What I shipped, what I carried, what I learned in 2025
When I came back from maternity leave...
Why you’re getting this: I'm Cat. 20+ years in Design, currently at Amazon. This newsletter is honest advice on design, influence, and career growth in big tech. No fluff. No corporate polish. Just what I wish someone had told me.
When I came back from maternity leave, a colleague asked if I'd had "an enjoyable vacation." 🫠
That question lived in my body all year.
2025 was the year I shipped $218M in impact while proving I still belonged in rooms I'd earned my way into years ago.
I tackled a problem hiding in plain sight: international sellers choosing brand names that killed customer trust on Amazon. The result was Brand Name AI, which prevented 21k problematic names before they ever reached customers.
When I inherited analytics product mid-year, I shipped insights in 30 days. $10.5M in downstream purchases followed.
My biggest bet was solving cold start, the brutal reality that new Amazon products don't sell for 90+ days. I created 350 design concepts. Ran 4 rounds of research with 1,119 sellers. Delivered 9 presentations up to the CEO of Amazon Stores. That project is now the foundation for agentic AI and recommendation systems.
The work was good. The conditions were not.
These projects weren't properly funded. I lost team members to attrition with no backfill. I carried constant mental load managing fragile egos while my own leadership was suppressed and contained. I spent too much energy proving my ownership was visible.
Through this, I reached a new level of emotional intelligence. Where you learn to sit in uncomfortable balance instead of forcing resolution. The kind where tact becomes a strategic choice, not a personality trait.
Working on my resume and year-end summary reminded me who I am. I became a bolder advocate for myself. I started taking up space I'd earned rather than waiting for permission.
And because my cup is fuller now, I can pour into others. I'm helping a junior designer rewrite her promotion case after being passed over for three years. I'm coaching designers in difficult work circumstances to ground themselves and fight back.
Deb Liu's piece on motherhood and career articulated what I've been living. The unconscious bias penalty is real. The survival mode is constant. The balancing act is daily.
Deb Liu
What I didn't do: influence anyone outside my walls. My newsletter, YouTube, and social media all took a backseat. Posting was inconsistent. Subscribers flatlined.
Honestly? I don't write to sell you anything. I had a random traffic spike from China on my "Dogs Not Barking" episode and still have no idea why. Maybe I should start using 18th century keywords like "cattywumpus" and see what happens. LOL
2025 was the year I proved what I do best: find the opportunities others miss, build conviction through research, and ship with velocity when the path doesn't exist.
And that the hardest work isn't always the work that gets measured.
I'm collecting stories about the invisible tax of proving yourself at work. If you have one, reply with the subject line "invisible tax." I might feature it in a future issue (anonymously, unless you say otherwise).
If you like this content, consider supporting me, your independent writer with a coffee. ☕️
Have a great weekend,
