Why People, Not Projects, Were My Top Priority as VP of Creative
When I served as VP of Creative Products, my focus wasn’t on tasks, tools, or timelines.
It was on people.
I never took for granted the privilege of leading a team. If someone needed a second set of eyes on a design, I made myself available, even outside regular hours. When an email came through and a client wasn’t happy about the design they received I jumped in to see what may be the issue- was it their communication? Was it the designer misread or skipped something? Call me Sherlock Holmes when these situations happened. And in our 1-on-1s, I made it a point to pause the work talk and check in on them.
Not the designer. The person.
“Hey, how’s life?”
“How’s your family?”
Or for one globe-trotting team member: “Where in the world are you today?”
I remember one conversation where a team member shared they were feeling burned out, with life and work. That opened a door for us to talk through boundaries, rhythms, adjusting workload and even their overall health, though I made sure to mention I’m no doctor. What started as a check-in turned into clarity and eventually a deeper trust in my relationship with them.
Other times, our conversations would drift into things they were passionate about—like board games or Dungeons & Dragons. I hadn’t touched DnD before, but a manager on my team once shared how much they loved it. After that, I’d occasionally hop on Amazon and send them a unique set of dice—not as a reward, but as a reminder:
I see you, I care for you, as a human.
Clients were just as important. I’d often reach out directly—not to upsell, but to listen.
How are they feeling about the designer we paired them with? Are we hitting the mark? Where can we improve?
One client told us they were leaving the church to start psychology classes. I instantly told them how much we would miss them and how things wouldn’t be the same without them. Also, after the call, I skipped over to Amazon and grabbed them a “reMarkable” to take notes with as they were in this new season of life.
Something shifted in me when I stopped seeing leadership as checking boxes and started seeing it as tending to a garden.
Watering: Encouraging someone even when they felt unseen
Pruning: Having honest conversations about what’s holding someone back.
Listening: Be a listening ear when things are good and bad.
Serving: Jumping in to finish deliverables (because that seemed like the least desirable job of designers).
That mindset changed everything. And in return, it changed the people I led—and the work we created together.