Fellowship Experience: Sreelakshmi Raghunath

TL;DR

Shreelaksmi, a visual designer based in Dubai, discovered ownpath, a product design fellowship program that offers personalisation, one-on-one mentoring, and access to design resources for a full year! Despite the challenges of different time zones and working a full-time job, ownpath helped her unlock her potential as a product designer through engaging classes. She highly recommends ownpath to other designers looking to take their careers to the next level!

Here’s her story:

In 2021, I moved to Dubai and started working as a visual designer. While living and working there, I developed a passion for product design and wanted to learn more. I researched product fellowship programs, but most of them didn't meet my standards. Then I found ownpath.

One thing that made ownpath a game-changer for me was that they provided access to design resources: live recordings of sessions, books, case studies, and much more - for a year! This was a big deal because I knew that one of the biggest challenges I would face would be the time difference, as the live classes would be based in IST. But to my surprise, ownpath was ready to personalise my experience by providing exceptional support.

That's when I decided to join the fellowship!

Despite the challenges of time zones and working full-time, ownpath provided me with ultimate support throughout my journey. The one-on-one mentoring sessions were invaluable. I knew that I could always count on my mentors to be there for me, and that gave me the confidence to keep moving forward, even when I missed classes due to the time difference.

As an international student, it was difficult to stay in touch with other fellows, but I could always reach out to Survya, Vikas, and others for help, and vice versa. The amount of support I received from the team throughout the program was commendable.

I scheduled one-on-one sessions with mentors, which helped me gain immense clarity about the direction and work I needed to do. I could also watch videos, and Aparna and Jo were always there to provide resources or help!

My favourite classes at ownpath were Interaction Design by Akshay and Psychology of Design by Shivani. They were engaging and welcoming instructors, and their teaching methods made me want to watch their recordings over and over again. Payal, on the other hand, had a huge impact on me both as an individual and as a mentor. She helped me navigate through my design journey when I was feeling completely lost. Aparna from the team always provided me with the support I needed.

ownpath helped me understand that I am not wrong with my career choice and that I have selected something that I am good at. For example, in my industry project with Jiva, my mentors expressed their appreciation for my performance. These small instances of feedback, validation, and constant motivation are what make ownpath a great program!

The Fellowship aims to support designers in refining their design process through real-world projects. Fellows collaborate in teams and have the opportunity to work on exciting industry projects. If you're a designer looking to transition into product design, ownpath is an excellent option for you!

If you’re a designer, you can join our Product Design Fellowship. The next cohort begins soon!

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