Becoming a Design Leader: Liza’s Journey Through Leadership Growth at Hyper Island

What does it really mean to become a design leader?

For experienced designers, the next step isn’t about mastering more tools. It’s about leading people, navigating team dynamics, and shaping how design decisions are made.

Liza, a brand and communication strategist with over a decade of experience in global agencies, reached a point where technical skill wasn’t the challenge anymore. Leadership was.

Here’s how her Hyper Island learning experience helped her grow into that next stage.

Liza has spent the last ten years working as a brand and communication strategist. Her career includes large global agencies such as Grey, BBDO, and McCann, as well as smaller design studios. She has also worked independently as a consultant.

On paper, everything was working. But internally, she felt something was missing.

She didn’t want to change industries. She wanted to grow within her field.

Many senior designers reach a moment in their careers where they may want to move from doing the design work to leading it. For Liza, this was one of those moments.

She realised that professional growth sometimes needs more than experience and wanted to develop stronger soft skills, a clearer leadership identity, as well as a deeper understanding of how to guide teams — not just deliver strategy.

It wasn’t about changing careers. It was about evolving within it.

Choosing to develop as a design leader also meant moving to a new country.

For Liza, that was the biggest uncertainty.

The idea of leaving her support system and navigating a country where she didn’t speak the language felt overwhelming. But once she arrived, the fear quickly softened.

What stood out to Liza was not just the focus on design, but the focus on soft skills and the human side of leadership.

The learning experience centred around facilitation, team dynamics, reflection, and collaboration. It looked beyond craft and into the human side of design.

Through hands-on modules and guided reflection, she gained a clearer understanding of her strengths and blind spots.

Instead of focusing on output alone, she began thinking about how teams function, how trust is built, and how psychological safety influences creativity.

One of the modules that stood out most was Product & Service Design, where she experienced exceptional team dynamics.

However, it was the Leadership module, facilitated by Ruthie Zerai Semere, that had the deepest impact on her.

For Liza, becoming a design leader meant doing inner work first.

• Understanding how she shows up.

• How she communicates.

• How she handles conflict.

• How she supports others.

That shift moved her from being a strong contributor to someone ready to lead.

The biggest change wasn’t just confidence. It was clarity.

She left with:

• A clearer leadership vision
• Greater confidence in managing teams
• Stronger self-awareness in decision-making
• A broader professional network
  

Today, she works on projects in the music and tech industries, areas she had been aiming toward for years.

She feels more intentional in the roles she takes and the direction she chooses.

Liza’s advice is refreshingly simple.

Growth doesn’t come from trying to control every outcome. It comes from stepping into new environments and allowing yourself to evolve. For designers considering leadership development, her story offers reassurance: You don’t need to change careers to grow. You need to deepen how you lead.

Liza’s journey shows that advancing as a design leader isn’t about mastering more tools — it’s about understanding how you show up, how you communicate, and how you guide teams.

If you want to grow intentionally within your career, strengthen your leadership presence, and build the confidence to support others, the Design Lead YH program at Hyper Island provides hands-on, reflective learning that helps you step into leadership with clarity and purpose.