Building The Future I Want To Be A Part Of

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I wanted to take the time to reflect on the progress we’ve made toward gender equality and the work I have been doing to shift the needle in the field of Industrial Design. 

As a woman-led company, we’re striving to bring balance to our own business — and to the practice of industrial design at large. The products we create touch millions of lives and we believe women must have a bigger impact on shaping them.

The female voice is incredibly powerful, representing 85% of consumer spending. So, doesn’t it make sense for women to have greater input on the products we create? Yet, even today, in 2020, women still make up less than 20% of the industrial design workforce and the gap only gets bigger as we look to roles in leadership.

Early in my career I did not want to be seen as a “female” designer. I expected to be noticed for my talent, not my gender. I am fortunate to have had strong, inspiring leadership along my path that enabled my abilities regardless. But not all are as lucky. As I watched so many of my female colleagues step back or down as time went on, I began to question why this recurrence was so inherent to the industry.

This came into sharper focus as I began the journey of starting my own agency. It became blatant that I did not fit the mold of a traditional design studio founder. Across the landscape of the highly-recognized and awarded studios there are a mere handful of women in leadership positions, and almost no female founders. I refused to allow that to stop me from pursuing my passion and following my dream. 

This is why I am excited each and every day to wake-up and enter the studio. level was founded 3.5 years ago on the belief that balance, diversity, collaboration and inclusion are essential ingredients to providing a stimulating studio culture.

We are finally seeing the shift as businesses and brands seek out and express excitement for design studios with female leadership. Our clients believe in building a better future, one in which those buying the products are represented in the process. They recognize that there’s a huge untapped opportunity in creating products for and by women, that understand and value the female perspective. 

As Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said "We should not be held back from pursuing our full talents, from contributing what we could contribute to the society, because we fit into a certain mold." 

I believe in the power of our community to elevate and empower every person to be the designer they were meant to be. If you want to see change in the industry, then you have to be willing to take chances to make it happen. As the work level produces continues to gain respect from clients and awards from our industry, it has helped me to find my unique voice. We’re working to make a difference by delivering world-class female-led industrial design. 

This is why I became Chair of Women in Design in San Francisco. Throughout the 15 years I've been working as a designer I’ve seen too much sexism and so little change. I needed to take action–to show future generations of female leaders that there is a place for them in Industrial Design, even at the very top. 

Women in Design SF is building a community of change by connecting and mentoring future talent, and fostering change. I'm excited to now have an opportunity to use our voice as a platform and become role models. Past events hosted 200+ attendees, however recently we purposely scaled-back in order to focus on providing meaningful, personalized impact–the key to this being the Mentorship Program.

As Chair of Women in Design, my greatest joy has been the Mentorship Program. Kicked-off in 2019, over the past year we have paired over 50 women. It provides an intimate setting that allows women to open up about real day-to-day issues they’re faced with; discuss paths to best-practice; facilitate course correction; and strategize around ways to reach personal and professional goals.

As a Mother, business Founder and Creative Director, I am often overwhelmed. I am pulled in a multitude of directions, not daily but hourly. I am exhausted in a continual quest for efficiency and fair prioritization. But along with this I am also absolutely and continually inspired. This cause is vital to the future of design, as it is to myself and all the women who offer themselves as mentors. We find ways to make it happen and do what we can to create the future we want to be a part of. 

So, I say to the Industrial Design industry–now is the time to take action. To make change. 

It is time to hire, invest-in and empower women. If you are in any position of privilege advocate for, mentor and provide opportunity for women and all under-represented people. Define clear principles for yourselves and your team, and work toward making our industry more welcoming and accepting. If not just for moral good, then do this simply for the business impacts of working with diverse teams, which has proven across countless studies to drive innovation and profitability.  

As Industrial Designers we are hugely influential, taking the world’s most complex technologies and creating solutions that impact millions of lives. 

We are the change-makers. It is time to use our abilities to create a more balanced future for All.

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