INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS: introversion doesn't go away, but you can override it with ambition

I'm deeply introverted. I recharge alone, avoid small talk, prefer email to calls. But you wouldn't know it watching me work.

Nearly 400 conversations with designers this past year. Built a LinkedIn group with almost 2500 members. Organizing regular in-person meetups with 100+ attendees. Daily LinkedIn posts for almost a year. Posting my face on the internet for the world. None of that comes naturally.

But I wanted to build something badly enough to push through it. An agency, a community, a name for myself.

Most designers are ambitious introverts. We love creating, not performing. But if you want your work to matter, you show up anyway. Speak up in meetings. Go out to the parties. Introduce yourself to strangers. Put ideas out before they're perfect.

The introversion doesn't disappear. I need recovery after events. I overthink posts. But I do it because what I'm building matters more to me than staying comfortable.

If you've been holding back because you're introverted, don't let it get in your way anymore. You have more to offer the world.

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