MYMissy Yarbrough
Founding mentor
🌱 First session
Senior Product Designer @ Procore
3testimonials Austin, TX Chicago (UTC-5) 10+ yrs in design
About
Hiyo! I’m Missy—a Senior Product Designer and Career Coach who literally tripped into the world of professional software development with an art degree in hand. Raised in Mississippi as an American-born Chinese woman, my path has never been a straight line. By day, I design complex enterprise software systems. Outside of work, my heart belongs to creative communities and fandom culture. If you’ve ever attended Dream Con, you might have walked through the massive exhibit hall I helped curate—managing selection, layout, and operations for hundreds of artists and vendors. Because my own story spans fine arts, fandom events, and enterprise tech, I have deep empathy for anyone navigating non-traditional paths. As a coach, my vibe is warm, grounded, and direct. You don’t need to fit into a rigid corporate mold to succeed—you just need to own your story. I show up for my mentees with heart, practical clarity, and an authentic peer-to-peer style so you can drop the performative "corporate pitch" and build a career that actually feels like you.
How I can help
I help early-career designers, career changers, non-traditional creatives, and event exhibitors own their unique stories, sharpen their execution, and navigate their next steps with clarity. My Approach: No rigid corporate templates or generic advice. Just real-world strategy, honest feedback, and a clear roadmap to turn your unique creative background into your greatest asset. - Tripping into tech with a non-traditional/art degree - Prepping artist alley & vendor submissions (optimizing for selection!) - Freelance to full-time transition - Layoffs, reorgs & building resilience - First or solo designer challenges - Navigating stakeholder standoffs & exec presentations - Organic networking (without feeling pushy) - Public speaking (I used to preside over IBM Austin Toastmasters for a couple of years!) - Imposter syndrome & owning your story
Ask me about
Pivot into design
Freelance to full-time
Returning from a break
Layoffs
First or only designer
Getting passed over
A reorg
Influence without authority
Stakeholder standoffs
Presenting to execs
Negotiating comp
Imposter syndrome
First design hires
Growing into leadership
Craft to strategy
A hard problem I've navigated
My path in tech was forged through unexpected turns—including navigating three layoffs in five years while balancing high-stakes community organizing and enterprise design work. Coming from a background where my identity and creative roots didn't always fit the standard mold, I learned early on how to turn setbacks into clarity. Every bump in the road became a prompt to refine my craft, rebuild with intention, and sharpen my positioning. Whether I’m reviewing a product design portfolio, helping an artist optimize their application for an exhibit hall, or coaching someone through a career pivot, I bring that same heart, resilience, and real-world experience to the table.
Frequently asked
How did you get into product design and event curation?
I’m an art major who literally tripped into professional software development! My path hasn't been a linear corporate trajectory—I built my career navigating complex enterprise design by day and leading massive fandom community events (like curating exhibit halls at Dream Con) by night. That blend of fine art, enterprise tech, and community organizing showed me how to turn non-traditional backgrounds into major career superpowers.
Do you review portfolios and event applications?
Yes! I review product design portfolios (UX/UI case studies, presentation decks, and take-home exercises) as well as artist alley and vendor applications for conventions. Whether you're trying to get hired by a design team or optimizing your application to land a spot in a competitive exhibit hall, we can audit your work to ensure it stands out to selection committees and hiring leads.
What should I prep before our session?
Come as you are! To get the absolute most out of our time together: - For Design Sessions: Bring links to your portfolio, resume, Figma files, or specific questions/blockers you're facing. - For Event & Convention Preps: Bring your portfolio/shop links, table setup photos, or past submission materials. - For Open Coaching: Bring 2–3 core topics or sticky challenges you want to unpack. You don't need a polished corporate elevator pitch—just bring your authentic self and where you want to go next.
Can you help me if I don't have a traditional tech or design degree?
Absolutely—that’s my specialty! Having entered tech with a fine arts background myself, I specialize in helping non-traditional creatives translate their unique experiences (whether in fine art, community organizing, customer service, or freelance) into compelling UX stories that hiring managers understand.
I’m feeling burnt out or stuck in my current role—can we talk strategy instead of portfolio work?
100%. Mentorship isn't just for job hunting. We can use our time to unpack workplace dynamics, navigate stakeholder standoffs, combat imposter syndrome, or map out a strategic path toward promotion without sacrificing your sanity.
What happens after our session? Do you provide follow-up notes?
Yes! After our session, you’ll receive a summary of key takeaways, prioritized action items, and any relevant resources or templates discussed during our meeting so you can immediately start implementing changes.
How far in advance should I book before an upcoming interview or deadline?
For portfolio presentations, whiteboarding practice, or convention submission reviews, I recommend booking at least 3 to 5 days in advance. This gives you enough time to digest feedback and make necessary revisions before your deadline. That said, I'm open to quick bookings if your interview is rapidly moving along!
What’s the difference between a single session and long-term mentorship with you?
A single session is great for acute, targeted needs—like a quick resume teardown or pre-interview sanity check. Long-term mentorship is ideal if you're executing a broader career pivot, actively navigating a 2–3 month job search, or building sustainable leadership habits.
Will you refer me to open roles at your company or network?
While I don't offer direct referrals to first-time mentees, I will teach you the exact organic networking strategies to build genuine relationships with recruiters and hiring teams. If we work together over time and there’s a strong mutual fit, I’m happy to connect you with relevant opportunities in my network.
Expertise
UX Designer
Product Designer
Visual/Brand
Design Lead
AR/VR
Gaming
B2B SaaS
Consumer/Social
Negotiation
Interviewing
Graphic Design
AI tools
Enterprise
Experience
Senior Product Designer · Procore
2024 to Present
Partner with Product and Engineering teams to create delightful, effortless experiences in order to improve the lives of everyone in construction. Design and validate new experiences through mockups, wireframes, and other UX artifacts in order to drive improved optimization for enterprise resource planning including labor, equipment, and materials.
Career Coach · CareerCoach.Design
2024 to Present
Provide 1-on-1 coaching to clients seeking new roles and career elevation in various design focuses. Areas of focus include extracting storytelling value points, portfolio development, data driven case studies, design thinking, UI/UX philosophies, and more design foundational skills to attain dream offers from Microsoft, Google, Meta and beyond.
Logistics Manager (Exhibit Hall) · Dream Con
2022 to Present
Organize, design, and execute the exhibit hall experience for 200+ vendors and artists to sell their products at the following sold-out show years: - 2026: 45,000+ attendees - 2025: 33,000+ attendees - 2024: 24,000+ attendees - 2023: 20,000+ attendees
Senior UI/UX Designer · Virtuix
2022 to 2024
As a team of one, establish and continuously refine a design system with reusable components across desktop, mobile, and VR launcher platforms. Reexamine the existing experiences to deliver more usable and delightfully engaging interactions for the upcoming consumer product Omni One, an omnidirectional VR gaming system. Work closely with other cross-functional collaborators to ensure market alignment and product requirements.
Product Design Mentor · Pathrise
2020 to 2022
Provided 1-on-1 mentorship to guide fellows through both technical and behavioral aspects of the job search, such as portfolio editing, data driven case studies, design through the product lens, UI and UX design philosophies and more. Facilitated a thoughtful and inclusive environment for all fellows to learn and grow in their technical skills. Provided guidance in 400+ 1:1 sessions with product designers leading to 70+ offers from companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Carvana and more.
Product Designer · RapidDeploy
2020 to 2021
Supporting RapidDeploy’s native mobile application for dispatchers and first responders by bringing a user-centered design approach to solving complex design problems in a large, high-stakes ecosystem with multiple user types.
UX Designer · IBM
2016 to 2020
Identified user pain points, applied enterprise design thinking to forge cohesive collaborations between teams on an aligned roadmap, and ultimately delivered improved experiences for users interacting within the support, billing, accounts, and documentation spaces of the public platform.
Visual Designer · IBM
2014 to 2016
Resurfaced interfaces of various Cloud & Smarter Infrastructure software according to multiple customer validation sessions. Actively contributed to the collective effort to establish visual branding among former Cloud & Smarter Infrastructure products. Maintained and updated visual design depository including icons, data visualizations, blueprints, and other digital items.
Testimonials
Missy gave very detailed advice and I loved talking to her! As a beginner I feel she shared actionable steps that I can work on. Highly recommend! :)
Aashritha · Aug 2026
Missy was great, helped ease any worries I had, and was so friendly! She broke down some steps for me which seemed very daunting, gave me some good resources to look into and was very encouraging. :)
Jess · Aug 2026
Missy, was outstanding! Provided incredible useful information, feedback, & next solutions. We even went well over the timeframe. I highly Recommend her sessions!👌🏽
Sagar · Aug 2026