I'm a Maker, Not a Performer: What Enterprise Taught Me About Design
After four years at Dun & Bradstreet, I'm back on LinkedIn. It feels odd to say that. In my 30s, at my freelance peak, I would've been shocked to find my LinkedIn was deleted without me knowing. A lot has changed since then. I became a mom, moved to Florida, and my company went through a big buyout and reorganization. Now, as I look ahead, I realize those years in a large company taught me this: I’m a MAKER, not a PERFORMER.
The Biggest Shifts
Feedback Culture
Startups: Paid in sweat equity and compliments.
Corporate: Paid in relentless critique (and six figures).
At startups, feedback was informal- quick Slack messages. At the enterprise level, it became a structured, multi-layered process where critique is constant, deliberate, and sometimes exhausting.
Expectations
Startups: Workhorse energy—ship and learn.
Corporate: Show horse polish—present beautifully, always be “on.”
In startups, momentum matters more than polish. In corporate, polish is the product. Both have value; the balance is where the magic happens.
Design Process
Startups: Sketch → ship → learn.
Corporate: Research → five reviews → prototype → three more reviews → ship.
Speed versus rigor. Startups prioritize iteration; corporates prioritize alignment. I’ve learned to appreciate both—the speed of testing ideas and the discipline of research-driven design.
Communication Style
Startups: Jump into a half-finished file with the founder, think out loud, solve mid-design.
Corporate: Everything must be crystal clear, concise, and backed by data before you show your work.
In startup life, feedback comes in the form of energy. You can feel when something’s working- or not. The founder pings you an emoji, a developer drops a quick “nice!” in Figma. It’s informal and immediate.
Corporates thrive on clarity. Buttoned up powerpoints to stakeholders, and its a struggle to decipher when you can be your deep thinking self around. I learned that deep, messy thinking still has a place—it just needs to be scheduled and summarized in a slide deck first.
Role Scope
Startups: “Just design it.” Let’s see what sticks.
Corporate: “Do user research + design + QA + sprint work + stakeholder presentations + innovation + design system governance + quarterly metrics reports…”
With sprint work running in the background—because surely we can design thoughtfully in our sleep, right?
These expectations are DESIGNED to keep people in meetings and out of deep work. It's not about effectiveness - it's about visibility and politics.
That’s when I realized something: design roles shouldn’t scale by seniority, but by focus.
The Future of Design Roles (As I See It)
Instead of expecting everyone to do everything, design teams could thrive if roles were structured around focus areas:
Captain: Leadership & strategy
Core: Execution & sprint work
Future: Innovation & systems
Not every designer needs to juggle all three. That’s how we move from burnout to operational efficiency.
Neither World Is “Better”—But Both Made Me Better
Startups taught me speed and scrappiness.
Corporate life taught me systems thinking and scale.
Each environment sharpened different muscles—and I’m grateful for both.
So What’s Next?
I’m looking for the unicorn: the best of both worlds.
From startups, I want to keep:
Workhorse energy and fast shipping
Direct, collaborative communication
Room to experiment and iterate
Focus on outcomes over process
From corporate, I want to keep:
Six-figure compensation (let’s be real)
Systems thinking and scalability
What I’m looking for now:
A Product Designer role (fully remote)
Leadership that values focus over burnout
A culture that rewards deep work, not performative busyness
I want to design thoughtfully, ship meaningfully, and actually enjoy the work—because design isn’t just what I do—it’s how I process the world. And after four years of transformation, I’m ready to create with both speed and substance.