For designers, career growth is typically discussed only in terms of growing into managers —but what about those who want to stay hands-on because of they love the craft? According to Kim Bost, it’s possible to be both an individual contributor and manager, and even go back and forth. She makes the case that having management experience, mentoring skills, and being able to connect design work to larger company goals improves your ability as an individual contributor and enables staying rooted in what got you passionate about design in the first place.

With more than 15 years experience, Kim Bost is a product designer and art director. She joined Work & Co in 2020 as a Design Director. Previously she was a principal designer on the Product Design team at Dropbox and has served in design lead roles at Cover and Etsy.