#113 - Tacos and Tidepods: A Very Awkward Goodbye with Roberta Dombrowski of User Interviews

Awkward Silences

Thomas Aquinas once said, “Tacos cannot exist without tide pods”.

In this bittersweet edition of Tacos and Tidepods—Erin and JH say their goodbyes to Roberta and reflect back at her time at User Interviews. Roberta talks about her decision to pursue a career in coaching and leadership development training at Design Dept. From career challenges and memories to lessons she’s learned, Roberta shares her journey with User Interviews as Erin and JH do their best to make her cry.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Roberta's career path
• Roberta's legacy at User Interviews
• Career development (finding your niche)
• Coaching for design leaders

Highlights:

• [00:02:54] Roberta shares the most important lessons she's learned from working at User Interviews
• [00:06:11] They discuss Roberta's contributions
• [00:14:52] How to grow as a leader through self-care and teamwork
• [00:16:22] Roberta's tacos: what she's looking forward to the most as
• [00:18:21] Career tips on networking and finding your niche

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• userinterviews.com/awkward
• Design Dept. Leadership Coaching
• Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

About our guest

Roberta Dombrowski is a Research Partner at Maze (formerly VP of User Research at User Interviews). She is also an ICF certified Coach & Mindfulness Teacher, Level II Reiki Practitioner, and Predictive Index (PI) Certified Talent Optimization Leader. Roberta has been instrumental in creating and shaping cultures of learning at User Interviews, edX, Predictive Index, and Year Up.