At Persona, we're incredibly proud of our amazing team. We think they're smart, funny, and kind, and we're sure you'll think the same. That's why we started this blog series to help you get to know the people behind Persona.
Today, meet Christie Neo, a designer at Persona who likes birds, board games, and boba (though probably not as much as Mel 😉). She shares what her typical day looks like, her favorite memories at Persona so far, and more in this Q&A:
What does your typical day look like at Persona?
I start the day by checking emails, catching up on Slack, and continuing where I left off in Figma. Most of my cross-functional meetings start at 10 AM. For the rest of the day, I'm usually heads down in Figma or bouncing ideas off of others. We have our design critiques on Wednesdays, so I try to prepare my thoughts and questions around the problems I'm working through before then. I also check in with my product and engineering partners weekly and sporadically get looped into marketing or design system work on the side when I'm not too busy with product work.
Why did you choose Persona?
I chose Persona because of how humble and thoughtful everyone was upon meeting them. Both Rick and Christie (Kim) were not trying to pitch me on how great Persona is, but rather they made sure I was aware of the pitfalls of joining an early-stage startup and how it might impact my career as a new grad. So right away from my first conversations I felt like they cared about me as a person and not just what can I bring to the table skill-wise, and for someone that didn't have much prior experience in product design, it gave me the confidence that I could do a good job and focus on making mistakes and learning fast rather than worrying about if I was doing enough.
Since joining Persona, what has been your favorite memory working here?
My favorite memories have been talking to customers to understand how they've been using Cases and uncovering insights to improve their review process. It's always exciting seeing the team bouncing with ideas after a shadowing session with our customers!
Do you have a personal mantra or motto you try to follow?
"Your courage to do what's right has to be greater than your fear of getting hurt." Neel from our Reports team shared this quote as part of a challenge, and I use it as a reminder to not let my self-doubt prevent me from supporting my team and our customers.
Who is someone you look up to or admire at Persona and why?
Bill Valeriote from our engineering team and Mike Hu from our design team have probably shaped me the most. I admire how thoughtful and frank they are, the different perspectives they have, and their affirmation that it's okay if I didn't do my best work today — tomorrow is another day.
What is your favorite Personerds Slack channel and why?
My favorite Personerds Slack channel is the #pets channel. It's the highlight of my day to see what everyone's pets are up to, and I look forward to all the new outfits, nonplussed faces, and silly shenanigans. We had a challenge to see how long it would take our pets to get a treat out from under a cup and not surprisingly, the cats (and bunny) were not interested.
Stay tuned as we continue featuring more Personerds in this ongoing series!
