Dewa Mata Ne~

(Pictured above: Kellie's corgi + one-eyed kitty)

It’s been an incredible 5 years, but it’s with deep sadness to announce that I’ll be leaving Modern Species. Change is inevitable… And sometimes change kinda sucks. 

"でわまたね〜 | Dewa mata ne" means "see you later" in Japanese and I sincerely hope that's true.

In all honesty, I had hoped to stay at MOD until I was ready to retire. But with the rising costs of living in Seattle and wanting to have kids soon, my partner and I realized it was no longer financially viable for me to stay. (Tiny humans are expensive!) This was not a decision we took lightly… I even reconsidered if having a kid was worth the trade-off.  While I might not be retiring, I’ll take spending 1/6 of my life with y’all.  

That said, I will be returning to the digital product world and be contributing to a senior living directory platform as their new brand and product designer. I’m excited to learn more about this industry and to be designing for a demographic that’s usually overlooked when it comes to digital platforms. 

I want to thank you for trusting me with your incredible brands. It’s been a genuine privilege and an honor to work alongside all of y’all. You and the things we’ve created together is the reason I’ve been proud to call myself a designer. I’ll always be rooting for y’all from the sidelines! (And hopefully jumping in from time to time as a freelancer for MOD.)

And in true INFP/Enneagram 4 fashion, in moments of transition, I tend to get introspective and reflective. That said, here are a couple of thoughts I’d like to leave with y’all:

At their best, brands can be a vessel for hope and joy.
Y’all have helped restored mine. I know it’s hard to see the big picture when we’re in the minutiae, but y’all give consumers like myself hope. When a brand genuinely reflects our values, you make us feel less alone. You give us the agency and power to choose the type of future we want to invest our money into. We feel more connected to our environment, the things we consume, and the people around the world who contribute to your brands. 

It’s always better to give out of abundance than out of scarcity.
This is something I’ve learned from some local activist friends. You expend large amounts of mental and emotional energy when you spend most of your time subverting society’s standard and harmful systems. Passion fuels us, but it’s not enough on its own. Passion can actually drive us to burnout because when we’re lucky enough to be working for an organization that reflects our values, it’s easy to justify pushing ourselves to hit that next deadline, make that next sale, and/or come out with that next innovative thing. It’s important, but the tradeoff shouldn’t be your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. We want to take care of our planet, our workers, and our customers, but make space to take care of yourselves. That in itself is radical in a capitalistic system. And think of how much more we could bring to the table when we’re fully rested, healthy, and happy rather than drawing from a well of depleted internal resources. A more sustainable and just economy is important, but that can only be achieved when we take care of each other AND ourselves.