Hello again! I’m Zeneh 😄

I’d love to tell you…

about how I mentored over 100 students, facilitated 1000’s of workshops (yes, 1000’s), and advocated for the needs of 1000’s of individuals during my time as a counselor.

But first, a little about my personal story. I am a first-generation Middle Eastern American. Growing up in the minority, I gravitated towards learning from other people’s lived experiences, which taught me to value diversity and inclusion. I’ve always had a gift of making people feel heard, included, and connected, so naturally, I worked as a counselor for 7 years. I built trust and rapport with individuals I advocated for and strengthened my empathy skills to better understand their needs and human behavior.

It was during the pandemic, when life was heartbreaking and filled with uncertainty, that I knew there was more to life, something more creative was calling my name that I needed to explore. I had dabbled in UX Design in 2018, and it was my passion for creativity that pulled me back to UX Design, where I could merge this passion with my psychology and counseling background, allowing me to connect with people, and help solve their challenges, creatively.

I then got to work, night and day. In my full-time job, I supervised and mentored students, and listened to their challenges. At night and on weekends, I dove into learning UX, reading books, learning new tools, connecting with other UX Designers to learn from, and most importantly, putting my user experience and visual design skills into practice. I thought I’d get burnt out quickly working around the clock, but it surprised me that I didn’t. I realized, you don’t grow as tiresome when you’re doing what you’re meant to do and loving it.

I knew it’d be important to create my own opportunities where I can, so I took the plunge, quit my full-time job, put my UX skills into practice by working with start-ups and small businesses, and I haven’t looked back!

TL;DR

I am…

first-generation, Middle-Eastern American

I value…

diversity, inclusiveness, and respect

I love…

new adventures, authentic human connections, and learning new things!

I enjoy…

words, through poetry and music

If I was not a UX designer…

I would be a song lyricist or backup hip-hop dancer 💃🏻

Does that mean I’m a good dancer?

No.

I am working on…

various freelance UX projects for start-ups and small businesses

A fun fact…

I third-wheeled as the Magic Carpet to my sister and brother-in-law’s Jasmine and Aladdin

I challenge myself…

to say yes to new experiences

I strive to…

be a better human than I was the day before 💜