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I help you align your skills, energy, and environment to find career vitality at every stage of your journey.
Are you feeling frustrated, anxious, or burned out?
You’re likely in a state of dissonance where your skills (your craft), your energy (your internal battery), and your environment (external expectations) are out of sync.
Move from dissonance to resonance
I provide strategic coaching for your life's work, backed by 10 years of in-industry coaching and 20 years of design leadership—including 18 years at Google.
Work in resonance when you align three critical areas
1. Skills: Mastery with ease
When you identify and build on your natural talents, you become more effective with less friction. What if your work could feel like a natural extension of your strengths?
2. Energy: Sustained vitality
Skills mean nothing if you’re burnt out. Optimizing for tasks that fuel you allows you to be both productive and energized. What if your work gave energy back to you?
3. Environment: Meaningful context
Your work must be valued to be sustainable. Establishing clear expectations with your team and organization helps you design a context you can thrive in. What if you worked in alignment with those around you?
How we work together
I provide strategic partnering for every stage of your design journey.
With real-world industry experience and deep empathy for the unique pressures tech workers—especially women—face, I help you navigate everything from silencing imposter syndrome to the profound transition into parenthood.
Together, we audit your skills, protect your creative energy, and negotiate your environment so you can own your unique journey with confidence.
Mapping your career
Best for: Designers feeling stuck, burnt out, or misaligned. We dive deep into your current skills, energy, and environment to identify where the friction lies.
The Outcome: A "Resonance Blueprint" to help you pivot, renegotiate, or refocus.
Building leadership
Best for: Designers looking to grow their skills, expand their impact, and increase their strategic influence to lead at scale. We build on both the hard and soft skills required to succeed in design.
The Outcome: Mastery in storytelling, confidence to drive strategy across multiple teams, or frameworks to enable effective co-creation.
Navigating change
Best for: Designers navigating parental leave, returning to work, or major life shifts. We design a practical plan for your return or pivot that protects your boundaries without sacrificing your goals.
The Outcome: A clear set of environment expectations and a narrative that positions your life changes as an evolution of your leadership so you can thrive through every life stage, not just survive.
Landing a new role
Best for: Job seekers aiming for top-tier tech roles. Get an insider’s perspective on what it takes to stand out at the highest levels of the industry.
The Outcome: A high-impact portfolio and resume review with interview prep that helps you articulate your unique value and land the role you want.
Testimonials
"Alena was instrumental in my navigating the complexities of impact in a large tech environment. She helped me understand my work values, align my goals towards those values, and overcome obstacles to getting there."
Karen S.
Coached while transitioning from Content Strategy to UX Research @ Google
"Thanks to her guidance, I felt confident enough to communicate my true aspirations and boundaries to senior management. As a result, I gained exciting new opportunities and got rid of the work I didn't enjoy. If you're looking for a coach who can help you unlock your own power and transform your professional path, Alena is great!"
Suja
Staff Designer @ Google
"Alena not only helped me improve the quality of my work, but she also helped me reframe the way I think about growth and promotion during times when I was feeling stuck in my career. I learned to lean into my strengths and ultimately found a new role with help from Alena."
Courtney C.
Coached while @ Google. Now Staff Product Design @ Reddit
Ready for more resonance?
Request a discovery call by submitting a brief intake form.
This will help me understand your current career stage and the specific dissonance you’re looking to solve.
What happens next?
Review: I review your intake to ensure my coaching approach is a good fit for your goals.
Discovery call: We meet for 20 minutes to see whether working together feels aligned — with no commitment required.
Proposal: If we decide to move forward, I’ll send a tailored estimate and coaching agreement.
Strategic partnership: We examine your skills, energy, and environment to design your next chapter — so you move forward with clarity and confidence.
About me
In the design world, we are obsessed with alignment—between users and products, or stakeholders and goals. But we rarely discuss personal alignment.
After two decades in tech, I’ve learned that the most successful designers aren’t just the ones with the strongest portfolios; they are the ones who have mastered their resonance.
My journey: Engineer, PM, Designer
I didn’t start with all the answers. My own journey was a series of intentional pivots. I began as a software engineer, transitioned into product management, and eventually found my home in design. I learned the craft on the job—exploring interaction design, design systems, and design strategy while navigating the complexities of 18 years at Google.
The challenge of scale
In a high-pressure industry, it's easy to lose your sense of self. I spent nearly two decades at Google navigating the pressures of scale, leadership, and my own imposter syndrome. Rather than following the traditional design ladder, I carved my own path to become a design leader focused on scaling strategies and frameworks. This required diligent optimization, proactivity, and a lot of patience. It was worth it.
Designing resonance
Along the way, I navigated the transition into motherhood and discovered the transformative power of coaching. Through training and practice, I learned how to design my own resonance and help other tech workers do the same.
Why I coach
I found deep healing by working with coaches I trust. They guided me through a structured, intentional process of self-alignment to define what living authentically looks like for me. This investment transformed my career and my life, enabling me to honestly embrace who I am and navigate the complexities of life with peace, strength, and openness at work and at home.
I coach to help others find their own resonance.
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