How did I come to this path in UX?

Well, it has been a journey years in the making, precipitated by the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.

At the root of my educational pursuits and the jobs I have held, is a deep desire to understand people, their needs and creating intuitive, positive experiences to meet those needs. I have been fortunate enough to hold roles that have allowed me to do exactly that...creating and implementing recreational programs, making connections between people and systems all towards creating better experiences for the people I was working for.

I ran a design business with my husband for 8 years wearing many hats along the way, then dedicated myself to our two daughters as an at home mom until they went off to college. Held an internship for 1 1/2 years in a senior center as a Community Outreach worker, a position which had a tremendous impact on how I see systems and the way people interact with them. Returning to the workforce, I worked at a psychiatric hospital, eventually becoming charged with the creation of a medication database which became an integral part of how the hospital monitors quality assurance.

All these steps lead me to a fork in the road when I was furloughed due to the COVID pandemic. I found myself wanting to more actively create positive, intuitive experiences for people in various communities, and after speaking at length with my husband who is an experience designer, I decided to dive in completely and began taking classes in UX. I wanted to marry my problem solving abilities with my creative background and now I am here, looking to get my feet wet in an area I've grown to love.