Life Isn’t Linear: My Journey to UX Design

Born to Design (and Ask Too Many Questions)

Me, from a time before I can remember.

I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. If there was a blank space, I would fill it with doodles. If there was a new concept, I was dissecting it, turning it over in my mind, asking, “but why does it work that way?” My brain has always operated at the intersection of creativity and logic in a mix of curiosity, problem-solving, and a deep need to understand how things connect.

This meant I wasn’t just interested in making things look good. I wanted them to make sense. I loved unraveling complex ideas, whether it was the structure behind a Renaissance painting or the social dynamics that shaped different communities. Understanding people, especially those with perspectives different from mine, fascinated me. Little did I know, these instincts would form the foundation of my future in UX design.

College: Art, Sociology, and a Dash of Human-Centered Thinking

I studied studio art at Belmont University in Nashville, focusing on painting and printmaking. I thrived in the creative process, but I also found myself drawn to sociology. I took several classes, fascinated by human behavior, culture, and the ways people interact with the world around them. I even considered minoring in it, but my studio art program was intense. It left no room for additional coursework.

During this time, I spent a summer at Interlochen Center for the Arts, working as a cabin counselor and art class assistant. It was my first experience guiding others through creative exploration, and I loved seeing how art could be both expressive and deeply personal.

Beyond campus, I volunteered extensively, working with local community outreach programs for the homeless, camps for refugee children, and traveling to Ethiopia, Mexico, and Romania for international service projects. These experiences solidified a key realization: I was passionate about using creativity to connect with and help people.

Tattooing: Precision, Storytelling, and a Crash Course in UX

Me (third from left) with fellow tattoo artists at our tattoo studio in downtown Nashville

My freshman year at Belmont, I walked into a local tattoo studio with a self-designed tattoo idea. I walked out with fresh ink and an unexpected job offer.

For the next few years, I worked in a high-traffic studio on Broadway in downtown Nashville, tattooing clients from all over the world, including famous musicians. (Perks included backstage passes and mountains of band merch. Sometimes cool, sometimes very questionable.)

Tattooing refined my attention to detail and ability to translate someone’s vision into a tangible design. Each session started with curiosity, and usually involved an open conversation about meaning, memories, and intention. I asked the kind of questions that got to the heart of it, because understanding a client’s motivation was the key to designing work that truly resonated.

My favorite challenge? Cover-ups. What looked like an impossible mistake, a permanent 404 error, was just another design problem waiting to be solved. With critical thinking, a steady hand, and the right approach, even the most disastrous ink could be transformed.

Looking back, tattooing had so many parallels to UX design: working within constraints, solving problems creatively, and ensuring the final product wasn’t just functional but deeply meaningful to the person using (or in this case, wearing) it.

Teaching: Human-Centered Design in the Classroom

My time at Interlochen had sparked something in me, so after graduating, I moved back to Texas and earned my teaching certification through Texas A&M Commerce. While working toward it, I substitute taught, which was a trial-by-fire experience where I had to work within someone else’s structure (lesson plans) while ensuring students got the best experience possible. In hindsight, it was an early lesson in adapting designs for user needs.

For the next decade, I was an elementary art teacher in both DeSoto and McKinney, Texas, teaching up to 700 students a week. The curriculum I designed for my students was much more than color theory and clay. It was interdisciplinary, weaving in math, science, history, social studies, and language arts. My goal was making complex ideas engaging, understandable, and accessible to different types of learners. Sound familiar?

If you’re interested in more parallels between UX design and teaching, check out this post about how teaching prepared me for the design world or this one where I take a deep dive into why teachers make the best UX designers.

Beyond the classroom, I launched annual Fine Arts Nights, led city-wide student art initiatives, gave presentations at the National Art Educators Association conference, and even won Texas’ Region 10 Teacher of the Year award. I also served on the district’s Innovation and Technology committee, where I saw firsthand how design thinking could improve education in the art classroom and beyond.

So why leave teaching? Because life isn’t linear.

When I unexpectedly became the guardian of my two nephews, I stepped away to give them the full-time care and presence they needed. Though they no longer live with me, those years shaped me deeply and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Running a Business: Design, Strategy, and Adaptability

Me (left) and my two nephews

While navigating life as a full-time solo caregiver, I started freelancing—logos, branding, anything that let me keep designing. Eventually, I launched my own apparel graphic design business.

Running a business means wearing all the hats (designer, marketer, customer service rep, and strategist). I personalize many of the products, working closely with customers to bring their stories to life through design. I’ve seen firsthand how thoughtful design can build trust, spark emotion, and turn first-time buyers into loyal fans.

It has reinforced a key lesson: design isn’t about the designer. It’s about the user, their needs, and their experience.

It’s also been a true crash course in business strategy as I’ve learned to analyze patterns, adapt to feedback, and discover what earns customer loyalty. This user-centered mindset not only helped my business thrive, but also unknowingly pushed me toward my next step.

My UX Lightbulb Moment

While researching ways to scale my business, I came across user-centered design principles. And suddenly, everything clicked.

Tattooing, teaching, running a business… I had been doing this all along. Understanding user needs, solving complex problems, creating intuitive experiences. I had designed my way through every career transition without realizing it.

The more I learned about UX design, the more I saw how it combined everything I loved: creativity, problem-solving, research, people, and strategy. It felt like the best next step for my journey, a culmination of everything that came before.

Deep Dive into UX

Once I knew UX was the path forward, I dove in headfirst, enrolling in an intensive bootcamp through CareerFoundry. It wasn’t going to be a magic ticket into the industry, I knew that, but it was a structured, immersive way to build foundational skills with the guidance of industry professionals.

Over the course of 10 months, I worked on three major projects (which you can check out here). Guided by two incredible mentors, I gained hands-on experience in UX research, user testing, information architecture, UI Design, responsive frameworks, accessibility, and so much more.

Some key lessons?

• Accessibility is everything. Design isn’t good unless it works for everyone.

• Gamified learning can be a game-changer (pun fully intended).

• Users don’t always know what they want, but they’ll tell you what they need if you ask the right questions.

I also learned the importance of iteration. The glorious loop designing, testing, failing, and refining. UX design isn’t about getting it perfect the first time. It’s about making it better every time. And as a life-long learner, who is always seeking to improve my own work, iteration is pure gold.

Stepping into Tomorrow

Me at Palo Duro Canyon

While my path to UX design certainly hasn’t been linear, every experience along the winding, creativity-filled way has given me skills that make me a stronger designer today.

My volunteer work has fueled my passion for designing experiences that improve usability for all humans. Tattooing has sharpened my eye for detail and storytelling. Teaching has honed my ability to break down complex ideas and design user-centered experiences. Running a business has taught me to balance creativity with strategy.

These days, I’m all in on learning how to design with AI in mind, digging into the emerging tech, the ethics, and the user needs behind it.

My next step? I’m on the lookout for a curious, kind team that values collaboration, diverse thinking, and thoughtful design. I’m ready to help shape what’s next, asking the big questions and growing together, with people over ego.

If my journey resonates with you in any way, let’s connect! I’d love to hear your story, too.