Technically Speaking

TL;DR

Technically Speaking is a podcast and community I created to amplify underrepresented voices in design, business, and technology. Over five years it grew to 80 episodes, listeners in 100+ countries, and in-person events across two continents — all self-funded, built alongside a full-time role at LinkedIn. In 2025, the format evolved from audio to written content focused on design leadership in the AI era.

The Origin

Technically Speaking launched in March 2020, right as the pandemic pushed the entire industry remote. Live audio was having a moment — Clubhouse had just opened up, and suddenly anyone could host a room and have a real conversation with people across the world.

I started hosting live sessions there because I noticed a gap. The conversations happening in mainstream design media didn't reflect the experiences of people who looked like me or came from non-traditional paths. The voices getting amplified were overwhelmingly from the same backgrounds, the same companies, the same schools. I wanted to create a space where the real, messy, human side of building products and leading teams got the attention it deserved — from people who'd actually lived it.

The early sessions were informal. No production, no brand, no plan to turn it into something bigger. Just honest conversations about what it actually takes to build a career in tech when the playbook wasn't written for you.

Growing Into a Podcast

The live sessions kept drawing people in, and it became clear the conversations had value beyond a single Clubhouse room that disappeared when it ended. I decided to formalize it into a proper podcast — investing in production quality, building a brand identity, and creating a consistent format that could reach a wider audience.

Over the next few years, Technically Speaking grew to 80 episodes. The show covered a wide range of subjects, always grounded in real experience rather than theory — topics like navigating the IC-to-manager transition, building design organizations from scratch, facilitation as a design problem, hiring frameworks, burnout prevention, stakeholder management, and the evolving role of design in the age of AI.

I did all of this alongside my full-time role leading Marketing Solutions design at LinkedIn. No team, no sponsors, no funding. Just a microphone, a calendar, and the conviction that these stories mattered.

Beyond the Microphone

The podcast was always about more than episodes. It became a community. Listeners reached out from across the world — designers in Lagos, product leaders in Berlin, new managers in São Paulo — sharing how a particular conversation helped them navigate a difficult situation at work or gave them the confidence to pursue a leadership path they didn't think was open to them.

I brought that energy offline with in-person events in San Francisco, Oakland, Brooklyn, and Lisbon. These weren't conferences or panels — they were intentionally small, intimate gatherings where people could connect over shared experiences. The format mirrored what made the podcast work: create a space, ask the right questions, and get out of the way.

The Impact

• 80 episodes produced
• 100+ countries reached
• 5 years running
• 4 cities with live events
• 2 continents
• $0 external funding

Topics That Resonated

What made Technically Speaking connect with people wasn't polish — it was specificity. The episodes and articles that resonated most were the ones rooted in real situations, not abstract frameworks. A few recurring themes defined the body of work:

• The IC-to-manager transition. What actually changes when you stop designing and start leading — the identity shift, the new skill set, the things no one warns you about.
• Hiring and team building. How to evaluate craft, drive, adaptability, and storytelling. The cost of getting it wrong. Building championship teams, not just filling headcount.
• Burnout and team health. Why creative work is uniquely draining, why leadership quality is the single biggest predictor of retention, and what managers can actually do before their team burns out.
• Design maturity and organizational influence. Reframing the conversation from headcount ratios to actual strategic impact — adoption vs. efficacy.
• Cross-functional collaboration. Navigating blurred lines between design, product, and engineering without running to your manager first.
• Design leadership in the AI era. How the full-stack designer model is reshaping expectations, and why the frameworks we used to swear by don't fit anymore.

The Evolution to Written Content

After five years of audio production, I made the decision to evolve the format. The time investment of producing a podcast alongside a demanding full-time role had become unsustainable. But more importantly, the kind of content I wanted to create had changed. The conversations I was having were getting deeper, more nuanced, more framework-oriented — and written content was a better medium for that depth.

In early 2025, Technically Speaking shifted to a Substack newsletter. The focus narrowed to design leadership, management, and organizational thinking in the context of AI and industry shifts. The subjects included co-authored series with other design leaders, actionable frameworks for managers, and pieces that challenged conventional wisdom about design maturity and organizational influence.

All 80 podcast episodes remain free and available. The written work builds on the foundation of five years of conversations — same voice, same honesty, new format.

Reflection

The biggest lesson: consistency compounds. Showing up every week for five years, even when it was just me and a microphone after a long day at work, built something that reached further than I ever expected.