Lis in 2009

As the end of the year approaches we see more and more “year end” posts and articles come through. At first, my cynical, sarcastic self thinks “gah I hate all these wrap up, year end articles!”. Then reason takes over and I realize it would probably be a good exercise to reflect on what I’ve done this year. So, here is my year in review.

Sitting back and thinking I realize that 2009 has been a HUGE year for me.
1) I went independent, which meant deciding to do UX on my own. Working for myself has been a dream of mine since I was a kid, and this year I brought that dream to life.

2) I began volunteering with the NYC IxDA. Due to this I’ve not only learned a ton, but I’ve met a slue of awesome, intellegent and talented people. IxDA has helped me to get myself out there and become part of the UX Community here in NY.
3) I spoke on my first panel (you can see me here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2600736) at this November’s New York Entrepreneur week. This was an invaluable experience that I absolutely loved doing and hope I get the chance to do again.
4) I’ve interviewed, met with, talked to, gotten advice from a LOT of awesome people. All of these pieces of advice have allowed me to start to see success as an independent worker and also as a UX Designer as a whole. A HUGE HUGE HUGE Thank You to everyone who took even a few minutes of their time to talk with me and answer my many questions. Hopefully I will get the chance to repay the favor one day.
5) I found one of my niches in the UX Community with my current UX Therapy group. These talented folks meet every week to begin to sort through the issues and good times that we find in our jobs, as well as to exchange ideas and help each other grow. I owe you guys a lot!

6) There is a ton more that I’ve accomplished this year (found the NY Tech community, attended more meetups and events that I ever thought possible, managed to function on almost 0 sleep and still made it to the gym to work out and destress) but I think the most important is that I started to believe in and have confidence in myself. I believe that everything I mention above and everything I’ve done this year has contributed to this accomplishment. All the people that have encouraged me and all of the experiences have meant and continue to mean so much to me.

2009 will go down in history as one of the best, most stressful, and crazy years of my life. Knowing that everything has been preparing me for even bigger and better things, I can’t WAIT to see what 2010 has in store. Stay tuned here to find out :-).