Newsletter issue: #146
Read time: 1m 59s

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Let me tell you a quick story…

In 2019, I landed what I thought was my dream job—Head of Design at a fintech unicorn.

• ​Fancy title. Check.
• Six-figure salary. Check.
• Big team to lead. Check.

I was crushing it professionally… or so I thought.

Plot twist: I quit a year later.

The unicorn 🦄 turned out to be a horse with a party hat glued to its forehead.

My workplace culture evaluation skills have improved 241% since then… and my ability to spot BS has improved 379%.

Real talk.

Here’s what I’ve learned about spotting real workplace unicorns:

Great places to work aren’t just about free lunches and ping pong tables. They’re not about education, wellness, or remote-work allowances. None of the ghost benefit matters.

They’re about how people treat each other.

Picture this conversation:

Bad Boss: We need this by Monday.

You: That’s impossible with the current scope.

Bad Boss: Figure it out. That’s what we pay you for.

vs.

Better Boss: We need this by Monday.

You: That’s impossible with the current scope.

Great Boss: Let’s sit down, figure out what we can realistically deliver.

One makes you want to update your resume, the other makes you want to actually solve the problem.

Here are the 10 green flags that separate “Sunday night dread” from “I actually like this job”:

1. Your manager is a leader, not a dictator​
2. Pay that matches the talk (crazy concept, right?)
3. Mistakes are seen as learning, not career-ending
4. Diversity beyond the stock photos on the website
5. ​Professional growth happens by design, not accident
6. ​Leadership you trust (or at least don’t actively distrust)
7. Work-life balance is real (not just an Instagram caption)
8. Colleagues who don’t make you wish for permanent WFH
9. Clear and open communication exists (no cryptic 4pm Friday emails)
10. You feel respected, not like printer paper (replaceable & jammed regularly)

After managing 50+ designers (and coaching hundreds), I’ve learned that culture isn’t accidental. It’s built deliberately by people who give a damn.

The truth is, workplace unicorns exist—regardless of the billion dollar valuation.

They’re rare, but they’re out there.

And sometimes, the difference between a toxic workplace and an amazing one isn’t even the company—it’s the specific team you’re on.

I’ve had teams where I’d gladly take a pay cut to stay, and others where no amount of money could keep me.

*Cough* My last corporate job *Cough*

The key? Learning to spot the green flags before you’re too deep in the red ones.

When I found these green flags, I used 5 tactical ways to leverage them for faster career progression. Here’s the full article that shows you how to turn culture into cash $$$ 🤑
(and happiness because that’s kinda important).

I spent too much time this week to turn my photos in "art". Have you tried ChatGPT's image generation yet? Upload an image and type "turn this image into Pixar style".