Your Life After Tech

Ep 007: Faith Lane - Empathy in Every Career Path

• Life After Tech • Season 1 • Episode 7

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Faith Lane, a veteran UX Designer with over two decades of expertise, joins us to share her captivating career journey, marked by resilience and adaptability. After a layoff, she shifted to apply her UX skills in a non-traditional setting: Directing at a daycare company. Children, teachers, and parents are her new stakeholders.

Where might Faith go from here? If tech jobs remain difficult to find, she's considering the funeral industry, perhaps funeral direction. It's another opportunity for her to use empathy... and apply some UX and Service Design to an industry that badly needs it.

Connect with Faith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faithlane/

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Debbie:

Welcome to the Your Life After Tech podcast. This is Episode 7. I'm Debbie Levitt. Don't forget to check out our lifeaftertech. info multiverse, including our book, Discord, community, coaching, and more, Because you might be done with tech, tech might be done with you, or you're thinking about adding non-tech work to your tech career. Today's guest is Faith Lane, F-A-I-T-H-L-A-N-E. You can find her on LinkedIn. She's been working in UX for many years and is hoping to stay in UX, but took another job just to keep life moving while she figures out what's next. Let's get to know Faith.

Faith:

I'm Faith Lane, I am a UX designer and I've been in the tech industry for probably a little over 20 years. I started off and actually let me take a step back I went to school for computer programming and after going on a few interviews I decided you know what, this is not for me. The visual basic, the C++, was just it wasn't for me. So I started to do, but actually an HTML class stood out to me in college. So I was like you know what I still wanted to do? I'm creative and I want to stick with computers, so that kind of stood out to me. So I started to do freelance web design. But my nine-to-five job was tech support. So I did tech support for a few years and when I built my portfolio up enough, I started to land those roles as web designers and to fast-forward how I got bit by the UX bug. I was working at a company as a contractor and just I would have to come across different designers. And to fast forward how I got bit by the UX bug. I was working at a company as a contractor and just I would have to come across different designer files from other departments and I would look at their files and at this time this was Photoshop. I would look at their files and I'm like I can do this, you know. But so nothing really stood out on anything I couldn't do.

Faith:

I was like, but why am I not calling myself a UX designer? So I reached out to the UX manager and I was like, what is this whole UX thing? What is this about? And he really broke it down. It was beyond the pretty stuff. They talk to their users, they understand the pain points and trying to understand their needs. So he put me on a path of giving me courses to look at, books to read, websites to look at. And I took that information to my next job and, even though I didn't have a UX title, I started to incorporate what I was learning on my own into that position and that started to lead me into those UX roles where I was learning, you know, the Google sprints, the critical thinking, the research and I was like, okay, now I'm hooked, this is now my career field. So that's kind of how I got into the UX world.

Debbie:

Great, so great to meet you, since I know we're connected on LinkedIn and that's kind of how this podcast happened was that I've seen it through 2024, some of your posts about trying to find your next role and that you know, because of what's been going on, it sounded like it was starting to include possible work things that weren't in tech. Tell us more about that.

Faith:

Yeah, I got into this non-tech role because bills needed to be paid. So I got laid off last year December and, honestly, debbie, I thought three months max I was going to be laid off. I was like, okay, it's December, no one's going to be hiring. January, people are getting off vacation still no hiring. So I gave myself to around March. I was like by the time February and March started to come around, people will start to hire. So I gave myself that wiggle room. And here it is, almost a year later and I still don't have a UX role.

Faith:

So it was like every time I got on LinkedIn I saw more and more people got laid off. And that's when I kind of started to get worried. I was like, okay, this is not going how I thought it was going to go. So I was blessed to have a friend who has her own company. She has a daycare company and she also has a before and after care program in three different schools in St Louis. So she needed a director in one of those and she already knew my skill set because I did some of her websites in the past. So this was she knew what I needed as far as employment and she needed someone. So we kind of, you know, work with with each other on that and I went in, not because she was my friend. I treated her like she was my boss, like I didn't go in like, oh, this is my friend and I'm just gonna, you know, play. You know, just not take it serious. She is my boss, you know, and friend at the time now.

Faith:

So I'm working in a before and after care program between kindergarten and fourth grade. So I'm working with like 50 kids. You know, I put it on my post a while back these are my new stakeholders. I'm not dealing with developers and project manager and project specialists anymore. I'm dealing with, you know, kids. I'm dealing with teachers, I'm dealing with parents. So those are my new stakeholders. So that's the.

Faith:

I love it that I can still take my skill sets as a UX designer and put it in this. You know, it doesn't have to be an app that I'm working with. I can change processes as I'm talking to kids and you know just that empathy. I'm like, okay, this is a little stakeholder, you know, and you're just kind of, you know, learning them. But yeah, I had to pay bills. So I still want to be in the UX role and, luckily, the way my shift works because it is a before and after care. I'm up at five, I'm at work at 545 to 830. Then I can go home or do whatever and come back around 245. But in that in-between space I have time to interview and my friend, she understands, so she's behind me. Knowing that I still want to be in that UX role and the way that the shift works, it helps me to interview.

Debbie:

Yeah, that's really interesting because sometimes I communicate with people who say, debbie, I'm a UX designer and I can't find a job. Where do my skills naturally translate? You know, should I become an architect? Should I become? And they usually have something that has the word designer in it, and it's interesting to hear people understand that our skills go way beyond something that we would attach designer to.

Faith:

Yeah, definitely it's a. It goes beyond just Enfigma or any other design. Like you have to have that thinking skill. You know that critical thinking and it's. It's just amazing, like right now I'm a supervisor. I never thought I wanted to be a supervisor. I was like I don't. I just I don't want to be a supervisor, but now I have that skillset. I have like five staff members under me, so you know I'm, you know teaching them and you know grooming them for their position. So now if I do get another UX role, I have another skill set. So I encourage people to just don't, at this weird UX, whatever is going on in the UX field and tech field, take on those positions that they have nothing to do with UX. Of course, to pay the bills, but you never know. You know what skill set you're going to get.

Debbie:

Of course, to pay the bills, but you never know, you know what skill set you're gonna, um, you know, get. Yeah, and I wonder if and maybe you haven't thought about this and I'll put you on the spot but have you considered that this job that you're doing now may or may not tie into your core personal qualities, like you know? Maybe you're using ux skills, but maybe you're just using who you naturally are at your core.

Faith:

Oh, definitely, empathy is deep inside me. If I wasn't into the UX world I probably would have been in a funeral industry. Honestly, because there's so much empathy and you have to take, you know, you take those, those feelings and you just try to, you know, make people feel better. But definitely, deep down, I'm just, I just care for people and that I'm seeing it how I'm managing my staff, I'm seeing how I talk to the kids and, you know, just, parents, and I just see a different side of me that I never thought this is a challenging role just for me personally, not necessarily the job itself, but just me personally. I'm learning a lot. So when I do get that next UX role, I'm going to be like okay, it's great.

Debbie:

It's such an interesting conversation about you taking what you learned from each job and bringing it to the next job, but also looking for opportunities for kind of self growth and development. Is is what I'm hearing.

Faith:

Oh, definitely, because, like I said, it's almost creeping up to a year and that year it messes with you mentally because you start to doubt yourself. You're like I used to get jobs like this, I used to get jobs like this, I used to get interviews like this, and now I don't know what's worse applying for a job and getting rejected right away, or getting the interview, the second interview and third interview and still getting rejected, and then it's like that messes with you. So you do have to keep that. You have to be positive. You know because, if you go that that you have to be positive. You know because you, if you go into that dark space and start doubting yourself, you're like, what am I good for? Like, can I even do this anymore? So, um, yeah, definitely a personal growth. You got to constantly check yourself good point.

Debbie:

um, again a bit of a random, but when you have the tough days where you're going what happened here? What's next for me? Gestures and everything kind of day Is there anything that you do for self-care or to help pull yourself back up to a better space?

Faith:

For me personally. I pray Me and God has gotten a definitely a stronger relationship during this year, so pray. I have a lot of positive people in my life encouraging me. I've always been blessed with awesome supervisors, awesome co-workers. They're always checking on me, whether it's sending me jobs or just you know, hang in there. But me was definitely prayer, me jobs, or just you know, hang hang in there. Um, but me was definitely prayer, going to parks and, you know chill by some water, and that's just me, that's. And I listen to podcasts all the time or play in Figma even though I don't have a, a, a freelance project, I still have my like personal projects that I just to keep those skills up. But yeah, just prayer, because that's that's that you got to keep that to. You know, stay, you know, positive for me.

Debbie:

Yeah, sounds like prayer. A fantastic community of people you can really rely on and some nice scenery.

Faith:

Oh, definitely definitely Zen out by some water with a podcast.

Debbie:

Sounds good. I wonder at what point you said oh, I gave myself until March. When March hit, did you feel ready to consider jobs outside of UX, or did you give yourself a little bit more time?

Faith:

I still gave it a look because I was like, whoa, my thing was, if I got a job outside of tech, I was worried the way schedules were. I couldn't fit in an interview and because we're in UX, we're going to have to use a portfolio and present. You know, present that. So it's not like I can sneak in a room and say I have this interview. No, you have to be in front of a computer and presenting. So my thing was worried about a good interview time because you have to be mentally prepared for that. But, yeah, after a while it was like, okay, bills are like, hey, knock, knock, we don't care if you're laid off, your bill is due. So when bills start to, you know, really hit me because you don't want to keep pulling from savings. And you know, yeah, that's when bills start piling up.

Debbie:

Yeah, it's obviously scary for so many of us. It's obviously scary for so many of us. Mm-hmm, definitely so. Thinking a little bit about the path you've been on here in 2024 with looking at UX jobs, looking at non-UX jobs, is there anything that you regret or wish you could?

Faith:

do over or feel like you made a mistake with. I think I wish I would have just started right away to get a job, just for my mental, because I was just really going to the gym and just coming back home and being on LinkedIn and applying for jobs, getting rejected, you know, applying for jobs, and that was a mental, a mental drain. My, I was still, my mom had just passed last year, so I was grieving. I was still grieving right up to the point where I got laid off, like I was. I remember working and the last week to when she, before she, passed away, luckily I was able to work from home, work from home and I was working from the hospital. So I was on conference calls, watching my mom pass away, pushing me, talking to doctors, letting them know, like they were, letting me know. Well, this is not, she's not, it's looking bad, you know, and she's not going to make it get back on mute, the conference call I was just putting a front on.

Faith:

None of my coworkers knew anything, so it was. It was so crazy during that, during that time. So when I got laid off, I should have just started to. You know, for me working would have been better instead of just. You know, everybody grieves different, but for me I should have just kind of just got into it. But yeah, that was probably my, my, my biggest regret.

Faith:

Just instead of stalling. You know, given that three or four months, I should have just got right back into it.

Debbie:

Got it? Yeah, thanks for sharing that. I'm so sorry. That sounds like a bizarre.

Faith:

Yeah, it was a collision of things. Yeah, but some people just the way they work. You know you're a workaholic and even if that type of thing is happening, you're still working. But I knew my coworkers and my boss would have let me off. It was just me like trying to like get over it, but it was. It was the weirdest, but that's that. I think one of your questions will probably be like the work life balance. That I think one of your questions will probably be like the work-life balance. It was, that was the weirdest. It was a weird situation. It was like I'm watching my mom in a hospital bed on a breathing machine but yet I'm still trying to focus on this presentation and this Figma or this project. And it was like Faith, what are you, what are you? What are you doing? Take off, you know it's okay, it's it's life, but yeah it's weird, did you end up taking some time off?

Faith:

I took when she passed away. I took about a couple days off and I got right back into it. Us workaholics Workaholic, you know, I'm still grieving, but sometimes you just kind of some people just need to work, and that was me.

Debbie:

So obviously I hope, hope, hope. You find a great UX job as soon as possible. But since this is your life after tech, I do want to ask but since this is your life, after tech.

Faith:

I do want to ask, just in case that UX job doesn't materialize soon or soon enough, what types of work do you think you would try to go into? Yeah, like I said earlier, I would probably be in the funeral industry. I might, you know, look into, maybe, funeral directing. I might, you know, look into, maybe, funeral directing. My mom always made me comfortable with that the death because she went to school later in life to be a funeral director and I would quiz her during homework. I was like, oh, ok, this is kind of cool, you know. And I also had the opportunity to work at a funeral home while working at the before and after care during my split shift. A funeral home while working at the, the before and after care during my split shift.

Faith:

I didn't get, I didn't, it didn't follow through, but it would have been so weird to be like, okay, I'm before and after care before, and then go to a funeral home and the middle of the day and come back, I was like that was emotionally and mentally that would have probably been the awkwardest thing. But uh, I would definitely probably be in a funeral industry because the user experience in the funeral world can be so much better from you greeting the families. The paperwork just it, just um, all the way to the end when you have to hand your app that person's ashes to over to families or to the funeral home. It's when you look at outside of, when you look at it as a business, it's a lot of uh growth that can happen as far as user experience. That even more, when I went through, when I had to make changes and everything for my mom, I was like, oh, I'm just instead of, of course I was everything for my mom.

Faith:

I was like, oh, I'm just instead of. Of course I was focusing on my mom and that whole situation, but I was still looking at it as a, as a UX person. So it was you know, it's, it's yeah, but I will be in that field, even because it's so deep into in me. It's even funny when I'm working at the company, the position I'm in now. We have to use a certain software to check in kids and do reports and everything, and the app is not the best. I have a habit of doing screenshots and taking that screenshot into Figma. I'm like where's the primary button? Like this could be rearranged. I was like I wonder if I take a screenshot and do all of this and send it to the company. What? How would they feel? Because, but that's just that, but it's deep in me.

Debbie:

I feel you there. Um, I was gonna ask about the funeral director. Uh, possibility, have you researched that? Is that the kind of thing? You need training or certification, or can you just go hello, I'm a funeral director.

Faith:

No, you actually have to go to school and like get out a certificate and I think you have to do you know, like an internship type in a funeral home. But I haven't looked too much deep. I have a couple friends that are funeral directors but yeah, hopefully ux will come in. Hey, never, you never know, I might be a ux designer in a funeral funeral industry you know?

Debbie:

yeah, well, hold on new exciting opportunity there. Maybe start looking right. Do some fresh google searches for jobs, ux, jobs related yeah start a whole other industry, yeah, or some of those memorial websites. Maybe you know cold email them. I don't know, never know, never know Truly. So our listeners might be considering leaving tech or adding non-tech work to the tech career that they're hoping will continue. What advice would you give our listeners?

Faith:

Don't be scared to just take those jobs to pay the bills. We all have them. Don't feel bad because you have to go work at a restaurant or if you have to go work at a gas station or you know, work totally out of your, your comfort zone. We have bills, okay, and bills are not waiting for us. They do not care if there are layoffs going on. So don't be afraid just to be able to pay those bills. And you know, if you want, keep your skill sets up on the side, you know at night, you know, you know playing around in Figma or you know keeping up on the trends and books. But yeah, don't be afraid, get out of your comfort zone and do what you have to do.

Debbie:

Awesome. Thank you so much. I think more people need to hear that that you, we just can't keep waiting. There are people who've been as you said you're, you're out of a job almost a year now and you're very not alone definitely yeah, and keep praying for each other.

Faith:

You know that's all I. If I don't get the job, I'm always like, okay, the next person was probably better than me and they needed it. You know there's a position out there and a company waiting for faith and you know I'll be patient enough. You, you know, to. You know wait and see.

Debbie:

Well, I certainly hope that people will track you down and interview you and hire you. So how can people get in touch with you and or connect with you? Where can we?

Faith:

find you. I'm on LinkedIn. That's probably more social on that one than any other one. I do my little skit videos every now and then towards UX, so I'll post every now and then there, but LinkedIn is my go-to spot.

Debbie:

Okay, great, we'll make sure we have that link in the show notes and description. Faith, thank you so much for being on the show and obviously I wish you endless, endless luck and good fortune in whatever career or careers you end up in.

Faith:

Thank you so much, Debbie.

Debbie:

Thanks

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