Design Your Next Act: Real Stories of Career Reinvention

Hosted by Christine Perfetti, Melissa Appel, Malini Rao, and Rob Fitzgibbon, Dr. Stephanie Gerber Wilson

182 students

What you'll learn

Clarify your vision of success

Hear stories of reinvention from Product and UX leadership to writing, podcasting, academia, and fractional leadership

Identify what energizes you

By surfacing common threads across these diverse career pivots, you’ll uncover what fuels you

Learn how Product and UX leaders made bold transitions

Hear lessons learned from leaders who made meaningful pivots and the mindset shifts that helped them move forward

Why this topic matters

In a messy landscape shaped by AI and economic uncertainty, reinvention is becoming a necessity in the Product and UX world. It's no longer a choice. This session will offer inspiration, perspective, and actionable takeaways for PMs and UXers to design a future that reflects who you are and what you care about most.

You'll learn from

Christine Perfetti

Lift Up Connections

Christine Perfetti is a social psychologist, product strategist, and founder of Lift Up Connections. With two decades of experience guiding individuals and organizations through moments of change, she helps professionals gain clarity, reconnect with their genius, and move forward with vision and momentum. She has led innovation and research programs at Harvard Business School, HubSpot, Penn Medicine, and more.

Melissa Appel

Product Management Coach and Author

Melissa Appel is co-author of the newly released book, "Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders." Melissa has 20 years of Product Management experience at companies in various industries, stages, and sizes. She helps product leaders create aligned strategies by getting the right people in the room and asking the right questions. Melissa's executive coaching focuses on process improvement, team development, and stakeholder management.

Malini Rao

UX Leader and Educator

Malini Rao is a results-oriented UX leader with a proven track record of scaling UX functions, driving innovation, and delivering exceptional user experiences for enterprise B2B applications. She's passionate about aligning design strategy with both business objectives and customer outcomes, while defining and tracking concrete experience metrics to measure success.

Rob Fitzgibbon, Dr. Stephanie Gerber Wilson

UX Leader & True Crime Novelist | Leadership Consultant & Political Podcast Host

Rob Fitzgibbon is a UX professional in the Boston area and a former board member of UXPA Boston. In between software design and coffee cupping events, Rob delves into local history for stories of the mysterious, the eerie and the forgotten. He is the co-author of Murder in Rockport, Massachusetts, published by History Press.


Dr. Stephanie Gerber Wilson is the host and producer of the podcast/column Freedom Over Fascism, where she interviews change makers, experts, storytellers, journalists, and officials to explore how to break through the right wing bubble with values-based messaging.

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