“I thought, OK shit they’re gonna fire me now”… – Monkomon
The following blogpost is a summary of my chat with Monkomon. Listen to the podcast interview on Spotify:
or on YouTube:
Olivier (00:42): So just for the people listening, this is Monkomon. Welcome to the UserExperience.org podcast 👋.
Monkomon (00:46): Thank you.
Olivier (01:03): I’ll briefly introduce you. We were both in an entrepreneurial group chat in the Netherlands, and I saw you asking about design or UX hackathons or projects to work on for your CV or portfolio. I reached out, gave you some tips, and referred you to UserExperience.org.
Monkomon (01:09): Yeah.
Olivier (01:27): We started chatting, and I interviewed you about a week ago. I did a usability test with you on interfas.ai, where I was working as a product designer. Since you’re a UX designer, it went smoothly, and you provided great insights. Thanks for that.
Monkomon (01:40): Yeah, that’s true.
Olivier (01:51): Then I thought 🤔… why not have you on the podcast to hear your thoughts. You’re a freelance UX designer, researcher, illustrator, and marketer, but I’ll let you introduce yourself too!
Monkomon: (02:10): Absolutely. Thanks for having me. It’s exciting. I like to introduce myself as a multi-hyphenate designer—a term I learned from LinkedIn. I do a lot of things. I don’t just call myself a product or UX designer. I used to say graphic designer, but I also do print and marketing. I didn’t want to limit myself, so for a while, I said I was a visual/UX designer, but that can be confusing. Not everyone understands what UX entails, even though it’s a big term these days.
Olivier (02:55): Mm-hmm.
Monkomon (03:02): Now, I just say I’m a designer. I do a lot of things. When it comes to UX, I also do branding, strategy, and marketing, which overlaps with customer experience. I apply what I learn in UX to a wide range of projects. I’ll share some examples as we go.
Olivier (03:26): I love turning this into more of a story or journey. My first question is, how did your career start? Or even before that, what did you want to be when you were a kid? 👧
Monkomon (03:40): I had a long list 📜. I wanted to be a singer, a vet, an actress, maybe a fiction writer. I spent a lot of time playing around with Photoshop and Paint when I was younger. I thought maybe there was something I could do with that. I had a lot of creativity and wanted to apply it. I was always drawing and doing crafts. I thought the traditional career path would be to study at the Academy of Fine Arts and become an artist 🎨. My family expected I would make paintings and sell them, but it’s a tough market.
Olivier (04:58): Yeah, I can imagine.
Monkomon (05:07): You need to find your own style and meaning. I also felt that if it became a struggle, I might not enjoy it anymore.
Olivier (05:27): Yeah.
Monkomon (05:29): I was confused for a long time. I studied many different things with little overlap. I also thought about becoming a translator, but I didn’t.
Olivier (05:43): In some sense, you are a translator.
Monkomon (05:45): Sometimes, yes. But it wasn’t that exciting for me.
Olivier (05:57): I meant translating clients’ ideas into your vision, like a UX direction.
Monkomon (06:07): Ahh yes, exactly. I enjoy learning from others and sharing my knowledge. I’m not afraid to interpret or communicate ideas.
Olivier (06:27): Right. After graduating from the Fine Arts Academy, what was your first job?
Monkomon (06:46): I did a master’s while freelancing, doing DTP, illustration, and logo design. I studied media and communications for my master’s. It was interesting, but not very applicable. We learned how things evolved—from radios to TV to streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch. Things change so quickly that what we learned often became outdated by the end of the year ⌛.
Olivier (07:42): Yeah, I get that. I’m doing a master’s in AI, and everything we’re learning feels outdated already.
Monkomon (07:54): Exactly. University gives you a degree, but it doesn’t always provide skills you need in the future. It teaches you how to collaborate, hopefully.
Olivier (08:10): Yeah.
Monkomon (08:15): But when you start working, it’s a completely different situation.
Olivier (08:21): In your case, it wasn’t a huge shift because you freelanced on the side and gained practical experience.
Monkomon (08:26): True. I also volunteered. During my studies, I worked at the marketing association at the university. That was my first experience working with more stakeholders—not just one person with an idea but following guidelines and delivering for an entire association.
Olivier (09:03): Got it ✅. Did you ever have a full-time job, or was it mostly freelancing?
Monkomon (09:18): I worked at a big company for a few years. I applied, got the job, and started as an intern. It was a full-time position and a big shift. I went from designing things to deciding direction and briefing agencies.
Olivier (09:36): Mm-hmm.
Monkomon (09:49): It was mostly project management with some creative tasks. I shifted from making things to overseeing them, which taught me a lot.
Olivier (09:59): What did it teach you?
Monkomon (10:10): How to explain ideas, communicate across cultures and age groups 💬. You can’t make something that works for everyone. There’s no universal solution. Launching a product takes time and collaboration.
Olivier (10:36): Right. Do you have an example where something didn’t go as planned?
Monkomon (11:08): Yeah, absolutely. In my first year, I made some decisions on behalf of other people. And I didn’t really communicate it openly because I thought, OK, I’m actually doing everyone a favor by reducing their workload. Essentially, I wasn’t. I added work because I didn’t communicate it, right? So I did something and then there was feedback. The feedback was, yeah, something went wrong in the process…
And I thought, OK shit 😰 they’re gonna fire me now.
Well, they didn’t fire me. That’s good 😌. It was explained to me how stuff works and how sometimes, I mean, it’s great that you take ownership, but there’s some things that you definitely have to bring up or let you just go up to someone and say, hey, I have this situation right now.
Olivier (12:09): Like a mentor vibe?
Monkomon (12:13): Yes, or a good manager. I learned a lot from experienced colleagues. I had great people to rely on for advice.
Olivier (12:35): And that was at the big Dutch company?
Monkomon (12:40): Yes.
Olivier (12:41): After that, you worked there for a while. How did you end up freelancing?
Monkomon (12:45): I also worked at a startup in between. I wanted to go smaller and apply more creativity. I did freelance work and volunteering on the side because I couldn’t decide on one path 🤔.
Olivier (13:07): I’ve noticed that people often get detached from the craft as they grow in their careers, which can lead to burnout. How can you grow while staying engaged?
Monkomon (13:51): It depends on your personality. Some parts of my job were tedious, and I wished they could be automated so I could focus on the fun stuff.
Olivier (14:14): Yeah.
Monkomon (14:24): Many of my friends ended up in completely different jobs from what they studied. People often realize they don’t want to do what they studied for the rest of their lives. They find their passion elsewhere. They start doing something else, realize they’re good at it, and make it their career.
Olivier (14:50): Right. After leaving the big company, what did you do next?
Monkomon (15:00): I worked at a startup, which was quite different from a big corporate environment. I wanted to apply my creativity more directly. The startup was a smaller team, and I had more freedom to experiment and take on multiple roles, which was great for growth. I also continued freelancing on the side, doing UX, branding, and illustration projects.
Olivier (15:30): That sounds like a big shift. What was the biggest challenge transitioning to a startup?
Monkomon (15:40): The biggest challenge was definitely the lack of structure. In a big company, everything is established 🛃—processes, guidelines, teams. At a startup, you have to create everything from scratch, which can be both exciting and overwhelming. You wear many hats, and sometimes you have to do things outside of your expertise. It taught me to be resourceful and adaptable.
Olivier (16:10): I can imagine. So now, as a freelancer, what kind of projects do you enjoy the most?
Monkomon (16:18): I love projects where I can combine different skills—branding, UX, and illustration. I enjoy working with clients who are open to experimentation and who value the design process. I also like projects that have a social impact, especially those that help people connect or improve their well-being. It’s fulfilling to work on something that makes a difference.
Olivier (17:20): Nice! It sounds like you have a lot on your plate. How do you manage your time? ⏱️
Monkomon (17:28): Time management is always a challenge. I try to set clear boundaries between work and personal life, but it’s not always easy. I use tools like Trello and Notion to organize my tasks, and I prioritize projects based on deadlines and complexity. I’ve also learned to say no to projects that don’t align with my values or that I know will be too stressful.
Olivier (17:55): That’s smart. Any final advice for aspiring designers or freelancers?
Monkomon (18:00): My advice would be to stay curious and keep learning. The design field is always evolving, so it’s important to adapt and stay up to date. Don’t be afraid to take on different types of projects, even if they seem outside your comfort zone—that’s where the growth happens 🌱. And most importantly, find work that excites you. Passion is what will keep you going.
Olivier (18:30): Great advice. Thanks so much for joining, Monkomon. It’s been a pleasure having you on the podcast.
Monkomon (18:35): Thank you for having me. It was great chatting with you.
Olivier (18:40): For those listening, you can find more about Monkomon’s work, and collaborate with her at monkomon.com. Thanks for tuning in!
Transcript was generated and edited with <3 with the help of AI
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