I want to pull back the curtain a little today.

A few people have asked me how I come up with what to write about.

The honest answer is that I don't.

You do.

Every post I've written in the last month came from a real conversation I had that week.

Someone told me they'd been applying for nine months with almost no interviews.

Someone described getting to final rounds three times in a row and getting the same vague rejection each time.

Someone said they'd spent $500 on a resume rewrite, taken a Maven course, worked with a career coach for six months, and were still exactly where they started.

I wrote about all of those things because they came from real people telling me what was actually happening.

In the last few weeks I've spoken to over 240 designers one on one.

Not in a group call. Not in a webinar. Real conversations, most of them on LinkedIn, one person at a time.

Some of them I can help. The fit is right, the timing is right, the situation is something I've seen before and know how to move.

Some I can't. The timing is off, the budget isn't there, the problem is outside what I do.

When I can help, I say so and we figure out together if it makes sense to work together.

When I can't, I try to point toward something useful and keep the door open.

That's genuinely the whole thing.

I also want to say something to the people who have been reading for a while.

Some of you have been following for years.

Some for months.

Some of you just found the content this week.

All of it is welcome.

What I write is a direct reflection of what designers like you are going through right now in real time.

If something I've written has landed for you, I'd genuinely love to know what it was.

Not for vanity reasons.

Because that's how I know what to write next.

And if there's something you want me to go deeper on, something that resonated but you want the full version of, reply and tell me.

I read every reply.

A lot of what I write starts as an answer to a question someone asked me in a DM or an email.

This one included.

Joseph

P.S. If you've been reading for a while and want to see what it looks like working with me directly, the details are here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mci8w5E9so_a5hjT1zIqjYM6W5EKfUooGmWtaUJLe_0/preview

Six seats. Closes June 30. After that the price moves to $5,000.

If you have questions just reply to this email.