Ryan Phillips

Founding mentor

🐰 5 sessions

Open to work

Staff Product Designer @ Walmart

2testimonials Bentonville, Arkansas, U.S.A. Chicago (UTC-5) 15+ yrs in design

About

Hello, my name is Ryan and I am a product design leader with more than 15 years of experience in design. My journey has taken me from owning my own business, to agency, and to working at a Fortune one. Whether it's visual design, design & systems thinking or best practices for designers and design teams, I hope my expertise can help level up your design craft and support you in your own learning journey. I look forward to connecting, so grab a slot on my calendar and let's chat.

How I can help

I help coach & mentor product designers who are active in their career to provide insight and expertise as a design leader and IC.

Ask me about

Pivot into design

Freelance to full-time

Layoffs

First or only designer

A reorg

Getting passed over

Influence without authority

Presenting to execs

Imposter syndrome

Building a design system

First design hires

Growing into leadership

Expertise

UX Designer

UX Researcher

Product Designer

Visual/Brand

Design Lead

Agency

Design systems

Leadership

Interviewing

AI workflows

AI tools

Agentic AI

E-commerce & Retail

Education & EdTech

Nonprofit & Social Impact

Testimonials

My intro session with Ryan made me feel so much more at ease, knowing that I’m not alone and that there are people out there that truly want to help. Just set up my next session with him and looking forward to my portfolio deep dive!
Erin · Aug 2026
Ryan gave me actionable feedback on my portfolio, along with valuable advice on messaging and personal branding. I left our session with a much clearer understanding of how to position myself as a designer, and I appreciated how practical and to the point his guidance was.
Grace · Aug 2026

Sessions

Introductory SessionFree
20 min
Hey, I'm so glad you set up some time so we can connect! For this session I typically keep it pretty informal so you can have the opportunity to introduce yourself and so I can get to know a little about you and what you're looking for in a mentor. Feel free to bring a tea, coffee or you favorite beverage along with any questions you have for me. Look forward to meeting you!
Portfolio Review$50
30 min
Have a portfolio and need it reviewed? In this session, I will go over your portfolio with you and evaluate what your career goals are and how you want to position yourself for your next role. I will follow up with summary notes and action items after our session.
Design Critique - 1:1$75
60 min
In this session you'll bring your design work to demo and walk me through the user journeys that you need critiqued, along with the kind of feedback you are looking for. This session will be timeboxed so that we can have sufficient time to cover your work. You will be provided about 10 minutes to demo and the remaining session time will be used for the critique. Be ready to take notes as we touch on the various aspects of your work.
Design Critique - Asynchronous$75
Async · video reply within a few days
In this session you'll provide a link to your design work along with a documented explanation (in your design file) of the user journeys that you need critiqued, along with the kind of feedback you are looking for. I will provide you a detailed critique and summarized notes with action items for you to follow up on. NOTE: A 'design critique follow-up' can be booked if you want me to address the feedback iterations you have completed from your first session.
Design Critique Follow Up - 1:1 or Asynchronous$35
30 min
If you previously booked a design critique, this is your opportunity to book a 2nd session to go over your designer iterations based on the previous feedback. During this session it will be more of a back-and-forth as we evaluate the updates made and address any other outliers in your design that need to be addressed.

English

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