KKKarthika Kumar
Founding mentor
Associate Design Director @ Citigroup
New York New York (UTC-4) 10+ yrs in design
How I can help
My sessions cover portfolio reviews (including building strong portfolios without industry projects), AI product design (I lead AI and emerging tech initiatives at a global investment bank), interview prep and mock interviews, whiteboarding, career switching from PM or art director roles into UX, breaking into design, becoming a service designer, and navigating imposter syndrome. The list keeps growing.
Ask me about
IC to manager
Agency to in-house
Pivot into design
Freelance to full-time
Returning from a break
Layoffs
A failed launch
First or only designer
A reorg
Getting passed over
Influence without authority
Stakeholder standoffs
Presenting to execs
Negotiating comp
Imposter syndrome
Building a design system
Growing into leadership
First design hires
Craft to strategy
Expertise
UX Designer
UX Researcher
Product Designer
Visual/Brand
Design Manager
Design Lead
Fintech
Healthcare
B2B SaaS
Consumer/Social
AI/ML
Design systems
Freelancing
Leadership
Negotiation
Interviewing
Graphic Design
AI workflows
AI tools
Agentic AI