Julie Kennedy joins Be Kaler Pilgrim for a grounded, honest conversation on what it really means to lead in design today.
Drawing on a career that spans from Yellow Pages to Amazon, Vodafone and PokerStars, Julie reflects on how design leadership has evolved from craft and creativity into something far more commercial, accountable and people-focused.
A big theme is community. From early UX meetups to global speaking stages, Julie highlights how the design world has always thrived on collaboration, generosity and shared learning and why that still matters. Her central provocation is simple but important: design is still not doing enough to prove its value to the business. Too often, teams focus on craft, process and aesthetics, while leadership teams are focused on growth, speed and results.
Bridging that gap is where modern design leaders need to step up. Julie is clear that this is not about losing creativity. It is about translating it. Understanding the business model, speaking the language of commercial outcomes and showing how design decisions move the dial are now essential skills.
The conversation also touches on the harder side of leadership. Julie shares that making redundancies has been her toughest challenge, reinforcing that empathy, honesty and care are not soft skills but core to leading well. What stands out most is her view on legacy.
While she has delivered major commercial impact, her proudest moments come from developing people and seeing them go on to lead, build and succeed in their own right.
Key takeaways include:
Design needs to speak the language of business, not just the language of craft.
Outcomes matter more than outputs.
Commercial awareness is a core skill.
Understand how your company makes money and design with that in mind Get out of the design bubble.
Build relationships with stakeholders and be present in strategic conversations early
Transferable skills matter.
Great designers can move across sectors if they are willing to learn the business.
Diverse thinking strengthens teams.
Hiring beyond narrow domain experience brings fresh perspective Leadership is human.
Difficult moments like redundancies require empathy, clarity and respect.
Developing people is the real legacy. Strong leaders create other leaders.
