Jonathan ReedNo. 551 · Graphic Designer and App Developer
Apple
Designers
Founders
IKEA
Minimal
Plants
Standing Desks
Sheds & Garages
How five designers actually use Figma
Ellen Chisa is a Founder in Residence at Boldstart Ventures, where she enjoys working with engineers before and while they are starting their companies. If you’re an engineer who is thinking of joining or starting an early stage company, she is always down to chat.
Before Boldstart, she started Dark, a programming language and new way to build serverless backends.
She likes to keep her desk fairly empty, so she keep everything mounted on Ikea pegboards and shelves behind her. She tries to keep things that make her happy and remind her of people she loves in her office. Here is a selection of those things.
Follow Ellen on Twitter.
What is your favorite item in your workspace?
Favorite item is definitely the Kindle. I read a ton so it makes it easy to always have a book handy (in my office, before bed, or while traveling), and regardless of if it's light or dark out.
How do you spark creativity?
I tend to Spark Creativity by trying to get "unstuck" somehow. My two most frequent options are free writing, or if I'm too stuck for that I'll pull a card (a Tarot card, an Intuiti card, or an IDEO method card - just to get a new idea in there).
How do you keep the work-life balance?
I don't tend to get resentful about working. I'm one of the few people I know who even enjoys reading my email - so thank you to everyone who sends high quality email! On the whole I tend to just go where my energy is. If I want to take a break for a workout at 2pm on a Tuesday, I will, and if I want to work on a Saturday I will.
