Mia Manders

I transitioned from graphic design, where I spent 15 to 20 years, into UX design, which I've been doing for over a decade. That transition was very hard and had a huge learning curve - I think that was the hardest part of my career. I'm pretty much self-taught with everything except my music degree. Back in the day, when things were simpler and computers were just becoming a thing, you could get on a job and learn on the job as long as you wanted to learn and you knew something about computers. That is the way I have learned the most - just doing it. I was lucky because I got a lot of opportunities to do that. I've worked for companies like Nike, RealPage, Texas Instruments, International Market Centers, Trimble, and Lithia, designing applications, user interfaces, and prototypes from the ground up. Now I'm self-employed, doing graphic design work including apparel design for sports, social media design, print design, and even dabbling in AI video work. I'm also starting my own e-commerce brand called Romology for travel and adventure products. This transition into being self-employed is hard, but I'm enjoying it, except for the money part. I would really love to have my own businesses.