Shows
Lift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiReimagine Your Career: Design a Future AI Can't ReplaceIn this solo episode, I am sharing the most personal talk I have ever given.
Two years ago, my consulting work disappeared almost overnight. After years of leading product and design teams and advising organizations like GoFundMe, Penn Medicine, and Harvard Business Review, I suddenly found myself lost and unsure of what came next.
This was my messy middle.
It turned out it was also the beginning of everything, including my own reinvention and the start of Lift Up Connections.
In this talk, I present a teaser of the tools and...2025-07-2736 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiBlack Women Rising: Rest, Resistance, and the Power of Collective Healing with Dr. Jade SingletonDr. Jade Singleton is a former investment banker turned DEI strategist, researcher, and founder of the IKONI Collective, a wellness collective devoted to centering and sustaining Black women.
She’s also the creator of Ninety-Two, a new documentary funded through Kickstarter (ending July 22) that tells the story of Black women quietly leading a new blueprint for liberation through healing, rest, and collective resistance.
The title Ninety-Two refers to the 92% of Black women who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 only to have been sidelined, silenced, or disappeared in the months that have followed.
In th...2025-07-1750 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiRedefining Success on Your Own Terms with Melissa Appel, Author of AlignedIn this episode of Lift Up Connections, Christine sits down with Melissa Appel, product leader, author of Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders, and a longtime supporter of women forging their own paths in tech and life. Christine and Melissa first connected as mothers navigating demanding careers, and their relationship has evolved through shared vulnerability, values, and vision.
They explore what it means to reimagine your career from the inside out, and how to navigate transitions with clarity and courage. Melissa opens up about her decision to step away from traditional product leadership roles, why writing Aligned...2025-07-0945 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiBlending UX Consulting with a Mission-Driven Passion Project: Christine Perfetti on The UX Consultants’ LoungeThis week, I’m doing something a little different. I am the one in the interview seat.
I am excited to share my recent conversation with longtime friend and UX pioneer Kyle Soucy on her brilliant podcast, The UX Consultants’ Lounge.
In this personal episode, Kyle and I explore how my two-decade UX consulting career laid the groundwork for Lift Up Connections to support mid- and senior-level women at career and life inflection points.
We discuss the fears and freedom of reinventing your path, why community is essential in uncertain times, and what it m...2025-07-031h 18Lift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiDesigning for Equity and Responsible AI with Shanae ChapmanIn this episode, Christine Perfetti chats with Shanae Chapman, founder of Nerdy Diva, civic tech leader, AI innovator, and advocate for inclusive design and equity in tech.
Shanae shares her journey from growing up in North St. Louis to building an impressive career in public service, UX, and entrepreneurship.
Christine and Shanae discuss the power of role models and mentors, and how Shanae's navigating challenging industry shifts with resilience. Shanae shares why she built Mocha Mama, an AI tool designed to support maternal health for black women and how she’s pushing for equity through hu...2025-06-1849 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiHow to Manage Your Inner Critic with Catherine Norman: From Self-Doubt to Self-CompassionChristine interviews Catherine Norman, a renowned counselor, about managing the inner critic, one of the most common challenges facing women in business and tech.
Catherine breaks down why our brains have a negativity bias and explores how inner critics develop at different ages throughout our lives: from the emotional 5-year-old who experiences all-or-nothing thinking to the logical but rigid teenager who sees only black and white outcomes.
The conversation includes the "facts versus assumptions" exercise, strategies for talking to the different inner voices, and the importance of recognizing that many successful paths exist rather than...2025-06-1529 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiCreative Careers, Bold Pivots, and Claiming Space with Marli MesibovIn this episode, Christine chats with Marli Mesibov, the Content Strategy Director at Verily, an Alphabet company, to explore her journey from theater stage manager to content strategy leader in health tech.
Marli opens up about the twists and turns her career has taken, the creative roots of her UX strategy and content design work, and the intentional choices that helped her redefine success.
Marli shares how her background in theater sharpened her ability to organize ideas and tell stories, how she found her way into UX through curiosity and serendipity, and the lessons learned...2025-06-0440 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiHow to Build a Momentous Life with Malaika Simmons"You will never have more of what you want until you want what you already have.”
Christine Perfetti chats with Malaika Simmons, TEDx speaker, founder of Momentology Media, and creator of the Momentology™ Method to explore what it means to live with intention, purpose, and authenticity.
Malaika shares her story as a "facilitator of discovery" where she leveraged her psychology, history, and neuroscience background to create Momentology, a trauma-informed framework for self-awareness and resilience.
Christine and Malaika discuss the foundational pillars of Momentology: Awareness, Gratitude, and Expectancy. Malaika explains how these principles can empow...2025-05-2945 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiMessy Middles and Meaningful Career Moves: Amanda Stockwell on Designing What’s NextIn this episode of Lift Up Connections, Christine sits down with Amanda Stockwell, a longtime UX consultant, Duke University professor, and co-founder of The List, a nonprofit connecting university students to startups.
We explore what it means to take big and brave career steps without knowing exactly where you will land. Amanda shares how she transitioned from corporate roles to consulting, then into teaching and nonprofit leadership. Each time, Amanda was driven by intuition, connection, and a desire to do meaningful work.
Christine and Amanda discuss:
Navigating burnout and seeking more purpose
Embracing the “me...2025-05-2143 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiRadical Transparency, Reinvention, and Finding Your Next Chapter with Tamara AdlinTamara Adlin is a pioneer in the UX and product world who is widely known for her groundbreaking work on personas and her talent for speaking truthfully about the team and personal dynamics that shape and sometimes derail our work.
Tamara's the co-author of The Persona Lifecycle, a longtime independent consultant, and the host of the new podcast, Corporate Underpants.
In our conversation, Tamara and I talk about the messy middle of our careers, including the grief of letting go of who we once were professionally, the courage to try something new, and the feelings...2025-05-0747 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiHow to Survive Workplace and Collective Trauma with Alla WeinbergIn this personal and raw episode, Christine sits down with Alla Weinberg, a design leader and expert in psychological safety, to talk about trauma, something we don’t often talk about at work.
We often experience trauma in many different areas of our lives, including when we are managing workplace dynamics, parenting, or dealing with systemic barriers in our jobs. Alla shares her perspective on what trauma really is and how healing can start by building deep connections.
Christine and Alla discuss the trauma many of us carry without realizing it until something cracks open, su...2025-05-0550 minLift Up Connections with Christine PerfettiVisionary Leadership in Health, Design and the Messy Middle with Amy HeymansChristine Perfetti is joined by Amy Heymans, founder of Beneficent and co-founder of the renowned design agency Mad*Pow.
A force for good in the healthcare and design communities, Amy shares her journey from young designer and mom to building and selling her multimillion-dollar agency. At Beneficent, she is creating dignified futures through participatory design and visionary leadership.
Christine and Amy discuss how to navigate career inflection points, the challenges of motherhood, how futures thinking can change the world for good, and why we must "stop being selfish and share our brilliance with the world."2025-04-2949 min
The UX Consultants LoungeChristine Perfetti - Blending UX Consulting with a Mission-Driven Passion ProjectIn this episode of The UX Consulting Lounge, host Kyle Soucy reconnects with long-time friend and UX veteran Christine Perfetti for a deeply honest and inspiring conversation about career reinvention, self-worth, and the power of authentic connection.After decades of success in the UX world—most recently through her consultancy, Perfetti Media—Christine found herself at a professional and personal crossroads. Instead of staying the course, she decided to explore something new: a passion project called Lift Up Connections, where she brings women together in small cohorts to help them navigate career and life inflection points with clar...2025-04-011h 17
Tent Talks by Chicago CampsTent Talks Featuring: Christine PerfettiSession OverviewChristine Perfetti dives into the concept of "Strategic Rallying" as a team-based, collaborative approach aimed at setting and executing a strategy and product vision with a focus on understanding and involving both external users/customers and internal team members of an organization. She shares insights from her experience, particularly a successful implementation at Aquia, where a one-day workshop with cross-functional teams led to significant alignment on product vision and strategy. Perfetti emphasizes the importance of involving the team in the process to foster ownership and execution on the vision. Additionally, she provides steps for organizations...2024-03-0536 min
Her Screen Thoughts - Movie & TV ReviewsAbbott Elementary - ABC Series ReviewCheck out Screen Thought’s review of ABC’s Mockumentary, Abbott Elementary! Hollister and Wilder rave about Abbott Elementary because sometimes watching television should be sheer fun and laughter, and they announce April’s Film Club choice. Wilder’s pick this month. Bridgerton. Hollister’s eyes roll but she’s in.
Premise: "A group of dedicated, passionate teachers—and a tone-deaf principal—are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where they are determined to help their students succeed in life."
"Though these incredible public servants are outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do and fight the odds stacked up against them—...2022-03-2920 min
The SpoolCastChristine Perfetti - Jumpstart Your UX Research ProgramUX folks often have to sell the importance of the field to stakeholders. That’s also the case with user research. The costs and time associated with starting a research program, and actually interacting with users, are sources of a lot of friction. Organizations are now seeing the value in user research but it’s daunting to know where to begin. It’s also difficult to fit research into an already established process.2013-08-0829 min
Usability Tools PodcastThe Truth About Page Download TimeThis week, Christine Perfetti asks Jared Spool about User Interface Engineering’s groundbreaking study on download time. In this study, we found the actual download time of a page didn’t impact a site’s usability.2007-09-2421 minUsability Tools PodcastInherent Value TestsThis week, Christine Perfetti asks Jared Spool about one of UIE's most valuable usability testing techniques, Inherent Value Tests. Inherent Value Testing gives the team important information about how well a web site communicates the inherent value the designers are putting into the site.2007-09-1724 minThe SpoolCastAn Interview with Cooper’s Kim GoodwinIn today's SpoolCast, Christine Perfetti, UIE's Managing Director, sits down with Kim Goodwin, the General Manager and Vice President of Design at Cooper. The folks at Cooper are widely regarded for their design methods, including Goal-Directed Design and Personas.2007-08-1434 minUsability Tools PodcastGallery PagesIn this week’s episode, Christine Perfetti asks Jared Spool about UIE’s research on Gallery Pages. Gallery Pages, the list of links to content, are a web site’s hardest working page. They are the final page that determine whether users will successfully find their content.2007-08-1321 minUsability Tools PodcastHome Page DesignIn this Usability Tools podcast, Christine Perfetti asks Jared Spool about UIE's latest thinking on home page design.2007-08-0623 min