateful to Braden for sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience with us. Get your notepads out for this one! 

We cover:

• Some of the differences in Google design from when he entered and left
• How he got into Google Ventures and why
• His experience watching the explosion of the Design Sprint
• What Range does and who it serves
• The agency challenge of working with multiple cultures
• Working the way clients want to work during COVID-19
• Testing and validating new work methodologies
• Vulnerability and connection for teams
• The challenge of jumping responsibilities as a business owner
• Personal manuals
• More!

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Douglas Ferguson is an entrepreneur and human-centered technologist with over 20 years of experience. He is the founder and president of Voltage Control, an Austin-based facilitation agency that specializes in helping teams work better together through participatory decision making and design inspired facilitation techniques. He has helped transform teams from U.S. SOCOM, the Air Force, Adobe, Dropbox, Fidelity, Vrbo, Liberty Mutual, Humana, and SAIC. We really appreciated hearing Douglas's thoughts on facilitation in the era of COVID and are excited to see what's next for Voltage Control. 

We cover: 

• Starting out in development
• How his career in facilitation has changed
• Building a facilitation community
• Adaptability vs Dogma
• Prescribing different workshops
• Knowing when it's time for a design sprint
• What happens after a design sprint
• The differences in remote sprints
• A lot more!

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In a first for The Hustle, we're tackling important subject matter outside the realm of design. In a conversation led by our Guest Host, Tony Sanchez, a Design Lead at Funsize, Chas Moore joined us to discuss the public outcry and wave of activism in the wake of George Floyd's murder. Chas is the Executive Director of Austin Justice Coalition, an activist-led organization that educates and builds community power for people of color who live in Austin, Texas. We're extremely grateful to have him on the show to provide insight into this important time in American history. 

We cover: 

• Austin Justice Coalition's mission
• Why George Floyd's murder was so impactful
• What it's like to be in the local spotlight during this important movement
• Resulting change from increased attention on racial violence
• What liberation looks like
• Being authentically engaged with the cause
• The current undertakings of Austin Justice Coalition

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Note: We apologize for the audio quality. There was an issue with the microphone.

Justin is a multi-faceted, multi-pierced, multi-tattooed designer, author, and speaker. He wrote the book "Cultivating a Creative Culture", is the Vice President of Human-Centered Design and Development at bswift, the founder of The Dead Pixel Society, and a contributor to A List Apart. Justin had some really intuitive viewpoints on culture that were awesome to dig into and it was a pleasure having him on the show. 

We cover:

• Working in the healthcare system
• Why he gravitates to roles that aren't tee'd up and ready to go
• Creative culture and the golden rule
• Creative Inspiration Wednesdays
• How designers have an advantage in creating a good culture
• Transitioning from getting fulfillment from design to getting fulfillment from others' evolution
• Leading with action
• The challenges of remote working

Funsize friend, Chad Engle, is the Product Design Director at GoDaddy, a company that is rapidly expanding its product offerings and leaning into design with a focus on in-house talent.  He stopped by to share his experience growing design orgs, explain what he looks for in applicants, and provide some insight into how he approaches leadership.

We cover:

• Growing a design practice at GoDaddy
• Transitioning from designer to Design Manager
• Using a different set of design skills to create a design org
• The value of pier-to-pier conversations and mentoring
• "Steering the bull" of culture
• Hiring for aptitude vs. craft
• Growing as an IC
• Designing design ladders

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Note: We recorded this one before COVID began, so some references (like to our SXSW party) did not come to fruition.

Theo Strauss is an 18-year-old product designer out of NYC who's already making waves in the community through his involvement with companies like Apple, Postmates, and Figma. As someone on the bleeding edge of a new generation of designers, we loved having him on the show to share some of his thoughts on where the industry is heading and how young people are getting involved. 

We cover:

• Creating an entire portfolio in Figma
• Growing up in New York City
• Childhood career dreams
• The evolution of design tools
• Going to college vs. entering the workforce
• The ambiguity of "designer"
• The democratization of design
• Cold emails and personal networks
• A lot more

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Note: We apologize for the audio quality. There was an issue with the microphone.

Ash Huang is a designer, illustrator, author, speaker, artist and parent who currently works at Adobe. After finding design at a young age, Ash's career has spanned a wide variety of well-known companies and different pursuits that have left her with some fascinating views on accomplishment, progress, staying curious and more. It took us a while to get this one on the books but the conversation was totally worth it. 

We cover:

• Working on the Adobe XD product team
• How to choose what you will devote time to
• Tracking progress
• How having kids changes things within your career
• Specialization vs. generalization
• Staying curious
• Management vs Individual Contributor tracks
• Alone time as a parent
• Legacy

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Helen Tran is a designer, CEO, hobbyist writer, traveler and macaroon connoisseur (amongst other things). In this wide-ranging episode, we discuss everything from software design, business ownership and bodybuilding, to wealth and weird Texan habits.

We cover:

• Growing with Shopify
• Paying dues before taking big career risks
• Figuring out what to pursue and deciding to start Jupiter
• Why there's no such thing as "business vs. personal"
• Living someone else's life for a year
• How bodybuilding affects discipline and goal setting
• Defining "wealth"
• The knowledge gap between CEO generations
• Business as more than a way to make money
• Toronto vs. Texas

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