Episode 3: Loving Your Career…Until You Don’t
Featuring Stephanie Parey, Interior Designer turned UX Researcher
Host: Nujuma Ibrahim
Have you ever poured yourself into a career you thought was your calling — only to realize the passion just isn’t there? That’s exactly what we unpack in today’s episode. Nujuma sits down with her dear friend and colleague Stephanie Parey for one of the most honest conversations we’ve had on this show.
Stephanie started dreaming of becoming an interior designer at just 12 years old. From rearranging her bedroom to weekend IKEA runs with her mom, design was in her blood — or so she thought. Today she shares the slow unraveling of that dream, what it felt like to hit rock bottom in her career, and how she found her way to an entirely new field that finally felt right.
Timestamps
0:00 — Cold open / Hook: Stephanie reflects on the hardest professional moment of her life
0:57 — Meet Stephanie Parey: Interior designer, career pivoter, and today’s guest
1:33 — What drew Stephanie to interior design at age 12 — IKEA weekends, rearranging rooms, and the deeper “why” behind her childhood obsession
4:20 — Design school at Virginia Tech: the thrill of first-year studio and when the fire started to dim
5:50 — The growing disconnect: furniture history classes, late-night culture, and questioning whether this was really for her
8:00 — The Chicago Studio experience at Canon Design — and why it briefly reignited everything
9:00 — Multidisciplinary energy, real-world projects, and what it felt like to actually be in the city
13:30 — Early career reality check: from Corporate interiors to hospitality design — and why the switch nearly broke her
14:30 — Rock bottom: the hotel restaurant project, an unsupportive environment, and the depression that followed
17:00 — What it means to feel completely unsupported at work — and why that isolation is so common in the design industry
19:17 — The pivot begins: a stint in project management, calculated risks, and refusing to go back to school until she was sure
20:40 — Discovering UX research: the moment one class changed everything
21:40 — The “aha” moment: how user research connected directly to what she’d always wanted from interior design — understanding people
23:28 — Advice for anyone stuck in a field they no longer love: take small, calculated risks before making any big leaps
26:05 — What she’s carrying forward: design thinking, iteration, and seeing the bigger picture
27:45 — Closing reflection: why spaces have a profound effect on people — even if they don’t realize it
28:28 — If cities could speak: Stephanie on Seattle — local culture, nature, resilience, and a hint of the future
30:57 — Outro: careers don’t define us, and sometimes we have to lose ourselves to find out who we truly are
Enjoyed this episode? Like it, share it, and drop your story in the comments — let’s make sure no one feels alone in their journey.
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