Aliena Cai

If you’re a 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫 planning to update or procrastinating on 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨, I’ve got something for you.

I’ll be hosting my first Lightning Lesson on Maven: Turn Your Design Portfolio into an Interview Magnet 🧲 (it’s free!)

We’ll cover:
✔️ 5 principles for building a great portfolio
✔️ The 3-step recruiter journey framework
✔️ 3 quick ways to improve your portfolio homepage

These are the same original frameworks that will be taught in our upcoming Fast Track UX Portfolio Lab on Maven 🤫

If you’re a product designer preparing for your next career move, I think you’ll find it useful!

📅 Tuesday, July 21 · 10:00 AM PDT

❤️ Three years ago today, I quit my product design job at eBay to work on my side hustle full time.

I told my mom I’d give it 3 months.

She told me to give it 3 years.

Today marks year three. 🍄

Since then, we’ve grown this community to 150,000+ people, published 56 long form YouTube videos, built the product design bootcamp I wish I’d had, become an official Figma Partner Bootcamp, taught 1,000+ students, built a six figure business, funded 2,430 days of free education, and sponsored 654 months of internet access for students in need.

Looking back, the numbers tell a story of steady progress.

Living through them felt very different.

Most days felt slow. Messy. Uncertain. I rarely felt like I was making enough progress.

Looking back, I realize growth doesn’t always look like moving faster.

Sometimes it looks like quietly becoming someone capable of things you couldn’t do before.

Today, I’m simply grateful.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Here’s to the next chapter. ❤️

- Written from London