GNGreg Niejadlik
Founding mentor
🐰 5 sessions
Principal UX Strategist | Founder @ Needle Peak Design
About
I help mid-career UX and product designers get unstuck in their careers, strengthen their strategic thinking, and become more influential. With 25+ years in design across Amazon, IDEO, startups, and consulting, I've worked across the full spectrum of product design from hands-on execution and complex enterprise systems to product strategy, team leadership, and business transformation. As a mentor, I bring honest advice based on real experience. I can help you tell a stronger portfolio story, prepare for senior-level interviews, navigate the transition from individual contributor to leadership, or make better decisions when dealing with complex products and stakeholders. I'm also happy to share what I've learned about going freelance and building an independent UX consultancy. My approach is straightforward: understand the problem, challenge assumptions, focus on what matters, and leave you with practical next steps you can actually use.
How I can help
I help both early or mid career designers polish their storytelling and focus in their job search. I help design leads or managers grow their skills to speak with influence.
Ask me about
IC to manager
First or only designer
A failed launch
Layoffs
Building a design system
First design hires
Growing into leadership
Presenting to execs
Imposter syndrome
Influence without authority
Negotiating comp
Pivot into design
Craft to strategy
Stakeholder standoffs
A hard problem I've navigated
Craft to strategy: My work history is grounded in craft and execution. I'm a designer. However, when I stepped away from in-house to create my own consultancy, the shift was positioning. I stopped selling UX as a deliverable and started selling a business operating system. That reframe helped me with workflow redesigns, client system restructuring, and solving hard problems. This is about speaking the language of decision makers.
Expertise
Experience
Founder, UX Principle Strategist · Needle Peak Design
2020-Present
UX Consulting Strategist and Advisor · i2o Retail
2022-Present
Sr Director, UX and Design · CommerceIQ
2021-2022
UX Lead · Amazon
2005-2018
Head of Product Design · Helping Hands Community
2020-2022
Department Lead · REI
2002-2005
Interaction Designer · IDEO
2000-2002
Visual Interface Designer · SANDbOX Advanced Development
1999-2000
What mentees say
2 testimonials on Hop · 792 sessions and 5.0 on ADPLIst, checked by the Hop team. See it on ADPLIst ↗
Quotes from other platforms are shown as given and aren't part of this mentor's Hop record.
Mentees say:prepared · 1honest · 1great listener · 1
Greg is such an amazing person and mentor, he took me through how he handles his work, interactions with users and stakeholders, how quantitative and qualitative data are being collected. He is also honest and got great feedback! I would def recommend him !
preparedhonestgreat listener
ahmad · Oct 2026 · 1:1 session
Greg was exceptionally knowledgeable and inciteful on all kinds of design philosophy.
Nate · Aug 2026 · 1:1 session
Amazing communication skills and deep subject knowledge made complex ideas easy to understand. He provided insightful information. My overall experience exceeded expectations, and I highly recommend booking a session
A mentee on ADPLIst · verified Sep 2026
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