Maria Nicholas - Service

Maria Nicholas grew up between continents, between cultures, and between disciplines, and has spent her career making that range work for her rather than against her. She came into UX from advertising and brand design, learned to code in a three-month bootcamp where she didn’t see the sun, and built her leadership philosophy around a simple idea: a good designer facilitates great decisions out of other people, they don’t arrive with all the answers. She is also, quietly and on her own time, the guardian of her father’s musical legacy, a project that took ten years and ended in a 508-page bilingual book she researched, designed, translated, and published entirely herself.This is a conversation about what it means to be in genuine service to others, to your users, your team, your collaborators, and the people whose stories you carry forward when they are no longer here to tell them. We talk about the difference between starting from yes and starting from no, and why yes, though is the more honest and more useful place to live. We talk about what AI can and cannot touch, about the heart skills that remain stubbornly, beautifully human, and about what it means to draw your own lines rather than waiting for someone else to draw them for you. Maria’s mother said it best, and it is worth hearing directly.If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.I’d genuinely love to hear from you. Want to support Awaiting Approval?Remember to rate this episode, and subscribe to the show.And you can get your hands on amazing Awaiting Approval caps, mugs and more, here: https://adam-jennings-shop.fourthwall.com/en-gbp This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit growwithadamjennings.substack.com/subscribe