KKKarthika Kumar
Founding mentor
Associate Design Director @ Citigroup
New York 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
Design Lead
Interviewing
Freelancing
Consumer/Social
Negotiation
Healthcare
Fintech
Design Manager
Leadership
Graphic Design
AI workflows
Design systems
Agentic AI
AI/ML
AI tools
Product Designer
Visual/Brand
UX Designer
B2B SaaS
UX Researcher