Lessons from LinkedIn to Calendly: Building a Design Career, and Scaling Design Systems | Jess Clark (Head of Design, Calendly)

Welcome to the very first episode of ADPList’s Podcast!

Every week, our Co-Founder Felix Lee will dive into exclusive discussions with top-tier design leaders and AI experts. Absorb tangible, result-driven advice to empower your work's journey from inception to market-dominating success.

In this View From The Top episode, we talk to Jess Clark, the Head of Design at Calendly. Jess has had a remarkable career journey, starting as the first design intern at LinkedIn and eventually taking on the Director of Product Design (Design Foundations) role at LinkedIn. She shares her experiences leading product design at Calendly and building teams and culture while balancing parenthood. Join us as we dive into Jess's insights and learnings on:

• Jess's career journey, including her time at LinkedIn and how she became the first design intern there.

• Her current role at Calendly and her challenges in leading product design there.

• Building teams and culture, and how Jess balances being a mom of three with leading a design team.

Connect with Jess Clark:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hellojessclark/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellojessclark/

Connect with Felix Lee:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felixleezd/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/felixleezd

In this episode, we cover the following:

(00:00) Introduction and Jess’s background

(5:30) Utilizing her front desk receptionist role at LinkedIn

(6:50) Design System Manager at LinkedIn and the Challenges faced

(10:09) Challenges for building design infrastructure

(13:25) Discussion for Design teams around the rise of AI

(15:25) Misconceptions and Tools for Design Systems

(21:25) Business impact for designers

(24:40) Transition to Calendly and new challenges in the first year

(31:42) Tips on prioritization and design roadmap

(38:02) Team culture building while raising children

(42:30) Jess’s leadership style and values

(45:10) Tips for moving from IC to management

(48:17) Key factors to Jess’s successful journey

(50:37) “Doing the boring things” and the following personal milestones

(54:00) Closing Thoughts and Outro

Reference:

---

ADPList gives every person the freedom to grow together - by opening doors to mentors worldwide. Join over 190K+ learners and meet your mentor today. We’re on a mission to give the world the freedom to grow together.

If you find this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend, and consider subscribing if you haven’t already.

Recorded with ❤️
Felix