Taking the Leap
I was 22 and fresh out of college when I landed a position as Designer #2 at Thoughtbot — one of the world's most respected Ruby on Rails consultancies. They'd built complex systems for major tech companies, had an incredible reputation for quality, and were known industry-wide for their technical excellence.
But after a few months of designing buttons and small features, I had an audacious thought: "I can do this. I can start my own company. Why am I waiting?"
Most people would've considered it crazy to leave one of the best development and design agencies around, especially as a fresh graduate. But I saw how a great agency worked from the inside, and instead of waiting years to work my way up, I decided to build my own.
I called up my friend Caroline. "What if we started our own design studio?"
The next day, I walked into Thoughtbot and gave my notice. With nothing but our portfolios and a shared vision of what design could be, we founded A Good Company.
Building Something Special
What happened next proved we could deliver on that audacious vision. Our work started turning heads. We were featured in net Magazine and HOW Magazine, and began collaborating with some remarkable clients:
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Mozilla: Aza Raskin hired us to design their groundbreaking extension system and marketplace for Firefox. This wasn't just visual design — it was complex system design that had to work for millions of users.
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Stripe: When they were still
/dev/payments, just two ambitious brothers back from Argentina, they trusted us to design their first brand, website, and app. We helped translate their technical vision into something that felt accessible and human. -
PRX/NPR: We redesigned PRX's entire website, a massive undertaking that required managing complex stakeholder needs while maintaining their reputation for quality.
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MetaLab: One of the most respected names in interface design, known for their work with tech giants like Slack and Google, hired us to design Tumblr themes that became wildly popular. For a young studio to earn their trust was validation of our capabilities.
Each project proved we could handle increasingly complex challenges. But more importantly, each one forced me to grow beyond just design:
- Learning to defend design decisions to Mozilla's legal team
- Translating technical complexity into clear interfaces for Stripe
- Managing large-scale project scope and stakeholder expectations for PRX
- Delivering consistently at the high bar MetaLab demanded
Building Our Own Vision
What made us different wasn't just our age — it was our ability to execute on multiple fronts. Fresh out of school, we weren't bound by industry conventions. We built a studio that reflected our capabilities:
Our blog became a hub of creative exploration, where we shared everything from design techniques to career advice. We turned our process into content that helped others learn and grow.
But we didn't just write about design — we built tools to solve real problems:
A Good Portfolio™
I designed and built this because I saw how many talented artists and designers couldn't afford custom portfolio sites. The drag-and-drop system and customizable themes democratized good design — making it accessible to everyone, not just those who could afford custom work.
The League
What started as a type experiment became the first open-source type foundry. We created professional-quality fonts that designers could use in their work, for free. It wasn't just about typography — it was about proving that open-source design tools could be as good as their commercial counterparts.
IRS Redesign
We took on the ultimate design challenge: making government paperwork human. Our award-winning redesign proved that even the most rigid, bureaucratic systems could be transformed through thoughtful design. It wasn't just about making things pretty — it was about making them work better for real people.
Learning the Hard Way
Starting a studio at 22 meant learning everything through real stakes and real consequences. There was no safety net, no senior team to fall back on — just the raw reality of building something from nothing. What I learned changed not just how I worked, but how I thought about design, business, and technology:
Trust Comes From Understanding: I discovered that great design isn't just about visuals — it's about deeply understanding what people need, and why they need it. When you can articulate the thinking behind every decision, when you can show how each choice serves a larger purpose, that's when you build real trust. That's when clients become partners.
Complexity Demands Clarity: Working with large organizations taught me that the best solutions are often invisible. It's not about adding more features or fancy interfaces. It's about finding the core of what matters and making the complex feel simple. About knowing when to push back and when to adapt. About keeping everyone aligned without losing sight of the vision.
Technical Excellence is Human Excellence: I learned that technical decisions are really human decisions. Every architecture choice, every system design, affects how people work and what they can achieve. The best technical solutions aren't just about performance or scalability — they're about empowering people to do their best work.
Leadership is Earned Daily: Building a studio taught me that leadership isn't given, it's earned through consistent execution and unwavering standards. It's about creating an environment where everyone can do their best work. About knowing when to step back and let others shine. About maintaining the highest standards while helping others reach them too.
Working alongside industry talents and being part of vibrant communities showed me that excellence is a practice, not a destination. Every project, every challenge, every setback was a chance to refine not just what we built, but how we built it.
What This Journey Built
Looking back, what I built wasn't just a successful design studio. I built myself into someone who can:
- Take complex technical and business challenges and turn them into elegant solutions
- Lead projects from initial vision through successful execution
- Build and manage teams that deliver exceptional work
- See opportunities others miss and execute on them effectively
- Handle both the creative and technical sides of digital products
- Turn constraints into advantages through creative problem-solving
Most importantly, I proved I could build anything I set my mind to — from a successful agency at 22 to complex technical systems for major clients to tools that helped other designers grow.
Want to Work Together?
If you're looking for someone who can handle the full stack of digital product development — from technical architecture to beautiful design, from project leadership to hands-on execution — let's talk. I've built successful products and teams from scratch, worked with some of tech's biggest names when they were just starting out, and consistently delivered results that exceed expectations.
Because great digital products aren't just about design or code or business strategy. They're about bringing all these elements together to create something exceptional. And that's exactly what I do.