Bring Your Own Gold Stars
Redefining success as a content leader
VIRTUAL PANEL | 12 - 1:20pm ET
Recording will be shared with attendees.
One of the hardest things I see people experiencing in the shift from individual contributor to management is where they get their validation from.
Whether you’re an IC or manager, it’s always worth leaning into what success looks like for you. Often this isn’t linear and doesn’t look the same as what it looks like for everyone else. Let’s normalise this. 🤎
—Candi Williams, head of content design, Bumble
As an IC, the definition of “success” is often clear: your content performs, your stakeholders like you, your boss praises your work.
But in both lead IC and people management roles, that definition often unravels. You’re no longer writing all the words or as close to the design sprints. You love helping others win, but you also need your own validation (you’re human, after all).
You’re not alone. So many content designers and strategists struggle as they take on leadership responsibilities—because their old definition of success no longer fits, but they aren’t sure where to find a new one.
So what does success look like as a leader? That’s what this event will help you figure out. You’ll hear how our panel of content leaders has made the shift into different forms of leadership, and what they’ve learned along the way. We’ll talk about:
How do definitions of “success” need to shift to embrace a leadership role? How are those definitions different for managers than for lead ICs?
If there are fewer “gold stars” for management work, where can content leaders get their validation?
What boundaries, practices, and mindsets have most helped content leaders make this shift?
After the panel, you’ll take what you’ve learned and apply it right away in a brief activity designed to help you redefine success in sustainable, healthy ways. You’ll leave feeling less alone as a leader, and more prepared to give yourself the gold stars you deserve.
This event is a follow-up to Candi Williams’ LinkedIn post on finding validation as a leader. Thank you to Candi for sparking a much-needed conversation and helping us plan this event!
Panelists
Malaika Carpenter: design supervisor, U.S. Digital Corps at GSA’s Technology Transformation Services
Helen Lawson: lead content designer, Co-op Digital
Keri Maijala: senior content design manager, LinkedIn
Candi Williams: head of content design, Bumble
Hosts
Panel moderator: Sara Wachter-Boettcher, founder and coach at Active Voice
Group facilitator: Jen Dionisio, coach at Active Voice and content strategy director
Agenda
Panel discussion (45 minutes)
Audience Q&A (15 minutes)
Breakout activity and closing (20 minutes)
Register now
Choose the ticket that best reflects your current situation. All revenue from this event will go to pay our panelists and support UNICEF’s earthquake relief efforts in Syria and Turkey. We appreciate you registering at the level you can afford so we can maximize our donation!
$25 - Standard ticket (for those who are currently employed or can afford to pay)
$50 - Corporate ticket (for those with company support for this cost, or who can afford the higher ticket level)
Free ticket (for those who are unemployed or experiencing financial hardship)
All registered attendees will receive a recording of the event.
About our panelists
Malaika Carpenter
Design leader, civic tech
Malaika Carpenter is a content strategist and writer currently in a design leadership role in a civic tech agency. She has developed digital content teams, practices, and operations that deliver long-term results for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, U.S. Department of Justice, and various tech startups. She’s convinced that creative self-expression and stories can empower people and bring them together. She loves to help people find the right words, methods, and opportunities to share their message with the world.
Helen Lawson
Lead content designer, Co-op Digital
When Helen saw someone cross the road rather than talk to her mum after her brother died 20 years ago, she became passionate about improving the conversation around death. She once trained to be a funeral director and is now a lead content designer at Co-op Digital, specializing and leading the tone of voice work for Funeralcare. She recently hosted an online event for content designers all about death, dying and bereavement and is a specialist in this field.
Keri Maijala
Senior manager, content design, LinkedIn
Keri Maijala has been in the user experience space for more than 20 years, focusing on creating and organizing good, relevant content that uses human words for human people. Lately, she’s been spending her professional time exploring how to best demonstrate the value of content design and what it means to be a leader. In her non-professional time, she’s hanging out with her husband and bald Pomeranian in Santa Cruz, CA, and trying to figure out how to sneak roller skates into Disneyland.
Candi Williams
Head of content design, Bumble
By day, Candi’s a content leader who loves nothing more than supporting her team, solving complex ContentOps challenges, and flying the important flag for inclusive design. By night, she’s a published author of four books—and counting. When she’s not waging the war against unnecessary jargon and inaccessible, head-scratching content, you’ll probably find her tweeting about content and inclusive design, growing her crystal collection, desperately trying to meditate more, or seeking out more brightly colored kicks.