Marina Krutchinsky

Bring your challenging career or work situation, or even office politics questions, and we'll work through them together.

Before the session (send at least 48 hours ahead):

→ Your questions

→ Context around them

→ All relevant materials

→ Key players involved and their current dynamics

→ Any previous attempts to resolve the issue or relevant background information

→ (optional) Any links you want me to look at and take into consideration.

During the session, we’ll work on:
→ Real-time analysis of the situation and underlying factors

→ Potential scenarios and outcomes for different approaches

→ Map out your next move and communication strategy

→ Anything else you need clarity on to feel fully prepared

You’ll leave with:

→ Clear guidance on how to handle this specific challenge

→ A grounded perspective on your professional standing and boundaries

→ Tactical next steps tailored to resolving the situation effectively

→ Newly found (or re-confirmed :) confidence to tackle your situation

[Reframing your IC work as Leadership] You're interviewing for a Director role and you've never held the title for. This session pressure-tests your stories so you walk in sounding like a leader, not a senior IC who got lucky.

This session is for you if--

→ You’re a Senior, Lead, Staff, or Principal UX professional interviewing for Director roles
→ You’ve never held a Director title before., OR held one at a small company
→ You have interviews in the next 2–4 weeks
→ You suspect your answers may still sound too tactical

Before the session (send at least 48 hours ahead):

→ The completed prep brief (I'll send it to you to fill out right after booking)

→ 4–6 career stories drafted using my structure (about an hour of work)

→ The job descriptions for the roles you're interviewing for

I read and pre-audit everything, so we spend the full hour working and fixing.

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During the session

→ We audit your stories for Director-level altitude

→ We find which answers land and which sound under-leveled

→ We reframe your weakest stories in real time

→ We sharpen your language around leadership, judgment, influence, and business impact

→ We run 4–5 live mock questions and coach your answers on the spot

You’ll leave with

→ A clear read on which stories work at Director level
→ Reframed language for your weakest answers
→ Live feedback on how you come across under pressure
→ A specific fix list for the days before your interview

You're probably already doing the work of a leader, you just haven't gotten the title, or the credit that should come with it, and honestly, that gap is exhausting to carry.

So over 3 sessions, we'll close it.

First we figure out how people actually see you, then we rebuild the way you tell your story, then we get you moving on your next step.

Before we start (send these at least 48 hours ahead):

→ Your questions, and where you feel stuck

→ Any career material that's relevant - resume, case studies, brag doc, a promo packet if you've got one

→ Your LinkedIn, and any other links you'd want me to look at

Session 1 -> Let's see where you actually stand.

We get honest about the distance between the leader you already are and how you're being read right now.

→ How you come across "on paper" vs. the impact you really have

→ What your scope and influence actually are, underneath how they're being talked about

→ The specific thing that's keeping you boxed in as "a great IC"

You'll walk away with a clear, honest read on where you stand - and the one or two gaps worth closing first.

Session 2 — Let's rebuild your story.

We take what we found and turn it into a story that sounds like leadership - built from your real work, not some abstract formula.

→ Reframing what you've done as leadership: the messes you absorbed, the calls you made, the people you grew

→ Making your seniority land in seconds

→ Live feedback from me on your positioning, your case studies, how you talk about your impact

You'll walk away with a sharper story and a case for your value that holds up even when you're not in the room.

Session 3 -> Let's make the move.

We turn all of that into actual next steps and the conversations that get you there.

→ Mapping your move , be it a promotion, bigger scope, a role, or jumping somewhere new

→ Talking through the real conversations ahead: your manager, your skip, whoever actually decides

→ Stress-testing how your case holds up in the rooms you're not in — calibration, hiring, leadership reviews

You'll walk away with a real, sequenced plan you can start on that same week.

One last thing on how this works: While we'll follow the diagnose → rebuild → move sequence, we'll actually let what you need set the pace. Just bring the real stuff — the doubts, the half-formed questions, all of it — and we'll work through it together.

And you'll leave the whole thing with clearer answers, a grounded sense of your own value, a plan that's actually yours, and that confidence (new or just re-confirmed :) that you've been a leader all along.

You signed the offer. Now you have to deliver in a room full of people who didn’t hire you, inside an organization you don’t fully understand yet.

This 3-session bundle helps you enter strategically, uncover what’s really happening, and turn what you learn into visible evidence that hiring you was the right decision.

This bundle is for you if:

→ You just accepted a Director, VP, or Head of Design role
→ You haven’t started yet, or you’re in your first few weeks
→ You’re stepping into a bigger scope than you’ve held before
→ You’re entering an organization with incomplete information
→ You want to build credibility without making premature promises or changes

Before Session 1

Send at least 48 hours ahead:

→ Your role scope and reporting line
→ The mandate described during the hiring process
→ What you currently know about the team and organization
→ Why you were told the position was open
→ Any expectations, concerns, or promises already discussed

You are not expected to have the full picture. We use what you know to identify what still needs to be discovered.

Session 1: Enter without stepping on landmines

Before you can build the right plan, you need to know what to look for.

→ Separate what you know from what you’re assuming
→ Identify the gaps you need to investigate
→ Build the questions to ask during your first weeks
→ Determine which relationships to prioritize first
→ Identify the changes and promises you should avoid making too early
→ Create a listening strategy that helps you uncover the real mandate

You’ll leave with:

→ A first-30-days discovery plan
→ An initial stakeholder map to validate
→ Questions for your manager, team, and executive peers
→ A clear first move for your opening weeks

Session 2: Decode what you walked into

After you’ve had time inside the organization, we make sense of what you’ve learned.

→ Compare the role you were sold with the role you actually inherited
→ Map the real political and organizational terrain
→ Identify who holds formal power, informal influence, and critical context
→ Diagnose the team’s strengths, risks, and unspoken expectations
→ Surface conflicting agendas before they become your problem
→ Clarify what success means to the people evaluating you

You’ll leave with:

→ A validated stakeholder and influence map
→ A clearer definition of your actual mandate
→ The people and relationships you need to prioritize
→ The early warning signs to monitor

Session 3: Build the plan leadership will notice

Now that we understand the real environment, we turn that knowledge into a focused plan.

→ Build or recalibrate your 30-60-90-day plan
→ Select early wins that matter beyond Design
→ Decide what to protect, change, investigate, and leave alone
→ Define how you’ll make progress visible without overpromising
→ Prepare for difficult stakeholder or team conversations
→ Shape the leadership narrative attached to your first 90 days

You’ll leave with:

→ A 90-day plan grounded in the organization you actually joined
→ Clear priorities and visible success signals
→ A communication plan for your manager and executive stakeholders
→ Scripts for the conversations you need to have next
→ A strategy for turning early credibility into lasting authority

By the end of the bundle, you’ll know what you walked into, where the real risks sit, and how to prove your value without moving faster than your understanding.

A two-session bundle (30 min each) for UXers/product designers who want to walk into the real interview with sharper answers, stronger stories, and a clearer sense of how they come across through a hiring manager / VP lens.

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Session 1: Interview Prep (30 min)

We’ll review the role, the interview format, and the stories you plan to use.

We’ll identify:

→ Which stories are strongest
→ Which stories sound too tactical
→ Where your answers may raise doubt
→ What the hiring manager is likely listening for
→ What needs to be tightened before the mock interview

You’ll leave with a focused prep plan for the second session.

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Session 2: Mock Interview (30 min)

We’ll run a realistic mock interview based on the role you’re targeting.

I’ll ask the kinds of questions hiring managers and senior leaders use to assess:

→ Judgment
→ Ownership
→ Collaboration
→ Tradeoffs
→ Strategic thinking
→ Business impact
→ Communication under pressure

After the session, I’ll give direct feedback on what landed, what sounded weak, and what to fix.

This bundle is for you if:

→ You have UX interviews coming up
→ You want more than generic practice questions
→ You need to know how your answers sound to senior decision-makers
→ You want to catch weak stories before the real interview
→ You need cleaner, more confident, more senior responses

Bring:

→ The job description
→ Your resume and/or LinkedIn profile
→ 3–5 career stories you may use
→ Any questions or interview rounds you’re worried about

You’ll leave with:

→ Stronger interview stories
→ Clearer answer structure
→ Hiring manager / VP-level feedback
→ A specific fix list
→ More confidence before the real interview